My Hiking Life: A Moose Day

Day: 82
Start: 22
End: 40
Miles: 18
Hours: 11
High temp: 69
Low temp: 46
People met: 0

Silverthorne and the dam

Frisco is located between the lake and the mountain in the middle of the picture.

I walk out of my motel and turn right on the street, I'm on the Silverthorne alternate trail, that's about as easy as it gets. Yesterday evening it poured for about 2 hours giving these mountains a good soaking. This morning the sky is clear and the forest is full of moisture. I'm thinking as I walk while trying to avoid the wet foliage, this summer in Colorado is like Hawaii. Rain every afternoon is almost been commonplace this summer. I climb out of Silverthorne and receive a nice overview of the area. I realize that the town of Silverthorne is built just below the dam, guess no one's worried about that. I did enjoy Frisco and Silverthorne, together they have everything one could need.

Once above the timberline I notice a herd of animals at a distance above me. As I draw closer I see they are about 30 elk. They are browsing and moving at the same time. I cannot get closer as they just work themselves over a ridge.

I finally reach the elusive top, a view to the east towards Denver.

It doesn't take long for clouds to fill the sky, the forcast is 60% afternoon thunderstorms. I keep a close eye on the clouds as I'm crossing 2 passes today. The climbing today seems hard, I eat about every hour to fuel my body, but today I feel tired. The miles seem to come so slowly today. I have come to realize that when I eat my body says "ok, let's use this as fuel right now". Whenever I hit town I want some food that isn't hiker food. I usually get a dinner and I stay awake until about 0400 hrs. every time. Well last night I ignored the urge to get dinner, I just ate lunch and that was it, I slept wonderfully.

I'm almost to the top of this pass

Once at the pass above the trail turns to the right for more climbing. I'm above the timberline and the grasses up here a short and easy to walk over. The trail is somewhat faint is areas, it almost appears as a game trail. So I must check frequently to make sure I'm on track.

North, the trail on this mountain is not my trail

I come to a ridge which is quite dramatic with steep sides. At one point the trail goes up a steep outcrop of rock, requiring close concentration on my footsteps. On that outcrop I even told myself not to look down but remain focused, that's a little steep.

The trail goes up and around that outcrop of rock.

Looking north just before tackling the outcrop

Once around the outcrop I make the next pass. It's about 3 miles to the bottom as I descend I must follow carins as the trail is faint in places. About half the way down I hear a sound from the nearby creek, a big bull moose is trotting up the opposite hillside. He has such a graceful gait for such a big animal. A little further down the trail I catch the tail ends of a cow moose and her 2 yearlings.

Well I reach the bottom of the valley and find a sheltered campsite. Even though I haven't completed my 20 miles, I'm tired a decide to make camp. Tomorrow is a 2 mile climb back to the CDT., I'll just do that when I'm fresh.

So I make camp and head off the gather water for tomorrow.