Backpacker CDT Trip- Hamby Road to Little Joe Lake

We left from camp with another uncertain section to hike (about 4 miles), but it turned out that the trail was easy to follow and no problem to navigate. There was a steep descent to Miner's Creek Trailhead, and some of the switchbacks could use some work, but all in all I was expecting much worse. We got down the hill, and got some water in Miner's Creek where we officially began the second section (according to the book) of our hike. This section was reputed to much more scenic and the trail was supposed to be well-constructed. After a short break, we headed up to climb to the top of the pass.

The trail was beautiful, with lush greenery from the snow runoff and the trail was easy to follow and wide enough in places for two to walk together. The climb was a good grade up to the Rock Island Lakes, and then the trail steepened. Up until this point, I felt pretty good despite doing this hike literally off the couch. Work, the Las Vegas summer temps, travel to presentations, and stress over tenure, has seriously cut into our hiking time and in this section I could feel it. Everyone had to wait for me, yes I was the slow girl in the group. How Aaron is able to bust out the miles (remember Half Dome And Long's Peak?), I will never understand. He is a hiking machine. Oh, well at least I made it up the hill.

Over the saddle was Little Lake, and the views were worthy of a John Denver song. This is more like it! Yes, the CDT in all it's glory. We continued down along a good trail traversing the slopes and working our way through the valleys. Tom saw a bear, but as he was in the lead, it was scared away and long gone by the time the rest of us caught up. Gorgeous views, and Jon got lots of great pictures. Check them out. We stopped a bit early in the afternoon, slightly under our target of 12 miles, but there was a nice lake and we were all tuckered out from the climb. We made camp and as we were cooking dinner and messing around, Jon and Tom spotted another bear across the lake. I think it was less than interested in us, and went on to other pursuits, but we practiced good bear/food etiquette nonetheless. After I had crashed for the night I heard whispers and the sound of digital cameras going off. It turns out a herd of elk had come through the area, waded into the lake, and made their way up the steep ridge we had hiked down. Amazing! The wildlife has been awesome on this trip: deer, bear, elk, marmots, grouse...very cool.