August 23rd
I got going early in the dark. All the underbrush was wet, ensuring my shoes had no chance to dry out. I ascended past a few sleeping campers, careful not to shine my headlamp on them.
I woke up three bull elk. These ones had lost their velvet and were developing the fall colors. They sprinted a short distance uphill and turned to watch me squish on by.
As the day got lighter, I reached a plateau. It had a few clumps of spruce and pine, but was mostly dried grass. The trail led over to a large peak. As I made my way, I ran across a group of male mule deer. There were probably a dozen. I guess they all gather up high to sort out who is who.
I came to the base of Lost Ranger Peak, 11,900′ above sea level. It was already cold but now it got windy. Within 10 minutes of climbing, i stoppef and put on all my down vlothing: beanie, jacket, mittens. Layered up, I progressed slowly up the treeless, blustery slope. It got to the point whete i would count 50 steps andvrest for 20 seconds.
Once at the top, the views of the Colorado mountains was fantastic. For the next several miles I went up and down with great views of the lakes below. I met a few weekend hikers along the way.
Later, I descended 2,000 feet down to the Elk River. Of course, then I climbed to get it all back. Late in the day, I met a guy with Louisiana plates. He had all kinds of questions about the CDT. He was a personal injury and divorce attorney . He gave me his business card, oddly.
I climbed out of Buffalo Pass and went by a major set of communication towers. When you have been so out of touch, full bars and rapid Internet are like candy.
I ended the day trudginger through an eerie forest. A lot of pine trees were either standing up or laying down dead. The skies were darkening. I finally turned off at Round Lake. I set up camp and had just boiled water for dinner when it rained heavily. I fell asleep as the rain tapered off.
backpacking over the hill 