Saturday July 3, 11.7mi/18.8km

Fourmile Creek (241.2/9774ft) to Hwy 50 (252.9/8860ft) (CO)

I was awake at sunrise, to get into town by noon. The sunlight started filtering thru the trees by the time I got packed up.

The trail was kept its usual due south course, above the Arkansas River valley.

The view to the south, of a new set of mountains.

I descended down this valley, and ascended the other side. At the top of the climb, I was very surprised to see this animal blocking my path.

And there were more! Moo.

The trail traveled thru pasture for a mile or so.

And then thru Lipe Meadow, which had a special sign with the meadow’s name. Weird.

The birch forests are so cool and green.

And when I drop lower, I’m suddenly on sagebrush terrain.

Just before noon, I came down a hill to highway 50, which goes to Salida.

The hitchhike to town took only 3 minutes. The third car picked me up, and we went straight to Safeway, where they were heading anyway. I bought my food for the next 7-day section.

After food shopping, I walked to my friend Andrea’s place, and I got a shower and laundry done. Two other hikers, Brian and Tom, were also there and we all went out to a bar for some live music.

We stayed at Tres Litros for a couple hours, before heading out to a few other bars. It seemed like most of the town was out tonight, and there were a couple of wedding parties roaming around too. I got to bed pretty late, but it was so fun to see people!