So for my birthday, I decided to give myself an adventure. Though last year I completed the Colorado Trail (about 480 miles from Denver to Durango) I tackled the more difficult alternate route this summer. It’s comprised of 80 miles through the West Collegiate range along the Continental Divide, west of Buena Vista and Salida. I’ve hiked it in 10-20 mile segments by myself, and had just 18.6 miles left before I headed up to the trail again on the last weekend in September. As you can tell from these photos, I slid under the wire as Fall arrived in the mountains. When I reached the Divide for the second time that day, it was at a tall cairn, barely visible through gathering mist because clouds of sleet and hail were moving in. The only ones up there were a ptarmigan (a bird that spends its entire life in the alpine), one other hiker, and me. The other hiker was younger and quicker, but it was good to see another person up top even if only for a few minutes. After he vanished down the trail in freezing mist, I knelt down in the gale to check my map, photograph my bird companion and be on my way. I knew I had grown into this 5-year adventure when, in conditions like that with several miles to go, I bent down to the GPS Spot device that sends a signal to family members showing where I am and — smiling — pressed the button that says, “I’m ok.” From the end at Monarch Pass, my husband walked almost a mile up the trail to meet me. I was glad to see him, grateful for his concern…and a cup of hot chocolate never tasted so good. I’m not the same person I was five years ago. And “I’m ok” with that.
