Colorado Trail day 23
July 17, 2026
It was a very calm night and we slept pretty well. We got up a bit after 6:00 and felt like two rounds of hot drinks would go well with our protein bars. We got on trail at 8:45.
We walked a couple miles in the big open area and found a couple bars of Verizon service as we crested a hill. We stopped for a while to check emails and make some lodging reservations in Lake City.
It started getting hot as the thin early morning clouds dissipated and we were walking in sagebrush country. We were glad when the trail (still a cattle access road) turned up a valley and entered a large forest of aspen trees.
We climbed over a ridge and dropped down into the Cochetopa Creek valley. The trail follows this creek upstream for twenty miles or more. Where we entered the valley it was fairly wide with numerous beaver dams causing the creek to curve back and forth. Some very dark clouds were further up the valley. Unfortunately a major feature of this valley is cow dung - the smell is pervasive.
We walked a few miles up along the creek and stopped in a nice aspen grove for lunch. We got our tortillas wrapped around cheese and salami with mayonnaise and mustard and had just started eating them when it started raining. We put on rain gear and finished eating.
Shortly afterwards the trail crosses the creek. There was a bridge at one time but it apparently washed out quite a while ago. It didn’t look like there was any way across without wading so we took our shoes off and waded across in our camp shoes.
We caught up with a guy we’d talked to earlier in the day filtering water at the crossing. We stopped to filter as well and Greg, who we’d met above the Breckenridge ski area, caught up with us.
We continued on, now on the west side of the creek, and saw that the beavers have been taking trees from surprisingly far up the side of the valley. In about a mile we entered the La Garita Wilderness Area. Unfortunately the cows range on the Wilderness.
After about four more miles we arrived at the Eddiesville trailhead, which is the start of segment 20. We used the vault toilet there, then continued across the road to re-enter the La Garita Wilderness Area.
We’d read about a nice campsite about a mile and a half in from the road - unfortunately it was already occupied at 5:15. We walked another couple miles before finding a nice-looking campsite.
We set up the tent and were working on dinner when Greg caught up with us. We joked a bit about how noisy the cows were being and he mentioned that he plays the flute. He serenaded us a bit and maybe it was a coincidence that the cows got closer and noisier?
Greg moved on as the skies darkened and he was still looking for a site. As we finished “cooking” (waiting for the boiling water we’d added to the bag to do its job) our Three Bean Chile with cornbread it started raining. We moved into the tent to eat.
Not long afterwards one of the cows showed up and seemed very curious about our stove and other smells around the camp. I went out and shooed it away but they are a little intimidating.
We needed to filter some more water, but we went down to the Cochetopa Creek and it smelled strongly of cow poop, and we watched the cows crossing creek and peeing in the water. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to filter that water and decided to minimize use until the next water source.
15.3 miles in nine hours, mostly fairly easy walking.