Rocky Mountain High - Aspen, Colorado

I wonder what John Denver would think of the present day Aspen.  It is a different place than when he wrote "Rocky Mountain High" and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" about his beloved Aspen.  Today, it is still a breathtakingly beautiful area at an 8000 foot elevation, but downtown is a bustling, highly congested place to navigate.  While Aspen only has a permanent population of 6851, we found taking the truck into town to be hopeless.  The best way for us to get around was to ride our bicycles.  There are hundreds of miles of trails in and around Aspen.  Most trails are multi-use.  They also have bike designated lanes in town, and people seem to be aware of and courteous toward cyclists.  There are lakes and rivers for water recreation.  Unfortunately, we were not there long enough to get out the kayak or paddle-board.  We will definitely return sometime to take advantage of those opportunities.  We also talked to a Nordic ski instructor who told us there are more than 60 of miles of groomed Nordic ski trails in and around Aspen and they are all free.  I would love to make a winter visit.

Miles and miles of multi-use trails.

A nice buck crosses our cycling trail.

Hiking on a dirt trail with a small church in the distance.

Downtown Aspen with the ski-lift coming right to town center.

Horse-drawn carriage in downtown Aspen.

Marv's customer has huskies who give a howling greeting!

Another difference Mr. Denver would notice is the airport northwest of town.  He loved to fly (he died flying an experimental plane).  Aspen was drawing celebrities when he lived there, but now the small airport is row after row of private jets.  The rich and famous have certainly found this Rocky Mountain jewel.  Celebrities that currently have homes here include Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, Jessica Biel, and Amy Adams. The affluence of the area is also evidenced by the types of motor vehicles around town.  There are Land Rovers, BMW's, Mercedes, Jaguars, and more Teslas to be spotted on a daily basis than we've ever seen.  There is some serious money floating around.  Most of the huge homes in the area have gardeners, housekeepers, nannies and other workers going in and out all day.

There are lots of great places to eat, but we only took advantage of one that was recommended by the owner of the Aspen Velo Bike Shop.  There is an 8 mile cycling/walking trail leading from downtown Aspen to Woody Creek and the Woody Creek Tavern.  It is a biker dive with really terrific food.  If you go there, bring cash or a checkbook.  They do not take debit or credit cards.  There is an ATM machine close by.  The staff is super friendly and fun.  We soon understood why it was so popular.  We went on a week-day in the middle of the afternoon, and the place was packed.

Our waitress - Where Biker Chicks Do Lunch!  Also shows a bit of the eclectic decor.

Best fish tacos ever!

Woody Creek Tavern in Woody Creek, Colorado.

 The great thing about Aspen having wealthy inhabitants is that they have several terrific thrift stores.  During my PCT hike, I lost 25 pounds and 4 clothes sizes.  All of my clothes are falling off me, so I decided to check out the Aspen Thrift Shop for some new duds.  I found several pairs of capri's and a skirt for $3-$4 each.  I did splurge on one pair of high-end designer jeans for $15.00.  For $37.00, I walked out with a whole new wardrobe.

After Marv finished his job, we moved 5 miles out of Aspen to Difficult Campground, a National Forest campground.  We had checked it out earlier in the week and found that there are quite a few sites that will accommodate larger rigs.  We were told by Marv's customer that the land adjacent to the campground is part of Kevin Costner's ranch, although we decided against stopping in for a social call.  Since we were only 5 miles out, we rode our bicycles into town several days to explore more trails, get groceries and other necessities.

For a couple of days, we had noticed a funny sound from our right rear brakes, so Marv didn't get as much down time as he'd hoped.  He found that we needed new brake shoes, so there was another chore to get done at the campground.  Seems with RVing, there is always something.  Fortunately, he can fix most anything, so the project was completed.  It had only been a couple of weeks since our exhaust brake went out and had to be replaced.  Luckily, we were near to passing through Boise, so when we stopped to have dinner with my brother and his wife, the guys were able to get a new exhaust brake installed and we continued on our way.

City Market - a busy hub!

Roaring Fork River

Looking down on Aspen after a strenuous bike climb up the Smuggler Mine road.

Marv on Smuggler Lookout.

Ellen made it up the Smuggler too!

Our mountain bikes take a break too after that crazy climb!

Beautiful Difficult Campground. We can see where Aspen got its name.

Remnants of an old smelter are all along the trail into town.

