August 1, 2024
29.9 miles, 5860′ gain/6211′ loss (+2.0 miles, 70′ gain/905′ loss for Twin Lakes cutoff)
I headed out from camp around 6:15am. The morning miles through Holy Cross Wilderness were rough. There was a lot of climbing, with much of it very steep (30%+) and above 11,000′. I was low-key dying, with a fuzzy brain and heavy legs. I did get to saw a snowshoe hare (all brown except big white feet!) near the top of one of my climbs and that cheered me up.
My miles quickly brought me onto the Leadville course, and so it was a day of wrestling with both the reality in front of me and all of my terrible memories from Leadville last year. I passed by Turquoise Lake, and the trails for both Mt Massive and Mt Elbert. I had service and so I checked on the Twin Lakes General Store’s hours; it looked like I could possibly make it in time to pick up my package so I kept moving forward as quick as I could. Within a few miles of town, I heard a bear huffing at me and looked to see a bear running parallel to me, trying to get ahead of me. So I slowed down, and watched as she skidded to a stop by a bush and pulled out her young cub.
I pushed hard to make it to Twin Lakes before their 8pm website-posted close time (arrived at maybe 7:15) but the store had closed already and wouldn’t open until ~8-8:30am tomorrow. I was heartbroken and frustrated, because I was left with only my food bag’s snacks for dinner. I was also immediately mobbed by vicious mosquitoes when I arrived at the Twin Lakes general store. I ended up next door at the hotel, sitting in their lobby trying to figure out my next steps. They offered up their wi-fi, and I searched around town for housing but everything was $250+ a night for a tiny rustic cabin with a bunkbed and no running water. With a bug-free environment, I decided I would just tent; the people at the hotel were very helpful and assured me that no one cared if I tented behind the visitor center. So I managed to find a campsite behind the visitor center with a small stream of water for some hand laundry and water filtering, a nice composting privy with toilet paper, trash cans, a power outlet around the side of the visitor center, and wi-fi access when sitting in my tent. Rain threatened a few times, but I stayed dry sitting on the visitor center’s porch before I retired for the night.
