September 28th
(Pics to follow)
There were a lot of miles today. First was to get up high, over 12,000. I crossed several small streams. I also found a few pairs of eyes in the dark that caught my headlamp.
After that, I was walking along some rolling ridge tops. There was a mild change in topography. I was no longer either an up or down. Instead, I was now getting on to mesas. At least I think of them as mesas. For the life of me, I am not sure I could tell you when a butte ends a mesa begins and then a plateau takes over.
The water sources were mostly snow melt ponds and therefore not super appealing. I took just what I needed. Late in the day, I dropped down to Dipping Lakes and tanked up on water. My goal was to sleep high on the mesa.
The climb up was tough but rewarding. I could see the sun dropping to the west and the valley below had aspens. I ended up getting to the southern tip of the mesa. The only notation on the maps was “Flat 12,187.” It was too exposed of a campsite for me, so I dropped down to a flatter saddle and quickly made camp. Along the way, I came across a sign that warned northbound travelers the 813 trail, the number for the CDT in southern Colorado, was a “dangerous trail.” Great. I suspect (or at least hope) the faded sign referred to lightning, not just a general rule.
backpacking over the hill 