June 8, 2025
‘Red line’ mile marker 628.0 to 651.1
Hiked today: 23.1 miles / 37.2 km

Since we had started walking by 5.30 am, we had completed the road walk out of the town of Cuba and were starting on the trail by 8 am. As anticipated we had a long ascent but the path was shaded with trees and well graded so we made good progress. We climbed up a mountainside and then along the ridge tops for most of the morning. Water is plentiful with streams flowing down the mountain so we didn’t need to carry more than a couple of litres at a time.

We noticed such a change in vegetation, with grassy meadows, flowers in profusion and quite dense undergrowth to the conifers. The ground is mostly soft with a carpet of pine needles. With the abundant vegetation, we have also seen more wildlife – squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, a possible coyote and elk. So far no bears.

This section seems to be popular with day hikers, and we passed a number of people who had hiked in to picnic by the reservoir, others who were just camping on the weekend,  and still others who were hoping to catch fish from the streams. We passed the reservoir at 11.30, collected water from a stream that feeds it, then moved on down the trail before stopping for lunch.

Having made good progress in the morning,  we only needed to do another 5 or 6 miles to complete our day. Through the afternoon, we crossed a number of meadows that were wet and muddy, so soon our shoes and socks were wet.

We have set up camp in a spot that is relatively flat and sheltered from the wind. Our highest point today was 10,600′ and we are camped at 10,350′. Dinner was a packet pasta dish that was barely one step up from a cup-a-soup but we had been meaning to give these a try. Next food shop we will experiment with couscous and vegies instead.