Day 28 South Foose Creek to Tank Seven Creek

Thursday, July 31, 2014 

Mileage: 18 miles!!! Oh my gosh!!!!!

Elevation: 11,400 to 11,900 and down to 10,300 ft 

Zippy a.k.a. Bootcamp General calmly barked orders for Pippy and Hobbit to wake up and start the day as we had a long day with little to no water sources in front of us. There was water either 10 miles or 18 miles ahead...we thought, well we already did 16 miles one day and survived so why not strive for 18? More on the unfolding of the day later. Here's some photos of the morning....

Morning dew on the wild bluebells 

Our hearts began quickly pumping and the huffing and puffing began as we climbed the 500 ft left from camp to reach the top of the South Foose Creek area. 

We were rewarded with spectacular views in all directions!

Guess what??? 250 miles completed....half-way to Durango! Since there was no bar with beer on tap at the top or sparkling water within close proximity, we decided a "high-fifteen" to acknowledge our success! 

Here's a view of the mountains that we were tricked in climbing later on that day (these huge mountains looked like Barbie hills in our trail book) 

At almost 12,000 ft, it feels like you can almost touch the clouds! 

The scary grey clouds make for some great photos with the color contrasts. Luckily, there was no rain or thunder that came out of those

Ahh yes, snow! Imagine....if it's really freakishly cold one day and it rains...it could snow on us. Woohoo!

The trail was scattered with a big bike group speeding down the single track. Two local chaps from around the Colorado area actually used their bike breaks to stop and inquisitively as questions about our adventure. Come stay in Hawaii! 

Rigt behind us as we were talking to our new biker friends, Zippy spotted a cute, fluffy bird in the tree. We were told by a wandering, lonesome hiker (who wouldn't stop talking) that it was a "grey jay". Later on, we found a photo in our trail book that named the "dippers". Not sure what their real name really is, but they're still cool. 

The trail began descending down into the next valley, but still a small amount of trees because we were above tree line. 

And the chippy of the day found a perfect "Lion King" rock to strike a great mountaineering pose. Nice profile Chippy! Just gorgeous man!

Walking into the eerie fog....

But luckily it cleared up and we saw this amazing view!

Mile 15: rubber legs, starving, cold, beyond exhaustion, mad....oh and what next??? Afternoon thunderstorms! Go Mother Nature go! 

Three long miles later, almost crawling into camp, we instead stumbled into camp. Set up our tent and quickly went about making our dinner. 

Here's Pippy boiling some hot water to put into our prepackaged dinner to let sit for about 25 mins. And then, voila! It's ready! Bon apetit!