Waymaker on the Colorado Trail - Day 2

Friday, July 25, 2025

1/2 way through section 2 - mile 22.5 / 2200 feet of vertical climb 

Isaiah 3 - 4

Today was a tough one.  Heat, altitude, and severe climbs combined to wear me down fast.  The day started well, with some prophetic words from Isaiah concerning the Branch of the Lord - an early foretelling of Jesus.  That was the good part.  

From there I filled my water up at the South Platte River and headed up and up and up.  The climb took me through a burn area with no shade for miles.  By the time I had hiked 9 miles I was almost out of water and beat.  I pitched my tent just before a raging thunderstorm came through, so I was glad i stopped.  Tomorrow will be more downhill and level ground, so should be easier.

Until next time….














Comments

  1. Tim ReynoldsJuly 30, 2025 at 4:03 PM

    Wow some beautiful pictures here Mike. Sounds like a rough day Glad you made it praise God

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waymaker on the Colorado Trail 2025 - Introduction

Image
  Greetings and Blessings! This blog is to chronicle my upcoming thru hike attempt of the Colorado Trail this summer (July/ August 2025).  After thru hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2021 (2193.1 miles), and hiking 450 miles of the Florida Trail in sections from 2022 to 2024, I was looking for a new challenge to undertake in 2025 for my 66h year on this planet.  While watching a video compilation of a friend's (Anvil) hike of the Colorado Trail in 2023, I felt a pull to undertake this endeavor as well, and gain a new perspective on the natural glory of God's creation.   After consulting with my wife Carolyn, and discussing the logistics with Anvil (Micah Faustin - a fellow AT thru hike alumnus), I decided to move forward with this thru-hike. The Colorado Trail is a hike through the Rockies from Denver to Durango that covers approximately 500 miles. It encompasses high mountain lakes and towering peaks of six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges while climbi...
Read more

Waymaker on the Colorado Trail - Day 6

Image
Tuesday July 29, 2025 Mile 70.6 Kenosha Pass - end of Section 5 Isaiah 11 - 12 Short day today as I headed into Kenosha Pass by 11:30 to meet back up with Micah.  Having a support system for this first part of the hike has truly been a blessing.  My day started early as usual, with moderate weather (50’s in the morning and mid 70s by the afternoon).  Quite a scenic day compared the last few, and I’m told that this area pales in comparison to what’s to come. A few of the high points: someone had assembled a bunch of stones into spelling out “Durango”  with an arrow, just in case a hiker was unsure of where they were heading; my first glimpse of snow topped peaks, which I’ll be climbing through for the first time in several more days; and meeting four other thru hikers while sitting around at Kenosha enjoying soda and fruit at a trail magic set up in the parking area.  They had all also hiked the Appalachian Trail a few years ago, so we swapped hiking stories. Mic...
Read more

Waymaker on the Colorado Trail - Day 10

Image
Saturday August 2, 2025 Mile 124.4 - Sections7 & 8 Isaiah  19-20 It’s starting to become apparent to me that despite my best intentions, I’m not averaging the miles per day I had planned on.   After 10 days on the trail, I’m only at mile 124.  The various factors that I have mentioned previously have made the schedule very difficult to maintain.  I still have some padding in the plan with zero (no hiking) or NERO (minimal hiking) to allow for some catch up.  Please pray that I have some fruitful days ahead. Today was a good example of best intentions.  I started out early from the ridge line, brushing the ice off of my tent and took the long climb down into Copper Mountain Resort.  The trail passes right through the resort, traversing inactive ski slopes and brushing the edge of the complex.  I dipped down and had me a breakfast burrito at the resort at about 9 am, with about 7 miles behind me.  I planned to hike another 7 or 8 miles by l...
Read more