We did 16 miles on a rocky dirt road today.  The country consists of rolling hills covered with juniper and pinyon pine, huge open meadows, and a few ponderosa pines here and there.

Pat continues to lag and I’m not sure if his foot is hurting him or if he is being preventative.  Regardless, I’m reluctant to push for more miles at this point so we are still on the 15 miles per day limit. I keep reminding myself that there is still too much snow in Colorado to get through so there is no rush, but I’m fighting an unconscious desire to go further.

Tonight we camped above Los Indios spring.  We hiked a half mile down a steep canyon to get to the spring where cold, crystal clear water emanated from a pipe embedded in the ground.  This water is delicious!  The valley containing the spring is deep in a canyon below a lava flow with grass and shade tree.  This is a beautiful spot.

On the way down to the spring we ran into Open who was coming up from the spring. His hands were full of water bottles and I think he wanted to get back up to the top so we didn’t talk long.

It appears we are on top of a mesa and the sunset was spectacular. The weather was overcast with high clouds for most of the day with a medium wind.  Perfect hiking weather.