Indian Hills 0 mi :: 693 mi :: Foggy, light rain We pick up the car and race around doing errands today. All but one possible oil leak in the transmission, which would be a major job, have been fixed. The mechanic shows me all the parts he replaced and the replacement parts, which I…

Indian Hills 0 mi :: 693 mi :: Afternoon showers We drop the car off at the shop this morning for some fairly major oil leak repairs. We make our budget plan. It looks like we have enough money if I can make it to Canada in October, which means 20 mile days. On the…

Pagosa Springs to Indian Hills 0 mi :: 693 mi :: Afternoon sprinkles We pick up our packages at the post office, but forget to ask if they have a CDT logbook. We’re dying to know what the hikers ahead of us have to say about the San Juans. Soon enough we’re at my Dad’s…

Pagosa Springs 0 mi :: 693 mi :: Sunny, hot It’s Sunday, of course, so we can’t pick up our package. Because we’re concerned about budgeting for our new plans, we don’t do our usual town-feast-splurge either. We eat our last pack breakfast, thankful that it doesn’t taste like citronella. The great news of the…

Adams Fork Headwater to Pagosa Springs 8 mi :: 693 mi :: Sunny, warm Thankfully the night passes without too much wind, and we stay reasonably warm. The only problem is that the space blanket bag Ann used got her bag wet with condensation. We’ll have to remember to dry it today or she’ll freeze…

Middle Fork Conejos River to Adams Fork Headwater 8 mi :: 685 mi :: Sunny, gusty, cool The morning spares us some of the usual sufferings. It’s a little warmer than usual (but still cold enough to freeze my boots). Our morning trail is on a southern slope, which eases our snow difficulties. There’s a…

Trail Lake Pass to Middle Fork Conejos River 12 mi :: 677 mi :: Sunny, windy, cold We repeat our freezing morning ritual after a stormy night. The meadows are seas of ice and grass, and the snow is rock hard. Thankfully the terrain isn’t too steep to begin with, but nonetheless we haven’t gone…

Flat Mountain Ridge to Trail Lake Pass 12 mi :: 655 mi :: Windy, cold, stormy The wind has calmed during the night, but it’s much colder in the morning, even after the sun hits us at 5 am on our ridge. I roust myself and try to don my hiking clothes without exposing too…

Chama to Flat Mountain Ridge 8 mi :: 643 mi :: Sunny, warm Once again we start the race to checkout time. We pile all the stuff we need to mail in my backpack and head to the Village Bean for another breakfast. Again Denise puts a big smile on our faces with her perfect…

FR117, Colorado to Chama 10 mi :: 635 mi :: Sunny, hot It’s an easy couple of miles to CO17. We decide to walk another two miles to Cumbres Pass because we guess that’s where the next segment will begin. There’s a little railroad station for the Cumbres and Toltec narrow guage rail line on…