[pct-l] Simmering in Steamboat

[Jim and/or Ginny Owen]

Yes - it's hot!  One hundred degrees in Denver means hot here, even at 
10,000'.  But we're enjoying a day or two of rest (?) here in Steamboat, our 
last Colorado resupply town.  We ran into Mark and Michae - working on their 
CDT documentary - so got our impressions of Colorado recorded for posterity. 
  The short version is, Colorado has been great, but we're ready for 
Wyoming.

The past few days we've been lucky with weather - hot, but the thunderstorms 
have mostly stayed  away from us.  As we've walked the high ridges - 
Cascade, Ruby, Parkview, Sheep Mountain, Poison Ridge, etc. - the 
thunderstorms have always been about five miles behind us.  If you've ever 
hiked at 12,000' at 3:00 in the afternoon, you know how chancy that is.

We've also seen a lot of wildlife this week.  What I found interesting was 
that on our highway walk along Colorado 14, we saw 13 antelope and 12 deer, 
within just 8 miles or so.  It made the roadwalk a lot more interesting than 
expected, with some bit of wildlife around every corner.

Wildflowers remain abundant, though as we drop in elevation, the species are 
changing.  We still see the occasional columbine, but also a lot more lupine 
and paintbrush - very colorful.

Our health is good, aside from the usual back and knee problems.  Jim is 
skinny as a rail - but eating as much ice cream as he can hold to make up 
for it.  It's a sacrifice - but one he's willing to undergo.

Mentally we're doing well - enjoying the beauty and the wildlife.  Even the 
2000' climbs can be fun.  We climbed Jim's "birthday mountain" - Parkview - 
on a steamy hot afternoon.  The 2000' climb in the last mile and a half 
barely phased us.  After the James - Bancroft - Flora traverse the week 
before, it didn't seem that big a deal.  One advantage of being northbound.  
It's hard to believe we've climbed our last 12,000' mountain though.  Does 
that mean it's all downhill from here?   We're about at the halfway point - 
1350 miles or so.  It's a bit intimidating to realize we still have so far 
to go - at the same time, it's exciting, because we know how much beautiful 
country awaits our exploration.  The best is yet to come.  Onward to 
Wyoming.

Walk softly.

Jim and Ginny





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