This is the End

We are currently making the drive back to Denver after 10 busy days traveling from park to park. Willys been jamming out while driving, Michaels been sleeping, and I've been incredibly bored, so to pass the time, I'm writing our final blog post.

All together we visited 8 national parks: Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, and Mesa Verde. The past couple days were a whirlwind trying to squeeze in every park we could. But starting from where I left you last post, after Big Sky, we headed to Salt Lake City where we visited the original Mormon Temple. Well we weren't allowed inside the temple, but we did get an awesome tour of the grounds by two sister missionaries. The buildings were beautiful and one included the largest organ in North America.

We dropped off Morgan at the airport the next morning, and from then on out, it was just the three men and hours upon hours of pure, unadulterated manliness. We partook in such common man pastimes as hunting and foraging, lifting heavy things, making beef jerky, growing and then talking about our chest and facial hair, etc. We headed to Zion Natl Park where we met up with our friends David, Sharp, and Trav. We spent the most time in Zion (2 1/2 days) doing some backcountry hiking in the southwest desert as well hiking their two most popular trails, Angels Landing and the Narrows. According to William, Natl Geographic had ranked the Narrows at #5 on a list of the top 100 attractions in the US, and it did not disappoint. The trail was a 20 ft wide river splitting between 1000 ft tall red rock canyon walls on both sides. It had rained heavily the previous two days, so the water was muddy and chest high (chin high for Michael) at some  points, which was a blast. We stood in the aisle on the bus back from the trail, and I remember telling Michael that I felt like passing out, and next thing I know I wake up lying on my back in the bus aisle , and the first thing I see is Michael grinning from ear to ear. Everyone, except Michael and William, freaked out in the bus, and someone hit the emergency stop button. As it turns out, a 1/2 liter of water isn't enough for a 6 hr hike. Who knew?

After Zion, we realized we wanted to see 4 more parks but only had 2 days, so we spent no more than a few hours in each park and just hit the highlights. We got the jist of each park, but I would've loved to have had time to hike in Bryce Canyon or Canyonlands. Well...maybe someday. 

Tonight we're gonna have dinner with Sam and Marcia, and then spend the night at Skippys place in Denver. From there, Michael and William will make the long drive back to Atlanta. I, on the other hand, will be heading to Napa Valley where I'll pretend to know something about wine and not fool anyone. Thanks for tuning into the blog all summer. We don't do these things for the fame. We do them for people like you, so thanks again. See yall in a few days.

Sorry for the wait

We did it! Hooray! On our 33rd trail day, we finished the CT. So we had planned to finish in 34 days with a 20 mile and 10 mile day to top it off. But on our last day, Michael and Morgan, while in the rear, would not stop talking about Wendy's for the first 13 miles. And then they heard from a fellow hiker that Durango had a Wendy's. Surprise! So by lunch they were adamant that we do a 30 mile day and get Wendy's in town. Morgan almost cried when Willy and I said we'd do it...and then almost again when we got to Wendy's that night. We had to calm her down before going in so she wouldn't freak out the local Durangans (or whatever you call them). And then she didn't even order a frosty...waste of energy. The end of the trail was so anticlimactic that I barely celebrated (and was too tired too anyways). No tape to cross. No summit to finish on. Just a parking lot full of people oblivious to the fact that people actually hiked the whole trail. One dude in the lot asked me how far back the trail went. I told him "to Denver" and he just looked really confused. It was priceless.

Anyways we got our much deserved free beer at Carvers, met up with our friends Skippy and Jolly, and then started the hitch hike back to Denver. It took six different rides over a day and a half plus a night spent camping on the side of the highway before we got to Colorado Springs. We met some awesome people hitch hiking and are very grateful for their hospitality! Rides from fellow CT hiker Tony and from Uncle John got us to our car in Boulder, and then we headed north. 

First to Grand Teton National Park for a day. Then to Yellowstone for a day. Yellowstone by the way was hilarious. You just drove right up to all the attractions rather than walk the 30 miles or so between them like we'd been doing for the last month. It felt weird and so American. We also picked up a hitch hiker Bryan, a UC Santa Cruz student conducting an independent study wile traveling the US, and he spent the day with us in Yellowstone. We taught him everything he'd ever need to know about the South for his study...like the legend of Bear Bryant, the joys of fried chicken, our love for Colonel Sanders, the greatness that is Garth Brooks, the thrill of taking our Ford F150s down red dirt roads, etc. And we perfectly timed the Old Faithful eruption. We pulled up in the parking lot right as it started and ran over to it just in the nick of time.

Then we left beautiful Wyoming and headed to just as beautiful Montana to spend a couple days at Elkhorn Ranch in Big Sky with Morgan's friend (and now all of our friend) Nicole. Thanks to Elkhorn Ranch for being such great hosts!

