After a nice evening having dinner with my father, stepmother, sister, and brother-in-law we slept pretty well, except for knowing about that 5 AM alarm clock.

We arrived at the trailhead chauffeured by my dad about 7:15. We got our obligatory photos at the trailhead sign and we were on the trail a couple minutes before 7:30. It was a cloudy morning and we started our walk in some rain showers. One of the showers was significant enough that we put our umbrellas up, but the other ones were all pretty short and light.

Morning rain shower in Waterton Canyon
Morning rain shower in Waterton Canyon

We did see some wildlife: we saw a group of deer right near the start of the trail, a Heron, and some cormorants. We were not able to see the elusive bighorn sheep that frequent the Waterton Canyon.

Cormorants on the South Platte River
Cormorants on the South Platte River - Waterton Canyon
Mile 5 - 1% done!
Mile 5 - 1% done! - Waterton Canyon

We finished the six basically flat miles on the Waterton Canyon Road in about three hours after a couple of short stops. Where the dam for the reservoir is there was a picnic shelter where we ate the first half of our subway sandwiches.

After that, the road begins to climb for about a half a mile, and then you leave the graded road and follow a sort of Jeep road for a short distance, and then it turns into a regular trail. Once you get on that trail, the climbing really begins. We climbed up to the top of a ridge and found a bench that was placed in memory of Lawrence Stilwell. This is known as Lenny’s rest. We took a little break here And then continued down the other side of the ridge towards Bear Creek.

Lenny’s Rest - Colorado Trail
Lenny’s Rest - Colorado Trail - Memorial bench for Leonard Southwell placed and maintained by Eagle Scouts

Bear Creek is still barely flowing and we stopped here to eat the other half of our sandwiches and filter some water for the rest of the trail today. A young man from Nashville arrived shortly after we did and also took a break and filtered some water so we had some good conversation with him. Interestingly, he seems to have read and/or seen a lot of the same things that we have so we have some similar gear and got a lot of the same information. We may not see him again on the trail because he is planning on doing a lot more miles per day than we are.

After leaving Bear Creek the trail climbs for about 4 miles. There are a lot of switchbacks and the slope is mostly gradual, but there were a few pretty steep sections and our legs were definitely wearing down. We took another break at the trails highest point for the day, which was at about trail mile 12.

Afternoon break on the Colorado Trail segment 1
Afternoon break on the Colorado Trail segment 1

Then the trail slowly switchbacked down toward the South Platte River, meeting it at about mile 16. We found a really nice camp spot just off the trail but tucked between some juniper trees, just a couple tenths of a mile before the river, around 6:00. Sixteen miles over ten and a half hours.

Our first campsite on the Colorado Trail
Our first campsite on the Colorado Trail

We were both pretty tired but we made a “boil in the bag dinner” and then walked down to the river to get some more water. By that time it was starting to get dark so we went to bed around 9:00. Unfortunately, it was around then that gusty winds started, and we tried to fall asleep as distant lightning flashed. It rained lightly for some time, but we managed to fall asleep.

Sunset on the South Platte River
Sunset on the South Platte River