Colorado Trail 22 - Day 10

I woke up in the misty forest and climbed up to the snow mesa, a long flat exposed area.
This is probably the hardest climbing day of the trail so far, there are 3 incredibly long and steep climbs to get over to San Luis Pass. When I first got to the top of the snow mesa it was unbelievable, I had hiked out of the clouds and was now looking down on them. This is a really long flat exposed area up here on this mesa and it winds its way around a few lakes and over a few saddles. There is one of the toughest climbs right before you get to the Creede cut off and wow, I had forgotten how long and steep it is. I finally hit the last saddle and could see the trail cutting down in the canyon towards Creede. I finally got to the cutoff and was able to get all the way down to Equity mine and I found a great campsite on a hill under a tree. beautiful! I almost camped where I did last year but after I walked around for a bit I found a much better place even though it was a little more exposed it was a better flat spot. Another killer day of hiking and I made it here a full day early.

Campsite - Uptown Creede
Mile - 144.7
Elevation - 11,211ft.