Colorado Trail day 37
July 31, 2026
We woke up a bit after 6:00 and the sun rose around 6:15. We made hot drinks and tried Farm to Summit’s oat milk and granola for breakfast. We got on trail a bit before 8:30. A buck deer came near the camp, I think it was trying to eat the plants I had urinated on the night before. I saw similar behavior with a doe a couple days before - I guess some of the salt in the electrolyte mixes I drink must not be fully utilized.
Later that buck joined three others for a morning visit to the top of the nearby hill. I didn’t think the bucks spent time together, but this was like a morning meeting.
The granola was tasty but didn’t keep us full for long - after less than two miles we were looking for snacks. Granted, it was a tough couple of miles: we had to climb up and down a couple of very steep hills on the ridge we were following, Indian Trail Ridge.
Finally we climbed down near Taylor Lake. We stopped at a cute, tiny waterfall to filter some water. A short walk from the tiny creek coming out of the lake brought us to a trailhead parking area. We walked a bit further and stopped for another snack.
The trail climbed up to Kennebec Pass where there was a side trail that continued to an old mine with what looked like a somewhat modern house. I think it is the Muldoon mine.
The trail descended steeply across a huge talus slope. Snowmelt had eroded some parts - it was one of the scariest parts of the whole Colorado Trail. It’s also a south-facing slope with the sun shining, and the day was hotter than we have been used to for the past couple of weeks. We got down to some trees and stopped for lunch.
The trail continued dropping, generally not as steeply, down to Junction Creek. It follows the creek for a couple miles through a steep canyon with cliffs.
We stopped to filter some more water and wash some undergarments. With the heat we were going through our water faster than we grown used to. Eventually the trail crosses the creek on a bridge and then climbs up side of the canyon. Some of the climb was steep, and the footing and the slopes were tougher than the previous day - we started getting tired.
We had leapfrogged a cheerful young man a few times during the day. He told us August 1st is Colorado Day, and Colorado will be 150 years old when we finish the trail.
We found a nice campsite but realized we didn’t have enough water, so we ended up hiking another almost two miles to cross a creek and get more water, then found a little site near an aspen grove in a little saddle around 6:15.
15 miles over ten hours.