From here, we'll head to Utah where we'll drop Morgan off at the airport and then head to Bryce and Zion National Parks before heading back to Denver. Sorry for the long post. Enjoy the photos. Till next time.

cloud 9

Here are the many faces of Adam Erwood:

Here are some less handsome people and great views:

 

The best sections

We've made it to Silverton--our last stop before Durango. The past few days have been absolutely incredible. We stop all the time just to take in the views as best we can. No words would do these mountains justice as to how beautiful they are. 

We hit the tallest point on the CT (13,271 ft) on Friday and had beatiful views to hike to the rest of the day. We didn't dip below 12000 ft for two days and slept around 12500 one night. I'm not sure if it's because we've been in the woods so long or what but we were eating dinner that night and two guys set up camp near us and it was the most mesmerizing activity we'd seen in quite some time. We watched them, analyzed their gear, and said things like, "I think they're speaking to one another" or "are they eating?" That same night we got to see the fog roll in between the mountains and eventually engulf our whole campsite. We were looking out into a sheet of solid white. 

Yesterday we awoke to not a cloud in the sky and was one of the most beautiful days we'd seen on the trail scenery wise. THERE WERE ALSO LLAMAS ON THE TRAIL YESTERDAY!!! I don't think I've ever walked that fast up a hill this entire time. I just wanted to get to see the llamas. 

We took our time with the descent for the most part to take in the views and we also played in a creek that looked like a polar bear exhibit in the zoo. The rocks were white and the water was light light light blue and also freezing cold. Cloud 9 and I took a dip and immediately got out while Dirty Mike got in and then slid down a lil waterfall. 

Dirty Mike shared with us a pretty neat saying "baller on a budget" 

Cloud 9 said one of my favorite things yet, "I can't push myself because I'm chewing gum." 

Buckwheat wants to make sure the people know he didn't take any part in this next story cause he's not a savage or whatever. Cloud 9, Dirty Mike, and myself were sitting on a bench in Silverton outside of a store and watched a little boy eat two scoops of ice cream before throwing it away and run into the store with his little sister. We all looked at each other at the same time and talked about how much ice cream was left. So I got up and got it out of the trash (it was right on top sitting on a newspaper). We laughed so hard as we ate the rest of it. The boy came out and we hid the evidence as he walked by. Then Buckwheat came out and we laughed because we knew he would shame us if we told him what happened. The ice cream was amazing and we have achieved homeless status.

I don't know what else to really say besides reiterating the beauty of what we just walked through. I cried a couple times at the shear beauty and majesty. These mountains will always hold a special place in my heart and I'm forever thankful for this opportunity. 

Photos n stuff: 

Absolutely incredible

-peacock 

The Slackpackers

We finally made it to Creede and were able to get a hotel room, shower, do laundry and most importantly eat. 

But let's first rewind a few days. We have been outright spoiled on the trail by Sam and Marcia. After Salida they dropped us back off at the trailhead but with only raingear and snacks in our packs. Hiking is great. Hiking with less than 5 pounds is incredible. We felt like we were flying as we followed the ridge line. When we finally made it to the designated camping area they picked us up and immediately started driving on a FJ trail road over fallen trees and through the mud until it opened up to a wonderful campsite.

First things first when camping, we had cocktail hour which was filled with wine, cheese, bread, tomatoes, hummus and the list goes on. But this was only to be the first course we were all soon eating salad, baked potatoes, salmon pan fried over the fire, and of course a s'mores buffet. 

The next morning we packed up everything then loaded all our gear in the FJs and started hiking. After about a mile or so I realized I left my phone so I ran back, got it and then started over again. We eventually all met up only to be poured and hailed on. Our spirits were feeling down until we crossed a mud road and out of the woods drove the FJs. We set up lunch in the typical backpacking way, with a tarp roof, table and a full watermelon while the cows just stood and stared. 

We hiked a few more miles, stopping to play baseball with mushrooms on the side of the trail. Sam and Marcia had once again found us a great campsite and our meal consisted of chips with queso and salsa, salad, black beans, corn on the cob, onions and peppers, barbecue chicken and of course washed down with s'mores. 

The next day we actually had to put our gear in our packs and say goodbye to Sam and Marcia, but only after being loaded with bacon, eggs, and campfire donuts. Despite our little vacation lasting a day and a half we had earned a reputation. As we walked past other hikers they would ask if we were those Slackpackers. Dirty Mike and Peacock were even asked how long the drive from our hotel every morning took. 

