Day 119-121 – 9/20-22/11 Georgetown to Chatfield Lake (long)

Distance = 59 Miles; People Met = 9

There were some common patterns for our final three days heading out of the mountains and into Denver. First, to my surprise, there was a lot of vertical. In fact, the day out of Georgetown was probably in the top three days of elevation change for our trip. The three days together undoubtedly had the most elevation change of any three days during our journey. My occasionally swollen left foot felt the effects, and even my knees, which otherwise have been holding up extremely well. Cindy does not have any body aches or pains, but had her usual problems with altitude and ascending steeply.

We got to hike with a few people on this stretch. My motto is “walk with me for humanity,” but this stretch probably doubled the number of people who have taken me up on that. A classmate of mine, Dave “Rocky” Rockwell, hiked with us at the beginning of this stretch out of Georgetown and Mike Hinckley, a long distance hiking buddy of ours, hiked with us at the end from Morrison to Chatfield Lake. Coming down the Castle Trail we also met and hiked with Allan for a good stretch.

We really love to hike with others. We really don’t talk much to each other. What is there to talk about when you are together 24/7?

“How was your day today, dear?”
“Oh, about the same as yours.”
“What did you see today?”
“Same thing you did.”

When people hike with us we finally have some real conversations. Of course, we do have conversations with people we meet up with along the way. At the end of each day for this stretch we stayed with people who are outdoor enthusiasts. In Idaho Springs we stayed with Stacey Todd, who has thru-hiked the Colorado Trail and wants to do more long distance hiking. She currently works at the recreation center in Idaho Springs. We felt a strong connection with her kindred spirit.

In Kittredge we stayed with Sue Demars, a ski patrol friend of Mike’s. He made the arrangement on our behalf. Sue is also an avid rafter, including leading rafting trips for the physically disadvantaged. She was not home when we first arrived so we just set up our tent in her backyard. Her neighbor Judy Hudson spotted us without knowing who we were, but acted like that sort of thing happens in the neighborhood all the time.

Then of course we stayed with Mike after reaching Chatfield Lake. He is also one of our two “home bases” while we are in Denver. We had a great time and conversation over dinner with him and his girlfriend Michelle, an avid climber. One of the topics was how vibrant the Boulder community is where Michelle lives. Community gardens and a variety of other projects are the norm. Boulder as a whole is also looking towards community energy solutions. Uh-oh. The large scale energy lobbyists can’t be happy with such movements.

As we came down the Castle Trail we were leaving the Rockies and heading for the plains. What a strange feeling for us! We’ve always been mountain folks. Hiking for the next four months over relatively flat land with no mountains as a back drop will be a totally new experience. We will always have the mountains in our heart but we are really looking forward to the new phase to our journey ahead.