Day 26 Dry creek to highway 50

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Mileage: 14 miles

Elevation: 9,800

Weather: cloudy and raining.. Brr.. Cold

Last night was brrr cold. We had dry clothes , but after putting up our tent in the rain everything felt damp. To make us smile, el Totoro wanted to ride a mushroom. 

I know .. He looks real cute. And yellow bird thinks so too. But then, we could not find Yellow bird. He took off on a hike on his own. He must've gone about two feet when we found him. He was exhausted. But look, Yellow bird found a new friend. Please don't judge his friend, some people are pokey and some people are not. See how happy he is...

Our trail companions keep our spirits high.

Early morning sunrise of which only Zippy ever sees because Pippy is well...you know, still sleeping. 

Our trail was simple and windy along the ridge, and passed through meadows like this one several times.

We love the aspen groves. They stand so tall and upright. 

Once again our fine furry friend treats us to a munching show. He was eating what looked like a mushroom. It was all eaten up in 31 seconds. Then as fast as he was eating, he sprinted up the tree, bounced onto a limb, and scampered  rapidly to the edge of the branches where he leaped to the next tree and practically nose dived onto the ground. It's a funny thing to watch.

The view from atop of one of the hill climbs... Like 7 hill climbs in a day..sometimes we forget to look at the views as we are trudging up each hill with determination.

Here is zippy making her final steps to the top...not sue why she is crossing her legs like that. Maybe the cha cha cha? Only Zippy knows. 

Ta da! We made it to the top!

You can barely see the misty fog starting to roll in..

Zippy enjoying a mid day snack under the pine tree. The views were beautiful.

Pippy in the lead once again.

This was the last water source for the next 5 mikes.

And then up the last hill climb, we see the "hobbit" climbing eagerly behind us.. "Hey, are you the girls from Hawaii?"  As it turns out , " hobbit" is from the same island as we are  from, and lives on the kona side. So cool! 

Naturally we are now best friends, and even knew the same people. Small Island.We are hanging out with "hobbit" and sharing funny stories.

 

And then we met "Garfield🐱. He is a biker dude on his way to Durango as well. 

Thanks for chatting with us " Garfield".  Keep in touch!

 

"Hobbit " and Pippy sharing stories... Yep, Zippy is waaay behind.

Had to do our Hawaiian style Shaka to get a ride to Salida .. Scored again on the 10th car!

We got a ride to the gas station from 1st hitch, then zippy with her chatty self sort of  invited herself into the back of a truck for the rest if the way to town..she told them she was traveling with her daughter and nephew...  They said hop in. So we did!

We were crouching down in the back so we wouldn't get busted for sitting in the back of an open bed truck. The nice folks  from Missouri gave us a ride into Salida.

 Tonight we are staying at the hostel... They only had one toom left ,  and it was a family room. We said we were a family. So " hobbit " is up in the bunk above Pippy and zippy for the night... The trio will continue tomorrow... Nighty night.