I was on the trail at 8:00 this morning.  Its so cold anymore!  I met a CDT hiker named SpaceJam that is currently going Nobo and seems to be picking up missing sections.  Some of them are really large though, so I’m not sure he’s going to make it. 

The trail has been both beautiful and well maintained, and for shit in other places.  There is a horrendous amount of loose rocks on the way down to Turquoise Lake, but conditions improved immensely going back up the southern side. The trail then contours along the side of Mt Massive and is fantastic. Also, mountain bikes are not allowed here, so Yay!!!  They are really popular here in Colorado and are a bit of a dangerous nuisance. You can’t hear them coming quite often and they absolutely fly down the trail at breakneck speed. The bikers themselves are almost always polite and friendly, but it puts me on edge a little constantly looking over my shoulder to see if anyone is going to run me over.

There was a lot of up and downs today so I only managed 17 miles. I am currently camped about 3/4 mile south of Rock Creek in an awesome spot next to an unnamed creek full of clear, ice cold water roaring nearby. I even get cell service here so I can call Barb.  Nice!