CO Trail Shakedown Hike
Aug 7th & 8th 2021 - Woodland Trail to Woodland Lake
Roosevelt National Forest
(Please excuse this rushed, sloppy post - I’m writing this at 8pm the night before I start the CO Trail!)
August 7th, 2021 -
We woke up early-ish and got on the road around 8am. By 8:30am we had picked up Lady Unicorn (LU)’s best friend Lindy from downtown Denver (elevation = 5280’) and were on our way! The drive to Nederland, CO was fun - I had heard about Lindy for years now, but this was the first time we were meeting. The conversation was easy and we were excited, despite concerns about hiking in such high elevation and air quality. We arrived in Nederland (elevation = 8236’) and stopped at a convenience store to get some snacks and use the bathroom. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I realized this hike was going to be much chillier than I had expected. (In hindsight - duh, the elevation is much higher).
Due to the high demand of this trail-head, the town set up shuttle busses from the local high school. While waiting in line, I regretted taking out some of my warmer clothes and vowed to bring them on the real trip (the previous night I had packed my pack, realized it was way too huge and heavy, and discarded some “unnecessary” items - clearly, they are necessary).
Our shuttle driver was a riot - the rest of the riders were silent. I always find crowded shuttles awkward.
The hike was uphill, but very gradual. Due to the insane rain in CO these past few weeks, there were wildflowers and mushrooms everywhere! The first few miles were crowded, but most hikers veered off to “Lost Lake”, while we continued on a few more miles up the mountain.
At this point, I was really feeling the elevation change and smoke from California wildfires. Luckily we had all day to hike just 5 miles. We played my favorite “movie category” game and frequently stopped to catch our breath.
After a few hours, I was over it. I started to get a headache (smoke? elevation? dehydration? hunger?) and was ready to get to camp. The wind had picked up, I was cold and cranky, I needed to lay down and sulk and eat something substantial.
Finally we made it to Woodland Lake (elevation = 11,000') - we intended to camp at Skyscraper Reservoir, but we heard it was windy & exposed, and Lindy & I didn’t want to increase our elevation any more.
It took us a bit to find a decent campsite - not too exposed, enough flat ground for three tents, no dead trees, etc. A group had just left the lake-side and surprised us with our first Trail Magic - two beers! Yay kindness from strangers!
I quickly set up my tent, scarfed down dinner (ramen, tuna, dehydrated veggies), ate some candy and crawled into my sleeping bag. I was cold. I had a headache. I just wanted to sleep until it was time to head back down in the morning. But soon, LU told me she split her brand new (but super cheap) Frog Togg rainpants straight down the butt - I laughed and got out of my tent to hang out. The three of us gathered in Lindy's two person tent - we read exerpts of a memoir aloud to each other (I’m Not From Around Here) until the sun started to set. Around 830, I crawled back into my tent, tried to get as warm as possible, and closed my eyes.
August 8th, 2021
I had a horrible night of sleep. Surprisingly I wasn’t cold at all, but for some reason I just could not stay asleep. I refused to look at the time - I was afraid of it being only like 10pm and having so much night left. Over and over and over again, I woke up - my “pillow” (AKA nylon stuff sack full of currently un-worn clothing) swishing around the hood of my nylon sleeping bag. Eventually, I woke up to the faint glow of sunrise - FINALLY. I laid around for a bit longer, but emerged from my tent around 5:45am. Did some morning chores (filtering water, getting my bear bag, etc), and woke up LU and Lindy around 6:30am. We hadn’t discussed a wake-up time the night before, so I wasn’t exactly sure an appropriate time - especially since this was my first time meeting Lindy.
We packed up, ate a quick breakfast, and were on trail by 7:45am. It was a beautiful, leisurely downward stroll the entire time. The weather was gorgeous, we could feel the elevation decreasing. A lovely, successful acclimation hike!
