Greetings from Salida, CO! We got here via Highway 50, a 13ish mile hitch into town yesterday morning. We, along with another hiker, got picked up by a guy from Pueblo who had turned around to come back & pick us up. Very nice guy who was in the military & who had been stationed in Maui & he said people hitchhiked there a lot & he likes to keep passing on the hitchhiking happiness. Now, let me back up to yesterday morning & how we were woken up...
It had been sputtering rain on us throughout the night so we had closed our outer flap & we were camped near a pond only 3 miles from the road, so we were relaxedly laying in the tent, letting the rain lure us back to sleep. I'm a little deaf when it comes to certain noises but I thought I heard a little thunder rumbling in the distance but Unicroc shot up from his sleep & said, "Do you hear that?....that's a bear....or a moose crashing around in the water!" I said, "Yeah right, you know that's a dream of mine (to see a bear or moose playing in water is on my list of dreams), so you're probably just trying to get me out of bed....!" He quickly opened our outer flap & took a peak toward the pond & he said, "Oh no, that is a huge bull moose crashing around in the water!" Immediately, my adrenaline started pumping & I looked & sure enough, there was a huge bull moose continuing to crash around in the water, going back & forth, swinging his huge antlers around, chasing ducks! He went on like that for a few minutes while we were brainstorming in our tent an escape plan. We felt way too vulnerable in our tent if he were to come to our side of the pond...so luckily, we had tucked our tent back into the woods a bit so we had some things to hide behind as we snuck away. We first just snuck our bodies away to a safe distance...then he stopped crashing & began munching on the greens on the side of the pond (luckily the opposite side). I took a short video as Unicroc grabbed our backpacks quietly & we pulled them a safe distance away as well. Then, piece by piece, we gradually went back & collected everything & pulled our tent away to pull it apart also at a safe distance! Every once in a while, the moose would stop & just stare in our direction, but we were careful not to move when he did that! Moose can be dangerous, we feel more dangerous than a bear, because they can be just so dang erratic & this one seemed to be a bit pumped up to chase whatever was in his path. We shoved everything in our packs half-hazardly & started walking toward town as quickly as we could & I tell ya, adrenaline pumped me down the trail really quick! What a way to wake up in the mornin'!
This is where we officially met a hiker from Arizona, who is sectioning this part to Silverton & who we shared a hitch with into town. We shared breakfast together & stories of our trail experiences & will maybe someday reconnect if we (or just Unicroc) ever makes his way down to do the Arizona Trail. The trail has been still so beautiful, such a range of landscapes. Cow fields to aspen groves to high alpine mountain hiking to walking through a small village near Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, which we kind of fell in love with. Beautiful little valleys in between the Collegiate Peaks that we plan to come revisit.
I must pay some homage to the thrushes we continually hear as we hike. They make the most beautiful songs that push me along with a smile on my face, even as we hike through some tough parts of trail. Also, I forgot earlier to mention that we had seen lizards, but that was only in our first stretch of trail, before we reached Breckenridge. Oh & I saw my first snake! Actually, the first live snake I've seen since we moved to Colorado - I screamed out loud, of course even though it was only a gardner snake! I love snakes but I like to keep my distance...
Another thing I forgot to mention earlier was Frank & Susan, a couple from Breckenridge whom we had met on our first day on the trail who were planning on hiking less miles than us each day & were planning on parking cars at each trailhead to travel up the trail as they went, so they said goodbye the first day we had met them. But when we were in Breckenridge, we kept seeing this man who looked familiar in the grocery store as we were resupplying. We ran into each other again & kind of did a double take & realized hey that's Frank! He had gotten off at an earlier pass & was picking up some things they needed & he gave us a ride back to our Inn. I hope they are doing well behind us somewhere!
We are staying at the Browns Canyon Inn in Salida even though this is an expensive weekend to stay somewhere since it is July 4th weekend. The owners are a Polish couple who are very friendly & kind & we had a clean bed which was all I was really asking for!
We hit the halfway point yesterday & our bodies feel mostly in the groove, with a few quirks here & there, which is always the case. There are always some aches & pains here & there, you just have to figure out how to make do with them. We are happily doing about 20 miles a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. Even though we are only about 2 1/2 hours from home, we are enjoying seeing these trail towns from a different perspective, as a traveler on foot. Our next trail town will be Lake City, in about 105 miles.
Until then, Much love,
Scat Tracker & Unicroc
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