Continental Divide Trail – Day 58

July 20, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 20.0 / 1004.0

I had to force myself out of bed this morning. I knew I had a steep climb first off and I didn’t want to get going.

I finally got around and started up the trail. At first the grade seemed easier than yesterday as it switchbacked through the trees. This didn’t last long though and as it continued to climb the grade got steeper. It was a little over a mile to the top and I was completely out of breath when I reached the pass. The views on the way up were great as well as toward the twin lakes on the other side of the pass.

There was a slight cornice here and I carefully made my way across the snow. There was another patch that had to be traversed as well. From there on it was just a steep descent into the tree line. The trail continued downward and got rockier as it went.

This trail is part of the Leadville 100 – a 100 mile ultramarathon that is run each year. Due to this there was a lot of trail runner’s training on the trail despite the fact that it was a Thursday morning. I passed some on their way up and the passed be again on their way down.

About 5 miles down I reached the Willis Gulch trail that would take me over to CO Hwy 82 which runs into the Village of Twin Lakes. This trail had some magnificent views as it descended towards the highway. I had about a 2 mile walk to get to Twin Lakes and as I was walking down the highway a large group of Lamborghinis in some sort of a rally passed by me. It was cool to see all these cars in one place.

I reached Twin Lakes about 10:00 and plugged in my charging block before head into the store yo pick up a few days of food resupply. It was a small store, but had everything I needed and I went back outside to repackage some of the food. I sent some text and called my parents while I waited for my charging block to charge.

After it was charged I went down to the food trucks and bout a Rueben sandwich and potato salad for lunch. It tasted great. I finished up and made my way back up the street to the Waterton Valley Trailhead to get back up the CDT.

The climb up the mountain was steep and soon after joining the CDT I came to the south Mt. Elbert TH. I continued on the CDT as it followed along the edge of the mountain. They were several ups and downs throughout the afternoon and I ended up at Willow Creek for the night, right below the Mt. Massive Trail.

I set up my tent and cooked my dinner before nightfall, then crawled into my tent to get rested for another day.