The owner of G&M Cabins, where I’ve been staying in Lake City, found a man to shuttle me to Creede. We headed out after I mailed a box to myself at my next stop and ran a few other errands.
We arrived in Creede around 11:15; I dropped most of my food at the chamber of commerce. Why carry six days’ worth of food when I’d be passing the chamber tomorrow?
You see, the original CDT I’d intended to take makes a C shape. The Creede Alternate is a line connecting both ends of the C. So it’s shorter. Also, Creede is in the middle. So the plan is to hike north to the CDT, where I’ve been, then south to the CDT to continue on.
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Leaving Creede Behind
Before I walked more than a block or two, I opted to have lunch at Kip’s, a great restaurant. I had shrimp tacos and “Sconsin” cheese curds. Ha! They were pretty good.
Oh. My. Goodness. This alternate is insane! SOBO, it takes hikers down from the top of San Luis Pass into Creede and beyond, so i knew I’d be hiking uphill today. But the uphills were insanely steep. I’d love to know 
the grade. I was probably hiking 45- to 60-minute miles.
Eventually, the path was more rollers than insanely steep hills. This is a popular path for UTVs; a gazillion passed me today. Several people stopped to visit, including a group of four from Kansas who said they’d look up my book.
Day Winds Down
I’d intended to camp near the northern end of the alternate, but I saw a great campsite about 7 miles in (11.3 km), and figured it would be silly to hike with my heavy pack for several more miles. So I set up camp around 3:30 p.m.
My plan was to hike with a nearly empty pack to the top of the alternate and gather water on the way back down. But the Kansas group stopped me and chatted for a long time, so I opted to go just partway up and then back.
I’ll be doing many more miles than the alternate’s total, anyway, since I’m doing an out-and-back here, so it all sort of evens out. Plus, the CDT is unusual in that it has so many alternate routes. Hikers bill it as a “choose your own adventure trail,” so that’s what I’m doing.
Prepping for the Week
I’ve got a lovely campsite tonight. And while the skies got quite dark and cloudy at the end of the day, so far no rain. YAY. I sure hope I don’t get any tonight.
Tomorrow should be a mostly downhill hike into Creede, while I’m looking forward to. Oh – there are all sorts of interpretive signs along thi route relating to the area’s mining past. I hoe to read all of them on the hike down tomorrow.
Snowshoe
Today’s Miles: 8.5 (13.7 km)
CDT Miles to Date: 587.4 (945.3 km)
CDT Miles to Go: 2,512.6 (4,043.6 km)
