Section 16 is 92.2 miles long and runs from Tennessee Pass to Interstate 70. However, this day was hands down one of the best of the entire CDT and was so jam packed with gorgeous scenes, ruins, wildlife, and peaks that it required it’s very own post. September 26th.
Day 95, 18.1 miles to I-70 and a hitch to Dillon, CO
I slept in until 8 because I had such a tiresome bit of night hiking. There were a lot of campsites and decaying cabins along the primitive road and after a mile or so I saw the remains of a massive 3-story mill, part of the abandoned Pennsylvania Mine. I couldn’t pass this up so I hopped across Peru Creek and got my feet wet cutting across a marshy area. I took tons of photos and videos and loved the aesthetic of this place. When I left, I realized there was a nice gravel road and bridge I could have taken and kept my feet dry, oh well. The trail looped around a huge bowl to the South of Grays Peak (the highest point on the entire CDT) and various mining remains dotted the landscape. It got windier and windier as I climbed up and got to hike along another sketchy knife-edge ridge.
Abandoned mill of the Pennsylvania Mine.
First Floor.
This old mill has seen better days.
Loading structure further up Peru Creek.
Peru Creek.
The final push to the top was steep and exhausting and being above 14,000 feet certainly did not help. A mountain goat was sitting next to the trail and stared at me as I went by, like he was a gatekeeper to the final level. I had the 14,278 tall Grays Peak all to myself when I arrived. I took a shot of Breckenridge whiskey I packed out and enjoyed the endless views. I was soon joined by the CEO of a company that, just this day, launched a heart rate monitor that pairs to a phone app. He flew to Denver from Switzerland, drove up here, and hiked to the summit so he could show off the new product to his investors. I took a video for him. He left right afterwards and I got back to admiring the views. I then hiked down to the saddle, dropped my pack, and ran up Torreys Peak to conquer my second 14’er of the day. I got some more pictures and hastily returned to my pack before marmots showed up and chewed through it. I walked right passed another mountain goat on the way and got some more amazing photos.
Peru Creek from above.
Grays Peak (left) and Torreys Peak (right)
Gate Keeper of the 14’ers.
14,270 feet above sea level.
Standing on top of Grays Peak (with Torreys Peak behind me)
Standing on top of Torreys Peak (with Grays Peak behind me)
Prints for Sale!
Click photo to go to the Print Shop
I made quick work of the heavily trafficked path to the trailhead and saw an elusive White-Tailed Ptarmigan on the way. I wanted to get some better shots of it but remembered the last time I attempted to get some close-ups of a ptarmigan, it attacked me. I was hoping to find some day-hikers to give me a ride to Dillon but it was a ghost town. I begrudgingly hiked another several miles to where the trail crosses highway 70 and got a hitch from an old guy in a Geo Metro. The rest of the traffic was flying by way too fast to consider stopping for a hitchhiker but his roller skate-of-a-car was topping out at about 30mph. He dropped me in town and I was dead tired. I got a room at the Super 8 and went on a quick walk to the Cheeba Hut which had amazing sub sandwiches. The past few days had so much adventure that I was completely tuckered out and could not remember the last time I craved a bed so bad. I slept like I was dead that night.
The elusive and camera shy White-Tailed Ptarmigan.