At the end of day six, the southbound Colorado Trail dropped down and crossed Highway 50. We had mailed our two resupply boxes to Monarch Spur RV Park one mile to the east. Not far away but hikers are strongly discouraged from walking along the road because it has many curves and no road shoulder. Yes, hitchhiking is encouraged here in Colorado!
We held out a sign we had made stating “hikers 2 town” and about 5 minutes later a large pickup truck pulled over. We climbed in and shared the back seat with a large friendly dog. Craig and Joleen were a late forty-something couple who had recently purchased property in the area and planned to build a vacation home. They enjoy playing “trail angels” and helping hikers get where they need to go off trail.
After picking up our resupply boxes at the Monarch Spur RV Park and camping there overnight, we walked out to Highway 50 in the morning in hopes of getting a hitch 5 miles to the west. After only a couple minutes a 30-something man named Matt saw our sign “hikers to Monarch” and his old Subaru wagon screeched to a stop across the road. We ran over and jumped in! During this short drive we learned about his daughter and that he was driving to work a gun show in Gunnison. We left him with a bag of excess trail snacks we could not carry.
After descending from Hope Pass we emerged for the trail about 1/2 mile west of Twin Lakes village. However we had booked a room in Leadville 22 miles to the northeast and so we needed to catch another hitch. Once again there was no shoulder on this winding two-lane road and so we thought this may be difficult. We had only walked a few minutes when a dirty pickup truck veered across the lanes and skidded to a stop half in the opposing lane. We tossed our packs in the truck bed and climbed into the cab!
Nick was a 35 year old former Texan who now lives in the Denver area with his wife and works closing old abandoned mineshafts in the mountains … tough work! Leadville is a small town at 10,000 feet elevation and Matt happened to be staying at the Rodeway Inn as well. He felt that picking up us tired hikers would give him good karma and some good company. During our drive we talked about the state of our nation, healthcare issues, and other stuff. We learned about his plans to start a family and his transformation from an anything-goes Texan to an environmentally conscious Colorado resident.
After several people have now picked us up on the roadside, eager to help us out, it sort of reaffirmed our faith in humanity.
Journeys with Jeff and Ellen 