Day 14 – Sunday 7/26/2020 – 1489.7 – partially cloudy, sunny, warm, no wind. I woke at 4:40 am and was on trail at 5:30 am. I wished farewell to my camp buddy, Justin. I took first climb very slowly and although I was sweating I wasn’t completely out of breathe. The trail was again easy to follow. I had been following several different shoe prints. I came to a marshy meadow. The grass was wet with dew and soaked my pants. The underlying marsh soaked my shoes. So much for keeping dry. I got lost crossing it which didn’t help either. On the other side of the meadow just as I found the trail I met a tent site of 7 hikers – a family. Thee women and four men. We chatted briefly, but soon I move on. On another climb I had to count 25s again. Ugh! I crossed into the great state of Colorado. At 10:30 am I met Mouse and Gangles, NOBO thru-hikers. They told me about camping in the saddle after the water stop. They also said there was a bridge out in 7-8 miles tomorrow. I got to my final climb and slowly got up to the stream that I was seeking. As I was eating lunch a dog ran up. It surprised me. A women came next and apologized about the dog. She said a 4×4 was coming up the rocky trail. So I moved my stuff from the center of the trail to the side. Here comes two more people driving up the stoney bumpy trail in a large vehicle. The noise kinda broke the natural peace and quiet along with the smell of engine exhaust. I finished up lunch after they passed. It was only a few minutes later that I was at the saddle and found a semi-level spot. I was done hiking for the day. I set up my tent. It’s on a slight slope but it’ll do. While setting up 6 trail motorcyclist passed by on the trail. This seems to be a busy section. I’ll meetup with Justin tomorrow – yay!
