CDT - Day 74 - Leaving Grand Lake
The extra day in town was exactly what I needed. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to get back on the trail. Grand Lake is a nice town, but it's not somewhere I could stay for very long. My first order of business was breakfast at Sagebrush BBQ. They opened at 7:00 a.m., and I was there right when the doors opened. I had been craving scrambled eggs and pancakes, and that's exactly what I ordered. After breakfast, I went back to my hotel, grabbed my pack, and hit the trail. I decided to take the Rocky Mountain National Park Alternate, which cuts about 20 miles off the route. It also meant I didn't have to spend the night inside the park, avoiding the need for both a camping permit and a bear canister. Most of the alternate passes through a large burn scar, and to be honest, I found it a little underwhelming. On the bright side, it made for relatively easy hiking, and I covered the miles quickly. The route took me through Rocky Mountain National Park, into the Never Summer Wilderness, and eventually over Bowen Pass. It rained on and off throughout the day. At one point, the rain turned into another heavy downpour, forcing me to stop and put on both my rain jacket and rain pants. By the end of the day, though, the sun had come back out. After 19.15 miles and 4,503 feet of climbing, I found a decent campsite and called it a day. The mosquitoes are becoming absolutely relentless out here, especially near water sources. I tried filtering water at a creek, but I was immediately swarmed. Instead, I filled my CNOC bag as quickly as I could and retreated to the safety of my tent, where I finished filtering my water in peace.