trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles
day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6 | info page
Texas Creek to Mineral Basin
Wet morning.
I finished my book – Dances with Marmots – a Kiwi’s memoir of hiking the PCT – and left it on the trail for anyone craving an amusing read.
This was the toughest creek crossing. Not bad. 
Volunteers are working on this section of the Colorado Trail. I expect there will be a wood bridge here soon.
Despite the wet conditions, I was impressed with my Merrill shoes. No blisters.
This guy goes barefoot in the rain. 
Water was running high for July. It’s been a wet year.
I was worried, again, about lightning. Happily I’d see no more for the week.
The weather improved as I climbed to Cottonwood Pass, a popular tourist stop that I’d visited my only other time in Colorado. 
I took the high trail approach. And the California couple passed me once again. I saw them climb into a car and drive away. They’d told me they didn’t have enough food to reach their next resupply. So needed to side trip to town for grub.
An Austrian couple (I learned later) left the trail here too – their tent and sleeping bags too soaked to continue. It’s a good escape route as many tourists are happy to rescue someone from the continental divide.
On the other side the trail was blocked by snow. Hikers were still detouring to bypass. 
Here begins my favourite section of the Collegiate West. 
Miles of continental divide ridge walk. 
The weather continued to improve. One happy hiker.
It had been a long, tough day, however. And I was happy to finally drop down to find a protected campsite.
I set up in a spot as out-of-the-wind as possible. 
No water. But good protection.
besthike.com 
You left a book?! Nooooooo! Leave no trace!! You should remove that from your blog so other readers don’t see that and think it’s an acceptable thing to do!!