Trail Lake Pass to Middle Fork Conejos River 12 mi :: 677 mi :: Sunny, windy, cold We repeat our freezing morning ritual after a stormy night. The meadows are seas of ice and grass, and the snow is rock hard. Thankfully the terrain isn’t too steep to begin with, but nonetheless we haven’t gone…

Flat Mountain Ridge to Trail Lake Pass 12 mi :: 655 mi :: Windy, cold, stormy The wind has calmed during the night, but it’s much colder in the morning, even after the sun hits us at 5 am on our ridge. I roust myself and try to don my hiking clothes without exposing too…

Chama to Flat Mountain Ridge 8 mi :: 643 mi :: Sunny, warm Once again we start the race to checkout time. We pile all the stuff we need to mail in my backpack and head to the Village Bean for another breakfast. Again Denise puts a big smile on our faces with her perfect…

FR117, Colorado to Chama 10 mi :: 635 mi :: Sunny, hot It’s an easy couple of miles to CO17. We decide to walk another two miles to Cumbres Pass because we guess that’s where the next segment will begin. There’s a little railroad station for the Cumbres and Toltec narrow guage rail line on…

Rio San Antonio to FS117, Colorado 20 mi :: 625 mi :: Sunny, warm We have an extra 3/4 mile to walk up the Rio San Antonio because of my mistake last night. It’s a long, gradual ascent up to the head of the canyon and TA Grant fence again. We interrupt many elk having…

Placer Creek to Rio San Antonio 14 mi :: 605 mi :: Sunny, warm, afternoon clouds Placer Creek is truly rocky, but has banks with a flat spot high up. We see the remains of several old cabins, and long piles of rocks. When the canyon opens up we see a couple sitting by their…

Fifteen Springs to Placer Creek 14 mi :: 591 mi :: Sunny, warm We feel like we’re getting the hang of this section. This morning we even do a voluntary bushwhack to save a couple of miles, which comes off without a hitch. Then we encounter our next sort of obstacle – the private ranch.…

Harris Bear Camp to Fifteen Springs 15 mi :: 577 mi :: Warm, afternoon showers Our current road gets easier to follow, then we turn onto an even better road. The wonderful wildflowers continue to blanket the meadows. The road is a little too good, and we miss a turn. It’s not until the terrain…

Ghost Ranch to Harris Bear Camp 14 mi :: 562 mi :: Sunny, hot We pack up and make the breakfast buffet at 7:30 am. This will give us one extra breakfast towards our food shortage. There is a conference going on about memetics. Everyone we ask defines it abstractly and differently. There are a…

NM84 to Ghost Ranch 3 mi :: 548 mi :: Sunny, hot Peter continues our feast and provides for any need we mention. He serves a huge breakfast highlighted by good coffee with real cream in real mugs. We can only smile. Then we pack up and he takes us through the road construction to…