Ellen S - Continental Divide Trail Journal - 2017

Day 26

The rain eased up around 5:30 last night. ??We talked about heading down the trail a couple more miles, but decided to stay in our perfect campsite (rather than head to an unknown site). ??Turns out it was a good decision as the next water was in a meadow with no shelter from the storm.We were out of camp this morning by 5:30. ??We hoped to reach the highway before the rain returned. ??Hitching in wet rain gear would make for a tougher hitch...who wants to let soggy hikers in their car?We hiked in the pre-dawn light with a full moon. ??We descended our drainage and entered the largest meadow yet. ??The trail was marked well enough that we found our way, although it was a bit soggy.From there, we gradually climbed into forest and the 11,000 ft mark. ??I was surprised; I thought that at that elevation we would be hiking open slopes again. ??Most of the rest of the day we were in forest.We came out on a dirt road with many downed trees. ??We questioned that we were on course, but the app said we were. ??So we slowed our pace as we cambered over, under and around the trees. ??The road and trail were muddy from the rains. ??On the trail, there were a lot (30-40) trees to get around. ??And here we thought today would be an easy day!Eventually we reached the N Mexico/Colorado border. ??Not signed as such, but it's the boundary between 2 different forest service units. ??Shortly after that, we came out at the top of a cliff that looked down on the meadows near Cumbres Pass. ??There is a narrow gauge railroad as well as a highway that goes over the pass. ??We could see the steam powered locomotive chugging up the grade.The descent to the Pass was gradual. ??And of course, a final uphill was thrown in. ??We could see and hear a storm approaching. ??We lost no time hitting the highway with our thumbs out. ??We got a great ride from the third car to go by. ??A young mechanic from Farmington dropped us off in Chama.??We ate linner at one of the restaurants, then went and picked up our car at the start of our hike. ??Tonight, we get to relax at a motel in Chama.


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Entry 35 of 35
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