6:27 am. I wake up to sun illuminating the side of our tent. This is unusual since the mountains usually block it. “It’s so bright!” says Britta, who is already awake. “Happy Fourth of July,” I say. While it may be a holiday elsewhere, on the trail it’s just another day, and we have miles to walk. I set our solar charger outside to give our phones some juice.

6:30 Our alarm rings. We eat breakfast and pack up.

7:25 We start hiking. First order of business is a mountain. A slippery snow bank covers a long stretch of the trail, so we go around. And up. I’m breathing like a walrus within seconds.

8:10 We meet a hiker descending. “I’m happy to be going down and not up,” he says by way of greeting.

8:35 We reach the top of Parkview Lookout at 12,300 ft.

After a moment at the top, we go down, down, only to have the trail climb again. It’s the law of the trail, just as sure and certain as one of Newton’s laws of physics: what goes down will eventually go back up.

10:00 We stop to eat some fruit roll-ups. The flies and mosquitoes are bad, so we soon start hiking again.

10:50 We stop to filter and do daily laundry at a small stream. I don’t want to lug a bunch of water up the next mountain, so I only filter two liters.

11:05 We start hiking again. Most of the trees we’ve been passing are dead due to the pine beetle epidemic. It’s been this way through much of Colorado, and I have to wonder what the trail will look like in a few years with most of the trees gone.

11:15 There are lots of raspberry bushes along this stretch…with only green berries. It’s a tragedy to rival Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

11:45 I expect to see the Troublesome Pass trailhead – where we’ve decided to eat lunch – around every bend.

11:50 I expect to see the trailhead around each bend.

11:53 I expect to see the trailhead around each bend.

11:58 We finally arrive at the trailhead. I set out the solar charger, and then eat tortillas with tuna and cheese. And peanuts. And candy. Yum.

1:00 pm. We pack up and start hiking again. The trail is steep.

1:50 The sky has clouded over and spits some rain. It’s hot, so it feels great. There’s a distant crack of thunder.

2:10 The trail climbs above the trees, and we walk in the wind and wildflowers along the side of a mountain.

2:30 “Do we actually have to climb that?!” Britta exclaims in dismay, looking at what appears to be the trail in the distance climbing up the tallest, steepest mountain in view.

3:00 We actually have to climb the mountain. In a happy twist, we don’t go all the way to the top, just up and along the side and over a pass.

3:30 We reach the top.

4:04 The trail has been going up and down, up and down. It would make a fine rollercoaster. I can’t speak for its merits as a trail.

5:15 We start looking for a campsite since the trail will soon start climbing steeply, and we’ve walked nearly twenty miles. We startle a ginormous porcupine, which bristles angrily. We give it space.

5:17 There is a sudden downpour of rain. We dash to set up the tent, but everything still gets a bit waterlogged. We dry things the best we can, and I filter water for dinner.

5:40 I take my shoes off. It is a glorious moment.

6:00 I eat cold-soaked ramen with peanuts on top. Britta was the one who first thought of adding peanuts, and now I can’t eat ramen without them. After I eat I journal and do one of Britta’s sudoku puzzles. Then I read using the Kindle app on my phone.

9pm. I drift off to sleep. It’s been a good day.

We’re now headed into Wyoming on a long stretch of trail, so I likely won’t be able to get another blog post up for around 10 days. It’s onwards to a new state!