Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
Skyline Trail to Kennebec Pass
CT Section 27.
Highlights: Indian Trail Ridge, Taylor Lake
17.1 miles
This was a good day! But a tough one, once again. Greg and I both seemed to have our trail legs, finally, and his knee is not bothering him much at all! We made fantastic time, knocking out ten miles before noon, on very nice trail.
There were two themes of the day. The first was “water.” We hiked without any source of water the last six miles of yesterday, and the first 8.5 miles this morning. Finally, we arrived at a camping area in a huge basin where there was a tiny trickle of the magical H2O. Two older bikers who we had talked to before were there filling up, so we joined them. After this however, there would be yet another eight mile stretch before our next good water supply, and our second theme of the day lay between: Indian Trail Ridge. Despite chugging water the past two days, I would end up being dehydrated by the end of this long stint above tree-line.
But the ridge itself was fantastic. Scenery was nonstop, and the whole stretch was a super enjoyable ridge-walk. There was also a neat section near the end like a sidewalk in the sky. The one big obvious negative was having to go up and down four times because of the false summits and saddles in-between. By the time we finally reached the last top, it was kind of anticlimactic.
The descent to Taylor Lake was a combination of nasty trail and beautiful scenery. The latter consisted of a myriad of wildflowers carpeting the slopes below us, the magnificent backdrop of snow-striped peaks, and of course, the lake itself.
We didn’t actually visit the lake itself. Instead, we were busy procuring much-needed water, and conversing with other hikers and bikers who were doing the same. I gave two older ladies three bags of trail mix; they were low on food, and I was happy to be rid of the extra weight.
Finally, we made one more minor ascent, again through fields of wildflower, to Kennebec Trailhead, finishing section 27, the second-to-last section of the Colorado Trail!
We continued into section 28, and found a great camping spot near a spring, surrounded by meadows of wildflowers. We enjoyed our evening routine, eating Mountain House meals, putting up tents, organizing gear, then sitting around the fire.
