Day 16 Copper Mountain to Tennessee Pass

Day 16 

Saturday, July 19th 

Mileage: 15 miles!!!!!!! Longest yet! A.K.A. Exhausting! 

Elevation: 10,800 ft to 12,400 to 9,700 ft 

Just for your information, the Colorado Trail is broken up into 28 segments. And if anyone of you have the sudden urge to follow our footsteps, you will know what to except and we'll let you borrow our hats! 

Onto another day of unpredictable adventure. Our campsite was glorious...it just got a little chilly being by the river. 

We broke down camp and prepared ourselves for the long uphill trek over another mountain. 

And once again, the beauty amazes us. This was a picture taken on the way up in the valley during the early morning sun rays. 

We stop along the trail quite often because little Alvin the chipmunks ads very entertaining. Or is it a squirrel? Actually it may be a chickadee or chickadee or a chick filet...anyway, whatever this particular funny thing was scuba diving for pine nuts. 

The trail traversed upward above tree line and made for some great pictures  

There was another snow patch that the trail ran through 

Go Zippy Go! Almost to the top.

We arrive at "the top" only to be fooled by another two mile traverse along the side of the 12,400 ft mountain and then actually had to climb to the top of that mountain! What were the trail makers thinking? 

At the "first top", there were broke pieces of rocks everywhere and if you stood around long enough, you'd catch a glimpse of these little critters...

Marmot #1 

Marmot #2 saying "awhhhhhh...."

It was Marmotville . We love marmots. Pippy wants to hide one in her bag and train it to go on a leash. Wouldn't that be cute? A trail mascot! It'd be a great watch dog for the bears. 

Moving on, we continued on the side of the mountain with great scenery for pictures 

Patagonia gear action shot!

Phew! Found a picture of Zippy. There's a 1:2 ratio between Pippy and Zippy shots

 Weeeee! Pippy has so much energy! 

And then came the huffing and puffing to the top. 

And we made it! 12,400 ft mark

There happened to be a passing biker who transformed into our personal photographer! It is truly amazing to be at the top of this mountain pass. We did not stay long as it was windy and cold.

Then the forever long winding trail decent of the next 5 mikes down . Zippy was happy and zipped down that trail. Pippy lingered behind...

The meadows at every elevation drop displayed more new looking flowers.

We think these are magenta Indian paint brush.... So pretty!

Orange Indian paint brush!

And then the butterflies showed up...

The afternoon thunder clouds rolled in and we extra prepared ourselves by putting on our rain flys. 

Little does Pippy know that she has a tail...

We passed the old bunkers from the 1940's along the way. We met a passing biker who told us they were used for the Prisoners of War from World War ll! German soldiers were shipped from Germany and kept here for several years until the war ended. No windows, cold concrete, in the middle of nowhere, and in winters where it gets to -25 degrees! Can't imagine what they went through.

One more mile, 10 hours  and 15 miles total, we arrive at camp and this is how we felt. 

Day 17

Sunday, July 20th, 2014

Mileage: 6 miles to Leadville! 

Elevation: 9,700 ft to 10,400 ft

Zippy was up before the sun rose this morning scampering around the tent, deflating her air mattress, stuffing her sleeping bag, and pushing Pippy out of the way. Pippy did not want to get out of her cocoon for fear of the 40 degree morning frost. But, finally she arose and slowly half-sleepily packed her things.

Little does Pippy know that she has a Dr. Seuss tree of hair on her head. 

We began our skip through the forests and hopped into a meadow where the morning sun glistened and gleamed...

Zippy's getting pretty good at these butterfly shots 

Soon after, we skipped back into the tree-laden forests and followed an abandoned railroad grade for the next couple miles. The grade was lined with remnants of the historic mining days dating back to the late 1800's. We even came across some old cooking ovens still standing today. 

Less than a mile after viewing these artifacts, we reach the end of the trailhead with a parking lot full of cars and even a glorious bathroom. To our luck, these two elderly gentlemen were just leaving and heading to Leadville! We happily hopped in and had a wonderful conversation with them during the 10 mile drive to our hostel in town. 

This concludes the end of Segment 8 out of 28. Woohoo!