The next few days went by like a blur, hiking over twenty miles on each of them. The first took us through National Forest Pasture land over miles and miles of dirt road. When we finally made it to a valley it started raining and didn't stop until the middle of the night. Needless to say we have now missed only two nights of campfires. Luckily it was sunny when we woke up, so we pushed hard to try and summit our fourth 14'er. Sadly the clouds were rolling in and we decided to play it safe, skip the summit and hike on. Yesterday took us right over a beautiful Mesa where we could see miles and miles of mountains in the distance. While crossing the Mesa I came to a little creek. While pondering how to cross it the ground gave way and I started falling to the ground. The rest of the group was laughing their heads off at me, but while I proved that my butt never touched the ground (therefore it doesn't count as a fall) Peacock took her own slip in the same spot. No one is counting the nber of falls:

Dirty Mike: 2

Peacock: 2

Cloud 9: 3

Buckwheat: an impressive 0

We finally made it into town, ate lunch, showered, ate dinner with Sam and Ethan (the Sherpas as they are known on the trail), watched tv while eating, fell asleep while dreaming about food, and now are about to head to the motels Yelp Famous breakfast. 

Eating watermelon on the trail with cow spectators. 

Sam (One of the Sherpas) double-fisting snickers ice cream bars. 

Walking across Snow Mesa. 

Also, our hiker friend Ethan is about to spend a year in France working for a church youth ministry and sharing the Gospel with kids over there. He is a super great guy and is raising support for his trip. Please consider supporting him by giving, the like is here:https://secure-q.net/donations/UnitedWM/336

Go to "missionary" in the first box then select "Williams, Ethan" in the second box. I know he is going to do awesome things and we have been happy to get to know him!

Bon Jovi time

Now this is Michael posting from Adams phone:

We are halfway there! The past few days have been super awesome. Every day the scenery is incredible and I have to remind myself not to get used to it because it just gets better and better. 

So last town we were in, we were sitting at a restaurant eating and a woman started talking to us and eventually gave us her number and said call when you want a ride back to the trail. It was awesome because the 22 mile hitch was going to be very hard considering the road had very little thru traffic. 

Adam also left out the fact that he got lost prior to Buena vista. We all planned to meet at the trailhead and hitch in together. Eventually some slower hikers showed up and when we inquired about where Adam was they said "oh he's definitely in front of us."  William and I drew straws on who had to go looking for him and I lost. So with a thunderstorm looming and us sitting exposed on the continental divide, I dropped my pack and started my first trail run up the adjacent incline where I figured Adam missed the turn. Luckily after reaching the top I could see a tall figure swaggering down a dirt road and after getting his attention all tragedies were avoided and we made it to town. 

The past few days, we have been on the "Collegiate West" alternate high route of the Colorado trail. We haven't dipped below 11000 at all I think. Also, the trail was recently re routed and our guide book didn't have the new route. So we started hiking out of town at like 7:00 hoping to hit a campsite in the guide book after 4 miles. After realizing the guide book was completely wrong, we ended up hiking a few extra hours and eventually crashed at like 11:30. Luckily the sky was clear and the stars were incredible and when we woke up we had an amazing view. 

After a few days and seeing our friend "Mr. Popular" aka Kurt we made it to Salida. Sam and Marcia (Some family of Buckwheat) picked us up from the trailhead and immediately started treating us. First was ice cream. Then we went to a restaurant that ONLY serves steak and all got 12 oz filets. Then they put us up in a hotel and told us that the next couple days they would be slack packing us! So they will take their FJ cruisers on the backcountry forest service roads and meet up with us for the next couple days and bring food and stuff in their cars. It is going to be incredible. 

We are still having a blast and trying to take full advantage of this crazy trip. Spirits are high and we are excited for the next adventures the trail throws our way. 

-dirty mike 

Here's some photos

Hola desde Buena Vista

Here is a blog post from Adam:

We hit the 200 mile mark yesterday and are resupplying now in Buena Vista. Yesterday we summited our third 14'er, Mt. Huron (14,003 ft), and here are the official stats for the day:

Mt. Huron Summited*: Dirty Mike

Mt. Huron Summited: Buckwheat, Peacock, Cloud 9

* - the following hiker took a cheap shortcut on a switchback thereby nullifying his actual completion of the 14'er and showing disrepect and disdain for all CT volunteers, the CT Foundation, and all hikers everywhere.

We all agreed Mt. Huron had the best view of any of the 14'ers so far. And the afternoon thunderstorms held off long enough to let us enjoy our time on the summit. There was also a mountain goat on the trail. Dirty Mike and I got within 5 feet of it to take a picture, and I guess we were a little too close for comfort because it eventually walked toward us to back us off.

We were just at Eddyline Brewery and had food and, of course, beer and will head to quincys steakhouse on our way out of town. They serve exclusively just fillet mignon for $10! Our next stop will be in only a day and a half in Salida where we'll meet up with Sam and Marsha (Buckwheat's relatives). We're looking forward to hiking with them and can't wait till Thursday! Till next time

- Cloud 9

Matt: we will try to include a beard update soon