The Legendary Leadville Hostel

A quick post from the highest incorporated city in the US, Leadville! over 10,000 feet.  This weekend is actually the Leadville 100mile Ultramarathon - I will not be partaking but it has been super fun to chat with all the super athletes staying at the hostel.  I can't imagine running 100 miles straight and they can't imagine walking a marathon nearly every day while carrying a pack for 4-5 months.  Met Pappy - a Triple Crowner from 2002!!!  he started his adventuring at the age of 65 and is still going strong.

HUGE THANK YOU to Carol and Gary who put up with me in Grand Lake!

The weather has calmed a bit for now but it is easy to forget how crazy and miserable it can be to hike up high and be completely exposed while mother nature rages.  I'm moving steadily onward but have to admit I'm very much looking forward to laying on a couch for a week straight when I get back!  Getting closer!!!

Happy Trails!
~beads

Never Summer Wilderness

What a name for a place! Never Summer was certainly a place that had fall in the air... in mid august.  The mountain meadows are starting to turn golden yellow, the high alpine shrubs are turning bright red... it is looking more like fall at 11,000 and 12,000 feet than I'd like to admit.  It certainly keeps me hiking to try and beat the snow!

Since last time I've completed southbound from the Great Basin of Wyoming into Colorado to Rabbit Ears Pass and spent an absolutely amazing time with Steamboat Star (miss Jayne).  She literally picked me up at the Post Office and knew exactly what a girl from the trail needed to relax and recoup.  Thank you girl!!!!

Then it was off through the Never Summer Wilderness and into Rocky Mountain National Park.  The trail actually goes through Grand Lake at the southern end of the park and there is an impressive Hostel called Shadowcliff that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone visiting.  WOW!

I still need to get used to Colorado's classic afternoon thunderstorms but so far I've had hail the size of peanut M&Ms and lightning so close there's no gap between flash and crack.  The vast majority of the trail is up at 11 and 12,000 feet, which makes navigation particularly challenging in the afternoons.
This state brings a whole new perspective to the mantra of the CDT: Embrace the Brutality!!!
Welcome to Colorado!!!

Trying new things... click on the link below to (hopefully) see a little video of me in the Winds!
http://youtu.be/P0VYWMcQFpc

Happy Trails!
~beads

Home Stretch

This year, many of the thru-hikers have had to patch together their hike because of challenging weather patterns.  Some hearty souls did hike through the snow, some continued on a lower route, and some avoided it all together by either waiting for going somewhere else on the trail to hike while the snow sorted itself out.  My 2 previous thru-hikes were straight through, no flipping or flopping like this year.  The decision was difficult was SO worth it in the end.  I now sit in Saratoga WY and plan to head to Battle Pass tomorrow to start my last chunk south into CO and back down to Ghost Ranch.

I just went through the Wind River Range: truly the best kept secret in Wyoming.  Massive crags of solid granite towered around me with endless high alpine lakes and glacial valleys.  Rivers glowed turquoise from glacial runoff.  The vegetation was thick and rich down below treeline with mosses and old man's beard clinging to every surface.  To get a better look check out my new video (getting posted soon) by clicking on the Donate Now button to your right.

Thanks for reading =-)
Happy trails!!!
~beads

Wyoming - Forever West

The last few days in Montana and Idaho proved to be one last hurrah by mother nature to make sure we don't forget our time there.  A 32 mile day to get up and over Mt Taylor only to sleep on a tiny saddle with wind howling and driving rain all night.  The next day was cold and wet, Kramers and I bushwhacked through miles of thick willows as I was wearing nearly everything I had with me.  We did, however, see 3 beautiful moose who were also out enjoying the brisk moist weather.  What a treat!

Thru-hikers love state lines.  We tend to mentally break down the monumental task of a thru hike into smaller pieces and state lines are a great goal.  I had been hiking in Montana since June 10th and it was absolutely awesome, but getting to Wyoming was a great feeling of accomplishment.  The MT/WY line is in western Yellowstone National Park and we literally get to walk in the back door of the most visited national park in the country.  The backcountry trails are used very little but when we get closer to a parking lot we can hear the traffic, then the trail suddenly gets 6 feet wide, then we can literally smell the bug spray of the day hikers before we see them.  Some tourists are very happy to say HI and GOOD MORNING but there are many who are not interested in making eye contact with scruffy backpackers.  Kramers, Handstand, MachineGun, and I arrived on the boardwalk smack in the middle of Biscuit Basin and spent 2 hours strolling 2 miles toward Old Faithful, weaving around sapphire blue hot springs and sputtering geisers.  It was incredible.  I had never visited Yellowstone before so it was a perfect opportunity to relax and play tourist for a little while.  Watch Old Faithful erupt. Cruise through the visitor center and read all the exhibits.  See the ranger programs.  And of course explore the super historic Old Faithful Inn.  For a moment I didn't feel like a hiker, sitting in the Old Faithful Inn by the fireplace with a Brandy Alexander while a fiddle player serenaded us from the 2nd floor balcony overlooking the massive central atrium.  Dusk came far too quickly and we had to scurry off to our campsite for the night.

After Old Faithful Village we continued through the park for another 50-ish miles before hiking into the Teton Wilderness.  We got hit with yet another weather system that was even colder than the last.  Isn't it July?!?! There was an entire day that didn't make it past 46 degrees and at night went into the 20s... again, I was wearing everything I had to stay warm.

The sun came out and warmed our faces, dried out tents, and we walked on into the Teton Wilderness.  A beautiful, remote area that was clearly heavily used by horse packers.  Sometimes hikers get frustrated with having to walk on endless uneven dried mud but in reality, we love horse country.  The trails are well maintained and easy to follow. We even get labeled intersections!!! What a treat!! 

A favorite little place was called Two Ocean Pass and the "Parting of the Waters".  There is a creek that literally hits a rock and splits into Atlantic Creek and Pacific Creek.  Yup, we threw in a stick to see which way it would go =-)

The next section from Togwotee Pass down into the Wind River Range will mark 2000 miles for me.  It's exciting.  Then I hitchhike around the Great Basin (I hiked that back in early June) and head into CO.  It's hard to believe I "only" have 800 miles left...

Thanks for reading =-)

Happy Trails!

~beads

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Smile Often :-)