top of page

Day 84: 10/16/17  Durango to the woods!


Miles: 23.2 Steps: 44,907 Vertical gain: 2,847 ft. Liquid consumed: 121 oz. Wildlife: Cattle, that’s really all I think I saw other than some humans. Faith in Humanity:Roby, you’re awesome. Thanks so much for letting me stay 2 nights at your house. Great getting to know you, hope we can stay in touch! Well, I woke up and although it might be nice to stay longer, I need to keep on moving along. I did sleep in a bit though and hit the road at about 9:15 I wanted to comment about my pace: it has slowed! Haha. It seems like I had a blistering pace until Northern CO but since then I have been going much slower. A couple times I’ve thought how I’m going too slow, blah blah. The reality is: this is a super long trip. While I do need to be very cautious about finances I also really need to listen to my body and stay healthy! I also need to have fun! I was offered a free condo in Winter park: why not stay a few days and enjoy it? Why not go to the ALDHA-WEST Gathering and get incredibly inspired by other thru hikers (it was amazing!). Why not take some days off immediately afterwards with my friend from the AT? Why not take a few days since I had Giardia and go to the doctor(this one I could have skipped, but at the same time I’m glad I didn’t just continue on hiking sick). Why not take a day off in Durango is my ankle is sore? So many times I feel like I should be going fast. The reality: I don’t care about my pace! Sure I want to finish (badly!), but I also love people. It’s so fun to see what someone’s life is like, what their town is like, and so much more. I love exploring towns and hiking. So why not do both when I can? Anyway, I had low expectations for today. Turns out; today was a great day on the road! First 3 miles had sidewalks and the rest of the day had huge shoulders the whole way. Much lower traffic too, so I finally got to put my earphones in and listen to some podcasts. Good times. Very good, honestly! 12 miles in was a convenience store. The very same convenience store that ultimately led me to living in CO for 8 years!I rode a bicycle to that store and met a couple who agreed to store my bike for the summer and drop me off at the Colorado Trail the next day. So great! Thank you! I wasn’t really all nostalgic or anything when I was there, but it really did have quite an impact on my life I suppose. Interesting... A few miles past the store and I made it to National forest! There’s free camping and even a dirt road that parallels the highway for a while without adding mileage! Perfection! Excited to meet my hosts tomorrow and really hoping the Riad shoulders stay wide! Another great day!


25 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page