Day seven of a Continental Divide Trail thru-hike looked simple on paper: 13 miles to Rock Creek in Colorado's high country. In practice, it took more than nine hours, two lightning stops and one very lucky near-miss with old barbed wire.
The hiker behind this trail diary was up before dawn, walking by 6am to beat both the heat and the afternoon storms that define summer in the Colorado Rockies. Wildlife scouting came early — no moose in the meadow, but a large buck made an appearance. Even so, the morning dragged. At higher elevation, the legs might want to move but the lungs disagree, and the writer admits to frequent pauses just to catch breath. The lesson for anyone planning a high-altitude trek: fitness from lower trails doesn't automatically transfer. "Trail legs" take longer to arrive at 10,000 feet than you'd hope.
After the meadow came pine forest and stands of aspen — beautiful, though the thin aspen canopy offers far less shade than you'd want on a hot July-style afternoon. The real drama arrived with less than a mile to go. Thunder rolled in, and the hiker spent over 20 minutes sheltering from lightning at two separate spots. At the second stop, just 0.3 miles from camp, they realised the ground was scattered with old barbed wire — a nasty hazard for anyone ducking into cover in a hurry. Storms passed, and camp by Rock Creek was finally reached at 3:30pm.
The weather dictates everything on this trail. With more extreme conditions forecast, the hiker decided to detour into Fairplay, a small former mining town that serves as a resupply and rest stop for CDT hikers, and stay a couple of days. Progress suffers, but so do fewer chances of being caught on an exposed ridgeline in a lightning storm — a trade most mountain walkers would take.
It wasn't all hunkering down. The day's highlights included bunnies near a striking rock formation, mountain bog gentian (a favourite wildflower carried over from a Pacific Crest Trail hike near Mt Rainier), paintbrush, and a spiky pink bloom the writer later identified as slendertube skyrocket — possibly the best flower name going.
Why does this matter if you're not thru-hiking? Because the Colorado high country between Fairplay and the surrounding ranges is classic summer walking territory, and this is exactly what a single day feels like there: cold starts, thin air, fast-moving afternoon storms and long miles. Anyone planning day hikes or a section walk in the area should start early, be off exposed ground by early afternoon, and treat thunder as a hard stop rather than an inconvenience. It's also a good reminder that resupply towns like Fairplay exist for a reason — flexibility in your itinerary is as valuable as any piece of gear.
