The long awaited Colorado Trail finally happened today. After spending a bit of time organizing gear, one last supermarket run, and a quick breakfast, we were on trail hiking through the beautiful (but exposed) Waterton Canyon by 9:15 am. Our first 6.5 miles were basically a very sunny dirt road walk along the South Platte River, which happens to also be Denver's main water supply. We took frequent breaks to get out of the sun, hydrate, and of course read the interpretive signs! We saw our first bighorn sheep sighting pretty early in the day, and then we saw several other ones looking down on us from the rocks above. 
The worst part of the day for me was the climb from the road up to the first ridge, it was super hot, sunny, and exposed (and I'm pretty out of shape!). However, once I cooled my feet and face off in teh creek at lunch, I was good to go the rest of the afternoon. I'm definitely struggling on the uphill, ut cruising pretty good on the downhill. Even with our many breaks today, we were in camp by 5 pm. We had plenty of time to set-up camp, filter water, and cook dinner before the rain settled in. Elevation: 6,240.
Day 2: 19.7 miles from the South Platte River to Buffalo Creek
Whew - what a day! We were up at the crack of dawn to get as many miles in as possible before it gets too hot. overall, we did great! The terrain was uphill most of the morning, bu the scenery was spectacular and we stopped for lots of breaks. The best break was when we made some tea and dried out our tents from the rainy/dewy night before. We passed one hiker on the trail right before lunch that seemed to be carrying way too much stuff and was almost out of water. Unfortunately, we didn't have any to spare because we had budgeted just enough to get us to the next water source. We were thrilled when we saw him make it to the next source, just as we were topping off. The sun was pretty brutal today. That in combination with the sandy trail/road beds and the high mileage have created several painful blisters on my feet - two right on the balls of my feet - ouch! So I did some creek soaking and doctoring and was able to make it all the way to camp. We met two other Colorado Trail thru-hiker hopefuls just before making camp. Didn't catch their names, but hope to see them tomorrow. It started to rain just as we were setting up camp so I quickly rinsed off in the creek and then dove for the tent before it really camp down. Another day in paradise here!
Day 3: 18.7 miles from Buffalo Creek to alpine meadow saddle
The best part of today was the beautiful alpine meadow we walked through all afternoon after taking a quick skinny dip in Lost Creek. :) It was so cold, but so refreshing! The meadow went on for miles, with wildflowers as far as the eye could see. I know Dinosaur would have loved it! We definitely earned our picturesque afternoon after a bit of a hard morning. I think the altitude was affecting me as I puked twice, once at 8,000 feet and again during a long hard climb at 10,000 feet. But it was all worth it and I was feeling much better when we got to a really beautiful campsite. We had company tonight, a 69 year old hiker named Tally-mama. She is also thru-hiking and she inspired us all with her traveling stories. I hope I'm as cool as her one day! Guthook treated us to dessert tonight - backpackers apple pie!
--- Right before I went to sleep, I started getting really sick. I got some really bad shakes and threw up about 5 times. Guthook and Squirrel were super sweet to me and helped me feel better. After about two hours of that, I was able to sort of fall asleep.
Day 4: 6 miles from alpine meadow campsite into town
I woke up feeling really bad and not able to really keep much down. We were trying to hike 16 miles to Kenosha Pass and then head to town, but I just wasn't feeling it. We were able to get to a forest service road and hitch with a very nice trail angel all the way to the town of Fairplay, CO. She was already driving two other hikers (one who also had really bad altitude sickness) to town and happily gave us a ride. From Fairplay, we got another hitch to Breckenridge, where a friend of a friend of ours was staying near by. Now we're recovering in town with our new friend Grasshopper who is so kindly letting us stay at her rented condo (she's at a conference here).
Total Mileage on Colorado Trail: ~60 miles
