We get up early as usual and our breaths are frosty and fingers numb as we eat and pull down camp. The mountain bikers are up early too. They apparently packed too light and weren’t prepared for the cold. One guy tells us they end up walking their bikes at least 50% of the time because of the steepness of the trail. We leapfrog with them all morning as we climb steadily up Sargent’s Mesa. Sargents Mesa is open grass and woods with a gentle incline.
Today we have to manage to water. We are depending on making it 14.5 miles with 2 liters each to Razor Creek. If necessary we can hike a 1/2 mile off the trail at mile 11 to Baldy Lake but we don’t want to add any extra miles right now. I am surprised we have to manage to water on the Colorado Trail but it is really not a big deal compared to what we have done at the Grand Canyon. We fill up at Razor Creek as we will not see water again today and will be dry camping tonight. As we each have a 3 liter platypus (for dirty water) and a half liter smartwater bottle we immediately add 7.72 pounds to our packs! Yikes. Luckily, we are down to only a few days food so I am thinking even with the extra 7.72 pounds my pack is still under 30 pounds. We stop at a saddle on the Continental Divide ridge at around 3:30pm after hiking 18.7 miles. Time to dry things out that had to be packed this morning wet with condensation. Out comes our gear which is now draped haphazardously over everything. No wonder they call it a hiker’s yard sale!
