Day 06 to Cherokee Lake

mileage 19.5 elevation gain 3700 feet

"I have couscous on my feet." -Tony

The rising sun revealed a sea of peaks swimming in a cloudless sky. It was hard to believe this was the same place that had been so cold, wet and exposed last night. Welcome to 12000 feet in the Colorado Rockies. This is why I love the mountains so much.

Cassi's left knee was acting up. She had patella-femoral syndrome, a common problem especially for women, where the knee cap doesn't track well. It had only bothered her on long runs in cross country in the past. I guess with over 100 miles of hiking this qualified as a long run. I gave her my hiking pole, so she'd have two to take more of the impact, took some of her food weight and she began regular doses of Ibuprofen. We slowed our pace and she ice'd her knee every snow bank. Cassi started more specific stretches and gait training techniques she'd learned from her physical therapist. We were both worried. We knew if an injury like this worsened it could mean the end of our trip. I kept my fingers crossed.

Fortunately the beauty of our surroundings took our minds off our worries. Gorgeous meadows, dramatic cliffs, waterfalls and more were around every corner. Though the trail tread was easy to follow the cairns along this section were massive. I am sure these helped CDT through-hikers and others who navigate this section in the 9 months of the year it was covered in snow. I was glad we were there in one of the 3 it wasn't.

The only large mammals we'd seen all day were elk until we arrived at Cherokee Lake. A group was camped on the opposite side. Being the only semi-level ground for miles and tired from our long day we decided we could share. They turned out to be an organized group made up mainly of teens on a 2 week tour of Colorado that included hiking, biking, rock climbing and river rafting. This last 5 days of backpacking in the Weminuche was the culmination of their trip. We swapped some stories with their 20-something leader. He admired our long distance trek. We admired the variety of his.

Sitting down making dinner I managed to spill part of it (above quote). Hiker hunger had not truly set it and I still had some body fat to burn because I was not inclined to eat couscous off the ground. Later in the trip I would have. Beckham took care of it for us.

new plants seen- map lichen, skunk cabbage, pale mountain dandelion, showy fleabane, arrowleaf groundsel, mt bog gentian, Parry primrose

animals identified- gray jay, blue grouse, white-tailed ptarmigan , elk