While at the Difficult Campground, I discovered there were lots of Chokecherry bushes.  Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of going chokecherry picking with my folks and my Grandma Pieper.  Then we'd go home to make jam and pancake syrup.  I haven't had any for years.  I picked a large bowl and make a couple of quarts of syrup.  We had pancakes the next day.  It tastes as wonderful as I remember.

Chokecherry bushes.

Ready to wash and juice in my instant pot.

Adding sugar to make the syrup.

One day we took a ride over Independence Pass to Leadville.  The top of Independence Pass crosses the Continental Divide.

Top of Independence Pass.

It was freezing up here at 12,095 ft, even with multiple layers.

Winding drive down the other side toward Leadville.

Leadville, Colorado.

That's a Wrap - The End of the Trail for This Hiker

Trail mile: 2360.9 - 2375.5 = 14.6 miles

Elevation:  4665.7 - 4053.8

I wake up with a wet tent and everything damp, but there is a beautiful red sunrise and a clear blue sky. The fog and rain are gone.  I am very grateful for a beautiful day. 
  

Here comes the sun - finally!

A beautiful, sunny, clear day!

The day presents us with lots of steep up and down trail.  We stop at the top of a climb in a flat place to eat lunch and spread out all of our wet things to dry.  My calculation of the miles to Snoqualmie ends up being flawed.  When I catch up with Mama Bear for lunch, she is looking at her map and points out that it looks further to Snoqualmie than I had figured.  I see I made a calculation error and it will still take two days to get there, particularly since there is a great deal of climbing to do.

We drape tents, coats, sleeping bags etc on the bushes to dry in the midday sun while we eat lunch.

My left knee is more swollen when I get up this morning.  As the day goes on with all of this crazy steep up and down, the knee is killing me. I finally resort to taking an opioid pain pill I had left over from hand surgery earlier this spring.  I'm grateful to have these drugs, but wonder how I'll hike because I'm a lightweight when it comes to any sort of drug.  I only take a half tablet because I don't want to be too loopy and fall off a cliff.  The pill does make me loopy, but at least I could hike.  I start looking at my GPS for where the trail might cross forest service roads in case I have to have Marv come rescue me.  As I negotiate the trail between Tacoma Pass and Stampede Pass, I cross ten roads that are all too rough or overgrown for the truck to drive up. I finally get on a high ridge where I have cell service and I call Marv to tell him that I don't think I can hike another day on my knee.  It is getting worse and worse.  He sees a road ahead of me (National Forest Development Road 54, the road at Stampede Pass) that will work to come get me tomorrow.  We agree to meet at 9 AM tomorrow for a some time off the trail.  As I come to the road he described, I see that it is indeed a nice, wide gravel road.  I will hike back here in the morning.  I also hike under a couple of high voltage power lines, which gives me a little open area between the dense forest.

I am delighted to find some Trail Magic at this intersection.  A Trail Angel has left a bag of organic potatoes with aluminum foil to wrap them in to bake the spuds in the fire.  As good as this sounds, I don't take any.  It is too late in the day to bake a potato and I still have 2 miles to hike up a steep hill to meet Mama Bear where we agreed to camp.  I do take a handful of the animal cookies that are also there.  This is a good treat as I hike on.  At this time, Mama Bear doesn't know that my knee is worse and that Marv will pick me up in the morning.  I start the very steep climb on the other side of Stampede Pass, wondering if I'll be able to make it to the place we agreed to meet.  Or, if I'll then be able to hike back down that steep trail in the morning.  After 0.6 miles, I see one of Mama Bear's trekking poles beside a side trail, with an orange cloth tied to it.  I think this must be a water stop.  I pick up her pole and hike around the corner to see her tent set up for the night.  I am so relieved that I don't have to hike another mile and a half.  She tells me that the steep climb was too much for her this late in the day and that her feet were getting tired, so she decided to stop early.  She also didn't know if I'd be up to it with my sore knee.  I so appreciate her thoughtfulness!

I tell her about my worsening condition and the plan for Marv to pick me up.  She decides since we are almost to Snoqualmie Pass, she will get a ride to the Summit Inn with us to meet her friend, who will join her for part of the hike.  I will keep her informed as to whether I will be back to the trail after resting my knee.  Marv picks us up in the morning as planned.  The three of us have breakfast at the Summit Pancake House.  I give Mama Bear (Stefanie) a big hug and promise to look her up the next time we are in northern Idaho, if I don't see her back on the trail.

