7/17 - Razor Creek   Miles Today: 25 Total Miles: 99.4

Ho hum... what another BORING day on the Colorado Trail. I swear, I am going to beat everyone that told me that this was a cool trail! That isn’t to say that there is not some really cool stuff on this trail, because there has been some really nice stuff. However, a lot of the good stuff is connected by 20 miles of old jeep roads, which is really no fun at all.

Take today for example. Marshall Pass is a parking lot, with some nice views as you climb about the divide for a bit before dumping back into the trees. Next, the trail went past Antera Peak, which is also very nice. From there, it was eight miles of old jeep roads to arrive at Sargents Mesa, which had some nice views of all the mountains that I was leaving behind.

Long story short, this part of the trail is very unspectacular. To boot, I hiked 25 miles today without seeing ONE OTHER PERSON. Yup, 25 miles and I was my only company, certainly a situtation that I am not accustomed to. I was as lonely as lonely can be today. Thankfully, I found a couple camped out here at Razor Creek to talk to. Buddy and Vericona were very nice, and I had a good time talking with them. Otherwise, I think that I would have gone insane today.

So what is the point of all this? I think that I am going to get off the trail tomorrow and rearrange my vacation a bit. The fact that the trail has been largely unimpressive so far along with the fact that there is no one to talk with on the trail, in camp, etc... is slowly driving me insane. I thought of my Wyoming trip today, and how badly on that last day that I wanted to get into town. That was only a week, and that was the most impressive scenery that I have ever seen.

I guess that I learned something here, that I am definitely not a solo long-distance hiker kind of guy. I don’t need someone to hike with, but I do need people to talk to, to share stories with, etc... The social aspects to these trips are apparently just as important to me as the trail and sunsets and the views. Its an interesting revelation, actually, since I always figured that I was tougher, and that I didn’t need anything else than a trail to hike and a pack to carry.

Oh yea, did I happen to mention that the next 40 MILES of the trail are entirely on old Forest Service roads? Yea, two entire days of hiking on lowland roads through grazing lands. Wow, does that sound like fun or what? In case you can't tell, I am in a bad mood.

And I should correct myself, today wasn’t all bad. There were some very nice views after Marshall Pass, and I got to see a big, male Elk today while hiking on one of those miserable roads. I was amazed at just how big his rack was, and at how completely silently he moved through the forest.

As for what I am going to do tomorrow? I haven’t a clue. Part of me wants to suck it up and keep hiking, as there are some very nice sections coming up in the next couple of days. But another part of me is not having a good time, and this is my vacation, and I should be having a good time. I could hike some 14ers, mountain bike parts of the CDT, even do some backpacking in wilderness areas. I dunno what to do, I guess I’ll sleep on it.

- Chomp

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