by Melanie McManus | Aug 27, 2025 | Colorado, Continental Divide 2022 - ?, Trail Journals
Today I was going to enjoy another slackpacking day – yay! The forecast called for possible showers at 8 a.m., but then nice for the rest of the day. Perfect! My plan was to head southbound on the CDT to pick up the mileage I’d missed after getting off the trail due...
by Melanie McManus | Aug 28, 2025 | Colorado, Continental Divide 2022 - ?, Trail Journals
Today’s hike was supposed to be partway along the Silverthorne Alternate, ending up tomorrow in Silverthorne, where Ed will meet me. But this alternate route has two huge climbs up to nearly 12,000 feet (3,658 m). Once again, rain was in the forecast. I did not want...
by Melanie McManus | Aug 29, 2025 | Colorado, Continental Divide 2022 - ?, Trail Journals
Wow, that campsite last night was awful! Even a tiny tilt in the ground can make for terrible sleep. I was sliding all over my tent and felt like I didn’t sleep for one minute. So it was a relief when morning came. I packed up camp quickly and got on the trail, only...
by Melanie McManus | Aug 30, 2025 | Colorado, Continental Divide 2022 - ?, Trail Journals
Rain was not in the forecast – yay! We lingered a little over breakfast, as it had rained overnight and was gloomy in the morning. Then we struck out at 8:20 a.m. Gosh, the initial hike through town was such a steep climb! We did not expect that. Once on the actual...
by Melanie McManus | Aug 31, 2025 | Colorado, Continental Divide 2022 - ?, Trail Journals
Sigh. Ed and I had high hopes for today. We got up early to pound out more miles after yesterday’s many issues and low mileage. But it was not to be. Far from it. After breaking camp with tents wet from dew, we immediately had a water crossing. The water was frigid,...
by Melanie McManus | Sep 1, 2025 | Colorado, Continental Divide 2022 - ?, Trail Journals
Today we were once again full of hope. We only had +5 miles (8 km) to get from Bobtail Creek to the spot where the Silverthorne Alternate merges back with the CDT. We’d planned to take a Jeep road down to the Berthoud Pass Trailhead, as the elevation was bothering Ed,...
