15-05-29.  Day 48. Amazing Terror – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

5:00 am and coffee and oatmeal. Yum. She-ra, Restless, #2, and I hiked to Elwood Pass where you can take the CDT or low route hiking forest service roads. It was a beautiful day… Bright and Sunny….  Humm…..

#2, Restless and I took the CDT high route. It was beautiful. Really. … The snow was firm and you could walk. Around 11:00 it all changed. The snowshoes sunk in 4 Inches and the terrain became challenging. We were to traverse along areas with tight couture lines… (60° +- slope) During the summer, no problem.  Now, 2 to 8 feet of snow….All wet and no trail. Between route finding and the effort to cross 60 degree slopes safety, my bucket of CDT adventure has been filled to the top. My knuckles were white as I gripped my Black Diamond Whippet Ice Axe. The snowshoes would slide sideways a foot or two and then stop. I had twenty feet to slide before I flew off the edge where I could not see where it landed. My heart was pounding out of fear and exertion. My snowshoes were post holing just like I was trying to walk in my boots.

When we got to Silver Pass I had fallen more than ten times. Three times face first down hill. Been off route more than on route. Glissading to try to return to the route.  Since it was getting late and there was more steep traverses ahead, we thought the morning ice would be to dangerous, so we cut down silver pass to FS 388 and to 390. As we where looking for a place to camp, we saw a huge elk and twenty-five yards away, a bear looking for some bugs to eat from a dead tree…

Amazing

Pass Creek next to FS 390.  16.75 Miles

#cdt #continentaldividetrail #cdt2015 #marktrail #marktrailcdt #marktrailhikes #marktrailrocks #thruhike #thruhiking #backpacking #triplecrown #colorado