I hiked with Marco all day, who is great company. We saw two moose this morning. We tried to go way around them, but one split away and forced us to walk between them. We weren’t keen on this because we thought it might be a mom and a calf and they would panic as we got closer. We went slowly and got past them without incident. The trail climbed up to the divide and follows the high ridge south.  Marco hikes much faster than me so it really wore me out trying to not slow him down.

In the late afternoon we reached Rollins Pass. Rollins Pass is an historic location where one of the highest railroads crossed the continental divide. It was desconstructed in the 1930’s when the Moffat Tunnel was built. In even earlier times the Native Americans used this area to funnel game along rock walls where they waited in blinds. Now all that remains is a dirt parking lot and an interpretive sign.

I was feeling a bit worn out and decided to follow a dirt road to avoid all the constant up and down, but Marco chose to stay on the ridge.  I was sad to see him go, but relieved that I could just putt along at my own pace for a while. The road parallels the ridge but drops down the west side 1000 feet.

Forest service road 80 was a nice flat stroll with great views, but eventually I had to regain the ridge and the CDT. I decided to do so by climbing an abandoned dirt road known as Rogers Pass Road. As I climbed the steep slope it started to get dark and the wind picked up. I was worn out and didn’t feel like camping on the ridge with the wind blowing so hard, so I found a small depression that I hoped would provide a bit of protection. This is not a very good campsite. I’m above tree line here and it’s in some thick lumpy grass with embedded rocks.  Oh, and the whole spot is sloped quite a bit. On a positive note I can see the lights of Winter Park and what I think is Fraser in the valley far below. Curiously, I’m only about 25 miles from Golden, Colorado (where I used to live) right now. 🙂

The wind was blowing, but it’s settled down now.  I’m exhausted with just 19 miles today.