Epilogue:  My knee continues to get worse, even off the trail.  For several days, not only my knee is swollen and sore, my entire leg is swollen.  Both of my ankles and feet are also swollen.  I am faced with the fact that my hike is over.  I don't want to do permanent damage to the joint.  I've had a great adventure, but I'm also terribly disappointed. I was not able to hike every mile of the trail as I wanted to.  In fact, due to flipping back and forth and taking days off the trail for blisters and back spasms, I ended up hiking just under 1500 miles of the 2650 planned.  If I had been able to start a couple of months earlier, I could have taken my time and been in better (cooler) hiking weather for the desert, and gotten to Oregon and Washington before the fire season started.  I learned a great deal about the trail, its beauty and challenges.  I feel thankful that at age 66, I'm still capable of challenging physical endeavors.  I met incredible people who share a love of the outdoors.  The trail restored my faith in the younger generation, meeting many 20 and 30 somethings who are compassionate, smart, and thoughtful, with balance in their lives between work and play.  They were willing to share food, supplies and companionship.  I always felt welcome and included, despite the age difference.  I hope they all fulfill their goal of completing the trail.  Hike on and HYOK!

Warm Fire, Hiker Hugs and Huckleberries

Trail mile:  2344.4 - 2360.9 = 16.5 trail miles hiked today

Elevation:   4812 - 4665.7

It was a very wet, rainy, cold night, but I did stay warm.  I love my little tent and warm sleeping bag! I made a short morning video to greet the day (see below). I stayed in my warm bag later than usual because I had to talk myself into walking in the rain. I finally donned my bright pink rain jacket and pants to hike.  

As I start out, I pass a hiker going south who tells me that there are people at the cabin with a warm fire going in the wood stove.  That is enough to quicken my pace in anticipation of a place to dry out.  I had packed a wet rain fly and all my stuff is damp.  When I get to the cabin, I find it is a large, nicely built cabin with a huge supply of fire wood for hikers to use.  Cans, Boombox and Mama Bear are still there with the wood stove going. Nice and warm!  I was so glad to see them again. They greet me with big hugs, saying they were worried about me. They were hoping I hadn't had to stay in the burn area.  One thing I've loved about this hike is that people on trail look out for each other. We ate breakfast, talked, got water from creek and took selfies. 

The trail was wet and slippery.

Fog over the meadow, looking out from the porch of the cabin.

Camp Mike Urich.  Such a welcome site!

We hang up wet gear to dry in front of the fire.

 

Boombox, Cans, Mama Bear, and me.

Mama Bear, Boombox and Cans

Breakfast: Cans and me with Boombox in the background. Pic taken by Mama Bear.

I check out that all is left right in the cabin before I hit the trail.

I discover fields and fields of huckleberries, a favorite of mine.

All the low bushes in this old burn area are huckleberry bushes.

The other hikers leave me at the cabin because I have to let my rain fly dry.  I later meet up with Mama Bear down the trail as she had walked a quarter mile in the wrong direction and had to come back. We hiked together off and on and agreed to camp together that night. It was a cold wet day until near the end. At first the trail is fairly level, but eventually I break out of the forest and start climbing over Sheets Pass, followed by another 400 feet up and down over another saddle.  The bonus was that I came across acres of huckleberries, which I love. I snacked on them for about 3 hours of my hike. Probably ate close to a quart of berries. Good energy food and it was wonderful to eat something fresh, rather than freeze dried or dehydrated. Although it is still foggy and cold, it is not raining. Mama Bear waits for me at the place we agreed to camp.  However, we have to hike 1.5 miles further than planned as the place we were going to camp was taken by other hikers. This is the first time that has happened to me on the trail.  But, it turned out to be a good thing because this extra mileage brought us down lower in elevation.  Therefore, where we stayed was much drier and warmer than our original destination.  We camped in the open, hoping that we would not get wet from dripping trees.  We made a nice warm fire and enjoyed dinner and conversation as we warmed up inside and out.

Yummy Huckleberries!

Foggy, damp hike today

Tents up, fire made and dinner cooking

Bear vault does double duty as a camp stool by the warm fire.

