Section 13-1: The Knife's Edge, Endless Ridgelines, Section-Hiker Saviors (22 photos, 2 videos)

Section 13 is 117.2 miles long and will be split into two sections. The first is 54.8 miles and runs from Wolf Creek Pass to NOBO marker 916.6. September 7th - 9th.

Day 76, 8.2 miles to South Fork Rio Grande (1,462.9 overall)

I tried to vacate my stealth camp spot nice and early and realized I had set up on a disc golf course. I went to the Peak Deli in town and enjoyed brekkie and lunch with a lot of photo editing and blog work in between. I then went to the public Hippie Dip Springs for a nice relaxing soak and soon met a wild dude who seemed a slightly schizophrenic and drove a Mad-Max styled Monte-Carlo. As the afternoon sun began to really heat things up I had enough of the springs and got packed up to hitch back to the trail. I walked to the edge of town and soon got a hitch with Mitch and Carrie. Their son had thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail a few years ago so they knew the deal. They were stopping at Treasure Falls on the way up the pass and invited me to tag along on the quick hike. Since the snow melt had come and gone, the falls were pretty underwhelming but it was a short walk with some fun scrambles. Rain clouds barreled over the pass and started dumping on us right after we got back in the car. On the rest of the way up, it turned to sleet and snow and was accompanied by loud claps of thunder.

The 105 foot tall Treasure Falls was barely a trickle.

They parked at the trailhead and said I was welcome to stay in the car to wait it out and I took them up on the offer. When the sleet lightened up and thunder subsided, I hit the trail. It was astounding how different the weather was down in Pagosa Springs, hot and sunny, but now up at Wolf Creek Pass it was freezing and snowing. Less than a mile into the hike, the rain returned with booming thunder so I set my tarp and hoped to wait it out. I wasn’t sure if I was about to hike back up to an exposed ridge and that is no place to be in a thunderstorm. After about an hour the weather calmed down and I could finally hike on. I passed a tree that had been hit by lightning and caused it to explode into splintery 2x4s. I made it to my planned campsite, ate dinner, and fell asleep to distant elk bugles.

Day 77, 15.5 miles to NOBO marker 885.5 (1,478.4 overall)

I forced myself to hit the trail early and make some miles before the forecast of afternoon rain arrived. I met some section hikers at Archuleta Lake where I was stopping for lunch #1 and to get water. I climbed past Mount Hope and it remained chilly out but I was glad that I had packed out liner gloves for this state. I caught up to the section hikers as they were debating to go over this small pass, just below 13,000 feet, before the ominous clouds began dropping rain. We all went for it and my superior trail legs allowed me to pull into the lead on the way up. High winds and hail were waiting on the other side of the pass. It was miserable. We all practically ran down the other side and the rain stopped when we got below 12,000 feet. I stopped to get water from a creek and was feeling terrible that I was just going to be soaked and cold for the rest of the day. The section hikers were my savior because they were carrying a saw and some lighter fluid and had made a raging midday bonfire to dry us out and warm us up. We did so for about two hours. It was amazing. I hiked with this group (Ron, Eric, Travis, Matt, and Matt’s dog Tucker) for a couple more miles before we set camp. It was great being in a group and being able to divide chores; water fetching, wood gathering, fire making, etc. We made another absurdly large fire and continued to dry out our gear. Matt found a huge King Bolete mushroom that we cooked up as we shared stories and chilled by the fire.

Midday fire to dry out the feet, socks, shoes, soul, etc

Day 78, 31.1 miles to NOBO marker 916.6 (1,509.5 overall)

I was awake early and enjoyed brekkie in bed and read a little bit before joining the others around a morning fire. I was planning to hike 30 miles today to make up for two short days in a row so I wound up saying goodbye to the gang. They were lolligagging and taking their sweet time, a luxury one does not get on a thru-hike. After about a mile I reached a deliciously cold stream where I cameled up and set off to blast 9.5 miles to the Knife’s Edge. There were quite a few ridges and gorgeous views along the way but I was super pumped to get to this feature and rock hop along the edge. I got some water at a trickling stream, bushwhacked up a bowl to the ridge, and was greeted by a coyote at the top. It felt like he was the keeper at the start of a level in a video game. The Knife’s Edge was tons of fun, sheer 100ft cliffs on either side at spots, some scrambles, some rock hops, and insane views all around. At one point, the climb to stay on the ridge was all loose rock and I was actually scared. My NOBO flip flop isolated me from hikers, the section hikers definitely were staying on the official trail and not coming up here, so a slip or fall could be the end of Space Jam. I took a break to calm my nerves but afterwards I decided to bail and skirt around this section of ridge. It was also loose rock but was predictable and had some vegetation holding the ground together. Further along I found a lava tube that offered some nice shade for a lunch break. I kept bounding along the ridge, happy as could be just loving trail life. until it rejoined the CDT.

The Knife’s Edge! 4 minute music video above, extended 20-minute version below

High up on the Knife’s Edge, looking down at Cherokee Lake and beyond.

I took a break in the shade of the lava tube.

There was a 1,600ft climb that was luckily broken into two sections and I tried to keep a steady and fast pace to reach 30 miles before dark. The Knife’s Edge slowed me down quite a bit but was well worth it. I eventually accepted that I would be night hiking and kept cruising on along more beautiful ridgelines. I passed a few tents and was glad that the hikers were inside because at the moment I would rather crush miles than make small talk. After another small climb it was time to bust out the headlamp. I went a few more miles and then stopped to cook a romantic dinner for one under the moonlight. I got to a flat area with good living hammock trees and thought about calling it a day but it was only 29 miles in. I was being stubborn and kept going. I hiked by moonlight for a bit after I crossed the North Fork Los Pinos River and then realized I would be doing more than 30 miles. The trees here were all dead from an invasive beetle and the trail was cut into a steep slope so there were just no options. I had to go all the way down to the edge of a meadow to find a decent site. Even then I hung up near some dead trees.