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Segment 3 is almost 13 miles long. I hiked most of it the day before. There really isn't anything special about segment 3 but it was fairly easy hiking. I was up and moving before 0800. It was cloudy and 56f and segment 4 was just around the corner.
Rolling Creek Trailhead is off of Wellington Lake Rd, a dirt, forest service road. There is a small parking area here. This is also the access to the town of Bailey about 8 miles away. A resupply option for those hiking the Colorado Trail. I was glad that I opted to go to Buffalo Creek instead of Bailey. There were 2 vehicles at the trailhead but the road did not appear to be busy at all. Might've been a long wait.
Within 2 miles is Lost Creek Wilderness. No bikes are allowed in Wilderness Areas so I thought that this would be the most spectacular part of the trail yet. It wasn't. It actually reminded me of the Appalachian Trail. It was through the woods with lots of rocks, roots, blowdowns and stepovers. I wasn't sure if a bike could even make it through. To me it was the most difficult part of the trail to this point. There were also some steep, rocky dirt road walks as well.
6 miles to get through the Wilderness and after about 5 miles made it over 10,000 ft for the first time. A very large meadow was next up. Even though it started to rain, hiking through the meadow was nice. Decent camping possibilities in the rain were few but I was on the lookout. If it hadn't been raining there were probably plenty of good sites, but the rain changes perspective. Finally settled on a spot on the edge of the meadow. Once the rain stopped, the mosquitoes came out in full force.
Whilst Rosie was taking pictures of purple orchids, she noticed a little tiny (less than 2" long) millipede in the grass. Turns out there were quite a few about. They're tricky to shoot, but a moment's work with a twig to pick him up and a flash to light him and I got this.
SB25, 1/32 power and bare, camera left.
A segment of the Berlin wall in the Microsoft offices at Redmond - Washington
List of Berlin Wall segments
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Berlin_Wall_segments#United...
Klink launches Klink in the Messaging market segment during DEMO Fall 2014 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California, on Thursday, November 20, 2014. Klink is a sales productivity solution that provides real-time customer intelligence for the voice channel. For more information on Klink please visit bit.ly/DEMO-Klink. Complete coverage of DEMO, New Tech Solving Big Problems, can be found at bit.ly/DEMOsite. Photo by Stephen Brashear (www.stephenbrashear.com)
Today was to be the last day of this section hike. I still had over 15 miles of hiking to make it to Goldhill Trailhead, and then to Breckenridge where my car was parked at the Bivvi Hostel. The morning was chilly but the sun was shining as I began to hike.
The closer I got to Breckenridge I started to notice thousands of down trees. There were criss-crossed tangled trees everywhere. It was real a blight on the landscape. Initially, I didn't know the cause. I thought maybe a new ski area was planned and the crew they sent to clear the mountain went a little overboard. Many of the trees were just on the side of the trail, but eventually someone started making what I assumed were pyres for burning. It really was shocking to see so much devastation.
As I was hiking through, I encountered some bikers who knew the cause. Evidently there has been a Mountain Pine beetle infestation. It is an epidemic which has covered over a million acres in both Colorado and Wyoming. The beetles burrow into the bark and lay eggs. As the eggs hatch, they eat the bark, thereby killing the tree. Very destructive.
I made it to Goldhill Trailhead which is still several miles from Breckenridge (Frisco is also accessible from here). Fortunately, not far away is a bus stop where I caught a free bus ride (which also goes to Frisco). It didn't go all the way to the hostel, but it was close enough. I had thought to stay at the hostel but I had not made a reservation and they were booked. (The Bivvi appears to be a very nice and clean hostel, but not just for hikers. All Breck visitors are welcome, so if you plan to stay, call ahead for a reservation.)
Overall, I was hiking for 7 days. I hiked segments 1-6 on the Colorado Trail. For anyone planning a long distance hike, these segments are a great introduction to the CT. Some difficult spots but some easy hiking as well. Awesome scenery without spending too much time above treeline. It was a great hike; I was ready for more!
Segment 3 is almost 13 miles long. I hiked most of it the day before. There really isn't anything special about segment 3 but it was fairly easy hiking. I was up and moving before 0800. It was cloudy and 56f and segment 4 was just around the corner.
Rolling Creek Trailhead is off of Wellington Lake Rd, a dirt, forest service road. There is a small parking area here. This is also the access to the town of Bailey about 8 miles away. A resupply option for those hiking the Colorado Trail. I was glad that I opted to go to Buffalo Creek instead of Bailey. There were 2 vehicles at the trailhead but the road did not appear to be busy at all. Might've been a long wait.
Within 2 miles is Lost Creek Wilderness. No bikes are allowed in Wilderness Areas so I thought that this would be the most spectacular part of the trail yet. It wasn't. It actually reminded me of the Appalachian Trail. It was through the woods with lots of rocks, roots, blowdowns and stepovers. I wasn't sure if a bike could even make it through. To me it was the most difficult part of the trail to this point. There were also some steep, rocky dirt road walks as well.
6 miles to get through the Wilderness and after about 5 miles made it over 10,000 ft for the first time. A very large meadow was next up. Even though it started to rain, hiking through the meadow was nice. Decent camping possibilities in the rain were few but I was on the lookout. If it hadn't been raining there were probably plenty of good sites, but the rain changes perspective. Finally settled on a spot on the edge of the meadow. Once the rain stopped, the mosquitoes came out in full force.
Last segment of trail to the Sleeping Giant. You can see the Kauai red soil here.
www.everytrail.com/guide/sleeping-giant-nounou-mountain-k...
CO (Chaffee County)
Day 9
Salida, CO to Avalanche Trailhead (Segment 13) to random campsite (Segment 12)
Darryll arrived on time with his son, Adam, and then we met Brenda and Satori at Princeton Hot Springs. They dropped off a car there. It took much longer to get to their trailhead. I was dropped off at Avalanche trailhead (once we found it) about 3 miles away. Thanks for the rides.
The climb from Avalanche was pretty tough but manageable, of course. My knee did start to hurt though. Brenda had given me some wrap to try which I will tomorrow. At the top it was not above treeline. Mount Yale was nearby. It looked like a nice place to camp.
The downhill was also tough but OK. I met 2 groups doing trail maintenance. Thanks for the Hard Work! One was at Silver Creek trailhead. I stopped and helped them move a rock and then I took a short break.
It started to rain, so I started hiking in Segment 12 now. The rain didn't last but maybe 5 minutes though. It was a long haul to the top, about 9 miles where I finally set-up camp. No other rain threatening until now. I actually though I might get a sunset. Oh well!
I did see a handful of hikers, so everyone didn't do the West side, which I would have suggested. 16.1 total miles for the day.
Current USAID Microenterprise Development office Director Shari Berenbach films a segment for the 2010 SEEP Annual Conference with former MD office Directors Beth Rhyne and Kate McKee. The segment was moderated by The SEEP Network Executive Director Bill Tucker.
Credit: Lindsay Levin, USAID KDMD Project