 I was not supposed to get to Snoqualmie pass for two more days, but since I was forced to hike further than my schedule yesterday and today, I figure I only have 17.6 miles left. Mama Bear is meeting a friend at the pass who is joining her for a few day of the hike.  She suggests we try to get to Snoqualmie Pass tomorrow.  Depending on the weather and the difficulty of the hike, we’ll see if we can make that happen.  I'm hoping for a good nights sleep. My left knee is acting up off and on since that long descent out of the Sierras. It is very minor, just a twinge.  Hopefully, with some good stretching and anti-inflammatory drugs, it will settle down and I'll have a good hiking day tomorrow. 
By the way, the plan to stay dry did not work.  As soon as the sun starting going down, my rain fly was soaked and everything again felt damp, even inside the tent. I really don't care for humidity!

A Cold Wet Night

Trail mile 2325.7 - 2344.4 = 18.7 trail miles 

Elevation 5755- 4812

I am greeted by a buck deer as I crawled out of my tent this morning. He doesn't move away as I crossed his small meadow to retrieve my bear vault. He must be used to campers in the area.  Hikers this far north must be getting weary or lazy. I sleep in and don't leave camp until after 7am, but I am still one of the first ones on the trail. Some were just crawling out of their tents as I hit the trail, and I wave as I hike past. The morning started with a steep climb up to the ridge from the lake. It was about 48 degrees, perfect for climbing without over heating. It was a beautiful morning with great views of Mt Rainier.  Later, I will have a long downhill section, ending up the day at a lower elevation than where I started.

Fog settled on Sheep Lake as I hike out in the morning.

Good morning as the sun comes up.

Wildflowers along the trail.

I'm actually looking down on the clouds as I hike up.

At the top of one pass near Crystal Ski Resort, I had cell service, so I gave Marv a call. 

Looking back at the trail I just climbed up.

I turned around to see Mt. Rainier behind me again.

I feel like I'm on top of the world.

Getting even higher.

Looking down at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort

I stop in a shady area for lunch.  A few minutes later, a hiker I met yesterday, "Mama Bear" plots down to join me.  She tells me she is from a very small town in northern Idaho near Lewiston.  As an Idaho native, it is nice to meet another Idahoan.  Shortly after, another hiker, "Boombox" joins us.  He owns a construction company and is from Mount Lake Terrace, a Seattle suburb next to the one we lived in before heading out in our RV.  He is hiking with his younger brother, "Cans". We discuss all the elk tracks on the trail, plus there was fresh urine you could smell long before you got to it. Mama Bear asks if I had run into some hunters earlier, who were doing research for hunting season.  They have a scope and had seen some bull elk earlier that morning. With all the signs that were in the area, I was hoping for a sighting, but I didn’t see any. We headed out together, but as usually happens, we get spread out according to our different hiking paces (I get passed and take up the rear position, as usual).  We then meet up again at a spring as we all filled up with water. I plan to go to a tent site area near a spring 16.9 miles from where I camped last night. As we swap trail information with several hikers going south, they tell us that the place were Mama Bear and I planned to camp was in a bad burn area. I figured I would have to camp before or after the burn. Turns out that I hiked through burn area all afternoon. It was spooky and depressing, not to mention that the trail was black burned ash and sand.  With every step the black powder puffed up, covering my shoes.  I had to crawl over, or hike around fallen trees that were black. I passed the tenting area where I had planned to stay the night. I didn’t want to put down my pack or pitch my tent on the black soot. The fog was so bad that I couldn't see more than 5-10 feet in front of me most of the time.

Saw several old burn areas during the day, where new growth was coming back.

My favorite meal - crackers and tuna or salmon.  On the left are my solar panels getting full sun while I eat.

Downhill hike after lunch, ahead of me are Mama Bear, Boombox and further down
the trail (at the far right of this pic) is Cans.

Burn area before the fog rolled in.

I hiked an additional 2 miles more than planned to get out of the burn area and camped in an undesignated area. I knew several hikers were hiking to a cabin used by snowmobile riders in the winter. However, it was 2.6 miles further and I was getting cold and rained on. I decided it would be better to stop for the night and get in my tent to warm up. Now I remember why we moved out of Washington.  It is a damp, cold state.

Storm clouds gathering.

Getting very foggy, cold and damp.

Foggier still.  I didn't get pictures in the real black burn area. Too busy hiking fast to get out of there.

Made my own camp spot by clearing sticks and stones before I got completely drenched.  This was taken in the morning before I broke camp, right after I retrieved my food from 200 feet away.  Everything is soak n' wet!