The views are endless at mile 8.6.
Atop the Continental Divide.
The trek between Salida and Creede, some 95 miles, is the longest stretch on the CT between resupply, but that isn't nearly as scary as it sounds. It took me nine nights, and I went pretty darned slow. While there are a couple long-climb areas, for the most part the trail is in good shape and in some places it is quite flat, so you can make good time.
You'll have to, if you bought Uncle Ben's Garlic and Olive Oil Flavored Wild and Brown Rice. Really. I don't know what kind of arcane chemical they put in that stuff, but whatever it is, it seeps through ziplock baggies. So if you repackage your Uncle Ben's Garlic and Olive Oil Flavored Wild and Brown Rice into a plastic baggie, and you package most of your other food in ziplock bags, you will soon have a great deal of Uncle Ben's Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Wild and Brown Rice-flavored foodstuffs.
For example: Uncle Ben's Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Flavored Wild and Brown Rice-flavored dried cranberries, Uncle Ben's Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Wild and Brown Rice-flavored marshmallows, Uncle Ben's Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Wild and Brown Rice-flavored drink mixes, Uncle Ben's Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Wild and Brown Rice-flavored cheese.... yeah.
I've never come across a foodstuff that so laughs at the laws of physics, that can spread indefinitely throughout the contents of a pack without ever losing its potency. Given enough time, I feel that Uncle Ben's Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Wild and Brown Rice may spread across the entire planet, tainting whole fields of grain and herds of animals. Who can stop this menace?
Not me. I'm too busy scrubbing out my pack. Thanks a lot, Uncle Ben. :/
Garlic-flavored dessert. Why oh why, Uncle Ben?
Guidebook update suggestions:
0.1
After you leave US-50, head downhill towards the Fooses creek bridge. Keep your eyes open for the next half mile, as new housing developments are going in, and roads split off to the right and left. The CT is indicated by white triangle markers and the occasional sign.
0.8
Fishermen here were having no luck.
2.7
The only marker at this road fork may say "South Fooses Creek TH" but nothing about the CT -- go left anyway.
2.8
Cross a bridge, and leave the road for peaceful singletrack at long last.
5.0
This 'campsite' is practically straddling the trail. If you can even get another mile or three further up, there are much better places to camp nearer the treeline.
5.5-7.5
Frequent x-ing of small rivulets and seeps, some of which were muddy.
8.5
This section is indeed among the steepest of the entire CT, as the guidebook warns. But don't worry about it too much -- it's very short, and if you climbed up the ten-mile range before Copper Mountain, you've handled steeper spots. Trekking poles are useful.
8.6
GO LEFT. If you take a quick glance at the signs (and mix up 'Monarch' and 'Marshall') or just glance briefly at your compass, it is possible to wander off in the wrong direction, thereby heading towards Canada. Believe me. GO LEFT. Oh, and also there is no cellphone service here.
10.6
This spring was running fine, and there was water trickling through culverts under the trail in a couple places beforehand. The spring will be along the uphill slope to your left. Tasty water!
12.6
Though not mentioned in the databook, there is a lovely (and probably moderately reliable) stream here, with a good campsite just before.
12.9
Ruins of an old cabin sit nearly on the trail, to your right.
13.0
The second piped spring spills across the road. Terrific, sweet water.
13.5
If you somehow forgot to fill your water bottles, there is an irrigation ditch here, then a swampy/watery section, which may have water.
14.3
The toilet is directly across the road. Once you have finished inspecting it, head uphill, west, towards the prominent pass.
The elevation profile for this segment is roughly correct.
----> Onward, to segment 16!
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