15-09-17  Day 158   One of the Hardest Days – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

I couldn’t sleep. Not a good thing. I have been hiking by myself and getting a little crazy. The coffee this morning for some reason was wonderful.  I waited a little longer to start as I was climbing from the start. 6:01 am and I was on the trail. I started at Bill Moore Lake 11,400 ft and climbed next to Breckenridge Peek 12,889 and watched the sun rise…..Then Mt Flora 13,132 ft. It’s a shame but the trail dropped to Berthoud Pass 11,315. Bummer.

There was a helicopter hauling concrete up the mtn for some avalanche control they were building….Hey I know what’s happening in the world! …..Yeah Right. I have no idea what’s going on and I think I don’t need to know…..

Now I climbed back up to 12,391 ft. and Stanley Mtn at 12,521. Hikers on the trail need water so instead of staying on the Divide, the trail dropped to 11,500 to a stream before starting back up to Mt. Nystrom 12,665 ft.

The trail ran around two no named peeks before reaching Jones Pass 12,400 ft. The trail then dropped down to 10,400 ft. where it followed Bobtail Creek up the drainage. This is where I stopped due to the trail climbing back up above tree line. Very exposed and taking a risk of weather, not a good thing to do. Looking forward to a great climb tomorrow morning. ….

Someone do the math and let me know how many feet I climbed… Thanks

Bobtail Creek.    23.7 Miles

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