On the Trail


7/16-  It's start day and the excitement is in the air!  The CT starts at around 5000' in a small suburb of Denver called Watertown.  The first 50 miles of the trail are in the foothills where the terrain is rugged, dry and hot. Temps in the 90's and limited shade make for tough but beautiful hiking.






7/17-  12 miles first day. Looking to do same today. Hotter than yesterday.  Coming into 10 mile stretch with no water.   Time to camel up!  I am able to carry 200 oz.  Water weighs 8 lbs per gallon. Do the math...Ouch!  Heading into area that burned in 1997.  Desert like and hot!






7/18-  Our first 13 mile day.  Pretty tired but plenty strong. Sleeping well-About 9 hours a night.  More foothills but mountains getting closer. Plenty of water. Meeting other through hikers. Mishu from NYC, Julie and Ed from Columbus, OH, Tom from Chicago, Frank from SanDiego, Tintin and Reku from Brussels. Good people!  All we need to worry about is walk, carry, eat, sleep and stay alive. I am blessed to be able to do this!  





H is struggling today. Dehydrated and overheating.  Lots of water, electrolytes and cold compresses from the Creek.  Gonna keep a close eye on him. 

7/19-  Hiked 4 miles to trailhead 10 miles outside of Bailey CO.  Two miles past trailhead H let's us know he is in trouble. Can't catch his breath, dizziness. Being a tough dog he wanted to push on but RM and I turned him around. I carried his pack back to the trailhead to find a ride for him into town to see a doc. RM walked him out. By the time they were back to the trailhead, RM was doing all he could to keep H upright. Luckily,  I was able to get a car to stop and take H and RM to town. No room for me or the gear. I needed to wait at the trailhead.   Scary moments  Once in town H was evaluated and evacuated by ambulance to Denver.   I had no cell service at the trailhead. I waited there over 6 hours before RM and his wife  Sharon came and picked me up. We were heading back to Fort Collins.  News on H was positive. Extreme dehydration and heat stroke was the diagnosis. He was released from the hospital around 9:30 pm and met us back in Fort Collins. He is out of commission for at least 2 weeks. Not sure what RM wants to do but I will take a couple days and head back out to the CT. Boys of summer flying in Saturday to hike the trail for a week- Minus our good friend H. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Hi All-  One of the things I love about adventuring is the wonderful people you meet along the way.  The picture above was taken at Rainbow Lake in the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  While on a week long backpacking trip we ran into this group of young people from all over the country who were attending a leadership training with the National Outdoor Leadership School, NOLS.  We were proud to stand among tomorrow's leaders.  We were also happy to give them a string of fish a some select chunks of cheese because they were a mighty hungry lot!  You'll notice Reanman and H standing to the left.  Just behind them are Fred and Mikey, two friends from Long Island.  The five of us along with a my brothers and a few other misfits make up a group of friends we refer to as the Boys of Summer or BOS.  The one woman who has braved travelling with the BOS is my lovely wife Brenda.  She has since given up wilderness tripping opting instead for warm hotel rooms when we travel.  For the pas
Read more

Hiking to End 68 Hours of Hunger

Image
Hiking to End 68 Hours of Hunger Hi, My name is Jim Eaves and I live in Deerfield, NH. I am a retired school principal and part-time adjunct faculty member in the Education Dept. at UNH-Manchester. One of my great joys since retiring has been the ability to hike throughout this beautiful state.  However, this summer, I have set my sights on a larger goal. I will be hiking the Colorado Trail, a 485 mile trek from Denver to Durango. The hike will take approximately six weeks and is the longest continuous trek I have attempted. I am hiking to challenge my physical capabilities, but I am also hiking to implore you to support a great cause- 68 Hours of Hunger . “68 Hours of Hunger is a private, not-for-profit, effort to confront the approximately 68 hours of hunger that some school children experience between the free lunch they receive in school Friday and the free breakfast they receive in school Monday.”  As a past school administrator, I am far too familiar with the damaging impact f
Read more
Image
There are three of us attemptng to hike the CT: Rea Kreider (aka- Reanman). Rea is a retired middle school guidance director from Fort Collins, CO. Rea has hiked extensively throughout North America. He has climbed Denali in Alaska and many of the 14,000 footers in CO. For his retirement celebration in 2015, he rode his bicycle coast to coast. To the left is a picture of Rea and I in the Zirkel Wilderness near Steamboat, CO. Reaman is our Zen master! Jeff Harbour (aka- H). Jeff recently retired as a project manager for HP and lives in Fort Collins, CO. He has backpacked throughout North America, and since retiring, loves to travel in his "Vango" around the country with his wife Sue. This is a picture of Jeff in the Winds Wilderness, Wyoming. H is our master food dehydrator. Yum! And me, Jim Eaves (aka- Nightscreamer- Just look at the mug. It explains it all!) I retired in 2016 after 34 years of teaching and serving as a school princip
Read more