Day 47 (ODT 15)

Day 47 (ODT 15): 21 miles

The Pueblo Mountains were pretty wild. They were rugged, brutal, and largely not touched by man. Most of the route over them was cross country with the exception of a couple miles of primitive road.

Climbing up near 8,000 feet was the easiest part. The first picture was me enjoying the feeling of power up near 8,000 feet. After that I was walking on the sides of steeeeeep mountains trying to make my own way from point A to point B. It was slow going to try to not fall down the side of the mountain. I came across a lot of cow paths on this part and wondered how many fall to their death every year because they’re in pretty tough country.

After the steep walking, it only got harder. The route then became extremely overgrown with thick brush. I very well may have been off route, but it was aggravating. My legs were getting super cut up by sharp plants that were impossible to avoid because they covered every square inch of ground. It was painful. And slow.

After hours of difficult cross country, I was finally near a primitive road that would give me a break from the brutality. But I didn’t realize it climbed over a mountain to get out of this area, so I walked past it and had to backtrack. When I reached it, I had never been so happy to start a climb. I was ready to get out of this range of pain.

I was hoping to camp along the road somewhere but the wind was so crazy at any possible campsite I didn’t. I ended up getting to the end of the road and seeing the canyon that I needed to descend to get out of these mountains. I couldn’t believe it. It looked so steep and wild. They decided to put the “trail” here?

I was also just ready to be done at that point and all I wanted to do was set up camp, but that wasn’t a choice. I descended over 1,500 feet in the canyon, in the dark, and made it to the bottom where I was able to set up camp.