Section 2 and 3

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Section 2- South Platte to Bailey.

After alot more training and trips to REI to try different socks out, I think I have finally found a good combo. I am wearing toe socks! They felt very weird but do the trick.

We set out to do 25 miles in three days. We decided to hike 6.6 miles the first day and planned about 6 ish for the next few days. I was feeling strong! The weather was nice but a rain storm was lurking. Stephen found us a place to camp for the night just as the rain was starting to come down. It was the first time we had camped in a rain storm with our new tent! As we laid there listening to the rain come down faster and faster I began to worry. Our tent held up very well and it stopped raining just as we needed to start hiking again for the day. I must add that thunder in the forest can rumble so loud that you can feel it echo in your heart...what a very "real" feeling.

Day 2- I had promised Stephen that I would "work on" hitting the trail early on this trip. We were hiking by 730am. Stephen always says the morning hiker has the day! Meaning that if we get up early to hike we can take our time, long afternoon breaks etc. So off we went. Mornings in the mountains are amazing, simply amazing. I would like to hike everyday just for that simple enjoyment.

Let me take this moment to mention that the Colorado Guide book has either not been revised in a few years or is not very descriptive or something....As we were hiking we had no idea how far we had gone. We went over what Gudy had called Creeks, Rivers, etc but by the time we took a break and found out where we really were we found out that we had hiked 15 miles already that day!! 15 miles!!! UNBELIEVABLE! Even Stephen an experienced hiker was surprised. We had walked a half marathon that day and I wanted the 13.1 sticker to put on the back of my car 😊 at that point we only had a few miles left....Stephen said we had two options...to stay and camp there and walk out in the morning or to push forward and walk out that night yet...I think he added something about a cheeseburger and fries in there too! 😊 I wanted to impress him and show him how much training I had done and we pressed forward.

OK, 4 miles doesnt seem very long but after 8 hours of hiking and 15 miles already under your belt it was grulling...a very long, never ending 4 miles! I felt like Katz out of the book, A Walk In the Woods. I wanted to purge everything from my bag. It was getting heavier by the second. We took a break adn by the end of the break Stephen has almost the entire contents of my pack in his! That was the best gift in the world, no jewerly or expensive Christmas gifts could ever come close to him taking my weight at the end of that day!

It was getting darker and it wasnt long before we peaked over the top of the mountain and saw our car on the other side. DONE and DONE.

A shower is worth more then anything at this point.

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