5.8 miles

June 8, 2012

Day 4 Profile

Google Maps Terrain

June 8
End of segment 2
I decided to get an early start, even though there are only a few miles to cover. I wanted to beat the heat. I am out of water. It was a pretty uneventful hike today. More of the burned area, and mostly level. There were wildflowers along this section of trail also, so it was an interesting combination of beauty against the burned landscape.

Burned landscape

And beautiful wildflowers

wildflowers

wildflowers

Even with the morning temps, I was mighty thirsty by the time I reached Deckers Rd (CO RD 126) and the North Fork Volunteer Firestation. The water at the firestation is a hose outlet at the back of the building, for "emergency use". I was sure glad it was there! I filled up my water containers and walked back to the trail. Found some shade, and napped for an hour or so.

North Fork Volunteer Firestation

Firestation - water is around the back

WATER!!!!!!!

Almost at the end of my trip, but a couple more miles to go... It is taking me longer since I am limping a bit. That cactus spine is still embedded in my foot.
After crossing CO RD 126, the trail gets a bit confusing. It crosses a camping area that was being used for an equine event that weekend. Some sort of long distance horse race. It was fun to talk 'horse' with the folks there. Made me miss my horse owning days. Almost. :)

Colorado Trail

Almost to Decker Rd

End of the journey

  Finally I found the Little Scraggy Trailhead. It was early, around noon, and I had arranged for a pickup between 5-7 PM, so I had a long wait. Fortunately there were trees, shade, a restroom (no water), and picnic tables at the trailhead.

After about an hour, a solo female CT thru hiker stopped and we chatted. She was out of food, and had 2 days to go before her next resupply. She was considering leaving the trail since she didn't think she could hike 2 days without food. I was happy to give her my remaining food. I had about 1.5 days of food left. I figured I could go the rest of the day without, so that she could keep hiking. Seeing her huge smile and excitement was so worth it.

Finally, my family picked me up, and we headed back to Castle Rock. Yay! I really wanted that cactus spine dug out of my foot!

Little Scraggy Trailhead

Lessons learned from this trip?

• 1) Don't underestimate the amount of water you need. Planning a dry camp means carrying enough to get you through the next day to a RELIABLE water source.
• 2) Sharp pointy things are BAD under your tent. I skipped the ground cloth on this trip. Lesson learned.
• 3) I was not in good enough shape. Fine for this trip with the low miles, but certainly not ready for my 70 mile HST trip in Sept. Nice to get a barometer of my fitness level so I can get motivated!

---