Day 94
Today was a stunning day!
Today’s Walk:
D: County Rd 330
A: Cottonwood Pass
19.1 miles
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Elevation:
↑1703 • ↓1362
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Conditions:
↓32° ↑82° 🌤️
It’s very hard to pick just a few photos! It was also an incredibly hard day - this elevation is no joke. Our legs felt like lead on the climbs, and our shortness of breath was notable. I love to walk and snack - every couple of miles I’ll have an apple or a granola bar or something - but that was almost impossible today, as eating was too restrictive of your very necessary airflow. I was so winded when I tried to eat my apple! I had to stop and finish it, then catch my breath, then walk.
We started the day by scouting a route from Parshall to Winter Park via some forest service roads that was absolutely stunning, but incredibly windy and bumpy, which made the 35 mile stretch a two hour journey in the car. We opted not to walk it, as there are some wildfires in the area, and by the time we started walking, the wind was picking up. We didn’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we couldn’t evacuate quickly if we needed to, so we chose to stay on 40 until Hot Sulphur Springs, and then cut across at Cottonwood Pass, which was a much wider, more frequently traveled road. We were initially disappointed not to get to walk the gorgeous route we had scouted, but boy were we not disappointed by Cottonwood Pass! I stopped every few minutes to take more pictures.