I had a nice stay at the Aspen Inn in Creede.  There was a washer and dryer and small kitchen area right outside my door which was really nice.  Unfortunately I forgot my food (including a Magnum ice cream!) in the refrigerator.  Damn I want that now.

Today consisted of a 3 mile road walk out of Creede and then a long climb up Deep Creek canyon. The first mile or so coming out of Creede is on a highway with a very narrow shoulder so I had to play dodge-the-70 mph-truck game with the morning traffic.

After a few miles I crossed the Rio Grande River and started on an actual trail. There was a small grave for an unnamed girl who died in a wagon train headed west. I thought this was sad but for some reason I felt at peace hanging around here for a while and just thinking about those who came this way before me. It was a pretty spot on a slope above the Rio Grande valley below.

Creede is at 8,900 feet. The top of the trail today was at 11,500, and I really didn’t want to do it.  I was pretty miserable the entire way up even though the trail and weather was beautiful. I just kept wanting to stop and rest, but that gets boring quickly and then I would worry about the early snows starting, so I would get up and continue.

Eventually I reached the top where the trail turned into a nice road walk for 4 miles or so to an empty trailhead (not a single car!).  It took me a few minutes to find the obscure trail that left this spot and headed down the hills through dense vegetation. So we went from a weirdly empty trailhead to the most unused trail leaving the junction. That’s the CDT for ya.

Water was becoming an issue as I hiked down the Roaring Fork valley, and fortunately I found an awesome creek just where a comment on Guthooks said it would be. I filled up and continued down the valley, all the time looking for a campsite as it was getting quite late. I really like camping in the trees these days because it’s much warmer and the wind isn’t as bad. Unfortunately the trees don’t come down to the valley floor here – they are only on the steep slopes on either side.

I eventually gave up and camped in a grassy hollow in a big meadow. The wind is still blowing pretty hard here. This is really just a small bowl scooped out along the side of the valley.  Roaring Fork Creek is just below me and steep aspen covered slopes above.   And it’s cold again!  Current elevation is 10,300 feet.  I saw a few day hikers early in the day and that was it. It is very lonely and this area has a remote feel – all the other hikers seem to be long gone.

I miss my friend Gaucho.  I suppose I could wait for him but I continue to be worried about the snow starting.  It rained in Creede this morning so things may be changing.