Continental Divide Trail – Day 113

September 13, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 18.3 / 2057.7

I actually slept in today. I set an alarm for 7:30 and it went off and woke me up. I showered, got dressed, and packed up my gear. I fixed some coffee and sat at the table out front and drank it in the morning sun.

The only restaurant in town – The Depot – opened at 9:00am and I walked down there to eat. I had the Denver omelet, bacon, hash browns, and an English muffin. They had great coffee too.

After eating I contacted Mark at Mustang Inn for a ride back to the trailhead. He coordinated a ride for me. I made it to the trail about 11:15 – later than I had hoped for.

The air in the mountains was much cooler than in town and I had to get moving to keep warm. It felt good in the sun, but cold in the shade. The trail began climbing upwards and was soon in the trees. It followed the divide which was still fenced. Shortly down the trail the barbed wire fence was replaced by a rail fence offset every 10-12 feet so no post were needed. It looked really cool winding through the woods.

The trail crossed over a high pass and then continued on the side hill making its way along the divide. Eventually the trail joined a 4WD road and followed it for the rest of the day.

There were some steep sections, but mostly the road followed the ridge line through meadows and woods. There was quite a bit of flat area on the divide and lots of potential campsites.

I stopped and cooked my dinner then continued on. I had about 3 miles to a spring and I needed water for the night. I reached the spring, filled up and continued on. Now that I needed to find a campsite I had reached a burnt area and there were lots of dead trees. I walked on about 1/2 mile further before finding a good spot to camp.