June 25, 2021
Miles: 21.3 miles
Steps: 48,697
The rain had stopped as I was falling asleep but everything was still wet from yesterday, nothing had dried out. It was hard getting out of my sleeping bag and putting on wet clothes.
Swift and I finally got on trail a little after 6am. It was going to be an easy day. We had no real climbs as the trail was basically flat as a pancake compared to what we had done the last few days.
The trail seemed to be cleared of the blow downs but it didn’t take long. There weren’t that many but it does make it hard to hike as you have to stop and go around or over so makes the hiking take longer. It was no way as bad as yesterday. On the last big down tree I slipped and tore my rain pants, to be fair the rain pants are paper thin.
From there it was a hike down to the valley where the fog was lifting up so pretty cool to see. I was hoping for some sunshine to warm me up.
On the valley floor I passed lake after lake. I’m not sure which one was my favorite.
Most of the time I was just hiking right on the shoreline.
About 5 miles from town we decided to take a break right on the beach to let some of the gear dry out. Only took about 5 minutes before it started to rain again. Over the last hour it did look like rain to the north and could hear thunder.
The rain got us hiking again and it ended up not lasting that long.
Right as we were getting to Grand Lake the winds started to pick up and the rain started again and just like last time it only lasted about 5-10 minutes.
Once we got to the trailhead parking lot it was an easy walk to the grocery store to buy food for while I’m in town and resupply to get me to Steamboat Springs. Then it was off to the post office to pick up my mail box which I had been rushing to get to by today at 4pm otherwise I would have to wait around 2 full days. Also mailed home all my snow gear as I should be done with the snow.
With my box of food and mail I was off to a friend’s cabin where he is letting me stay for 2 nights while my body recovers after all those hard days.
Looking forward to relaxing, taking a shower and wearing clean clothes.
Had to say goodbye to Swift who I had hiked with for the last five days. It was nice to hike with someone who hikes around the same pace. I probably won’t get to see him again as he is going to really pick up the pace once he hits Wyoming.