EP 149 - 4 Days, 100 Miles, & 19,000' Of Elevation: OV On The Colorado Trail

[00:00:00] Tayson: Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Live Ultralight Podcast. Powered by Outdoor Vitals. Today we have a from the trail or rather from the car episode. Me and the Gang have just completed. Our 100 mile segment of the Colorado Trail. So in the car with me here, we've got Tyler Derek and Brigham if you want to say hi.

[00:00:20] Tyler: Hey,

[00:00:20] Derek: hello.

[00:00:21] Tayson: And we're just gonna kind of be talking off the cuff about what we just did and how everything, you know, went down for us out there. So for those of you that don't know, as a good time to explain why we do these 100 miles segments, in The Summer's, we have a group called the OV100 Mile Challenge where people can, you know, join the challenge and then they do either a stacked or a Non-Stop version of a 100 miles of their choosing. It's a, it's a DIY program where we do a framework live training. We've got swag and things that will give away with that as well. Finishers pins. It's a really cool program but it's really just a great excuse to get people out on the trail. And for us, that's part of why we do this. And then obviously the other part of it is for us to just be constantly. Testing our product be very connected with our product innovating Etc. And

[Editor’s note: This opening description of the OV100 Mile Challenge, live training, swag, and finisher pins was recorded in 2023; the program and availability may have changed.]

[00:01:16] Tayson: Many, many uses, and this is the group that, you know, raises their hand and says, yeah, I'll come and do 20 miles a day out on trail and so we've, we've condensed this 100 mi into a really, a four and a half day window. Yet again, even though we really were pushing for five days. I mean Tyler, at least wanted to drag it out to five days before we started, but honestly, it worked out really well and we'll get into the details there for us this year. We did start on the Durango side of the Colorado Trail. And that was mainly due to just how hot it was. And, you know, some of those kinds of factors plus really love the San Juan mountains, so don't have to twist my arm, much to start on that side of the trail, but hopefully, we'll go back and finish out the segments over the next couple of years. 100 miles or more at a time. Yes, started out in Durango and did 100 miles up past Silverton. So What I missed as far as laying the groundwork for what we've been doing.

[00:02:18] Derek: Well, one thing with the Colorado Trail is, this is just the first 100 miles. I don't know. I don't think you mentioned this, but we do plan on going back. We know that the Colorado Trail is, you know, a whole lot longer, but Time restrictions with family with work with, you know, so many other things going on. In our lives, we find it's a lot more doable to bite it off in little chunks, so we do plan on going back. But the first 100 miles was definitely a really cool experience.

[00:02:47] Tyler: Yeah, so I mean we we just went out there, set it out, maybe before we hit the trail. What were some of your guys's expectations of how how the trail would be and how things would go?

[00:03:02] Derek: I was expecting a lot more. Basically, similar views to the, you went to Highline trail that we did lost a couple of years. Which was there were a few. I was expecting some up and down climbing and going back down, but honestly, I think there was Probably a lot more elevation change on the Colorado Trail than I had expected.

[00:03:29] Tyler: Yeah, I think when we plan these trips and before we kind of decided that we were going to do the Colorado Trail and Four or five sections. We We just kind of

[00:03:44] Tyler: always. Gravitate towards, what's the biggest? Most awesome mountains that we can get to in the amount of time that we have to go. And so, we actually looked at some routes in Idaho, as well as Colorado when we were very first planting. And when we landed on the San Juans and and we got a route planned, we could see the, you know, we had 100 miles and What was it? Like 29,000 feet of elevation game. I believe it was 19. Oh 19,000! Yeah, so it was 19,000 feet of elevation gain in our route and so, as we got closer to it, I just knew it was going to be up high with a lot of amazing views and it's going to be a lot of work because that's a whole lot of climbing. So, That's that's a lot of what I was expecting was just yeah, Mountain views and big climbs and I mean for Reference last year, you went to Highline Trail. I believe on, you know, Paper on the mapping software as we use that was about 16 to 17,000 feet. I want to say so yeah, this was more vertical.

[00:05:00] Brigham: Boss. Ventures. yeah, I'd say as far as expectations I kind of don't really pay attention or care too much about whatever the vertical is. I like to just go to a place and whatever it is and enjoy it. so my expectation for the Colorado Trail is, I kind of knew that the section we were doing would be Kind of a higher average elevation a little bit then. Say the Uinta Highline Trail which we did last year but for me that kind of fixed an expectation for what I have experienced at elevations like that. So my expectation was a lot of you know, hiking at or above tree line and kind of that environment where it's like a transition to you know there's some Forest but it's mostly you're up high with these white open views the entire time. So that was kind of my expectation was to just have a lot of big mountain views the whole time. And and honestly the other expectation I would I generally just assume with this kind of elevation is It's an expectation of mountain weather which means like when you're over 10,000 feet, it just does not get hot. And so that was that was an expectation that we'll probably get into in. The.

[00:06:27] Tyler: I thought you were gonna say the expectation for Mountain weather, was that it changes on a dime.

[00:06:32] Brigham: Yeah, that's true too.

[00:06:34] Tyler: I was

[00:06:35] Brigham: just more. Yeah,

[00:06:37] Tyler: yeah. We do we do need to unpack that because that was

[00:06:44] Tayson: a paradigm shift that I experienced on this trip as well. But maybe talk for a minute kind of go around just what you guys do to prepare for things like this both in terms of physical and you know if there's anything gear wise that kind of is worth highlighting. I guess all, I'll go ahead and start with that question though for me this summer. I am signed up to do another ultra marathon. It'll be basically a week from right now. So got some time to recover about seven days and then we'll be back at it. But so most of my training hinged on on, So, getting just a lot of miles in running on trails. that as much with the pack on which I feel like I would have enjoyed doing a little bit more of that, but same time, you know, had a lot of good success with just getting miles and And just like that string on the body, per se on the feet, the ankles, the knees, and just keeping mobility and stuff like that. So I feel like that worked out quite well for me on this trip. But As far as gear goes, I would say not a lot changes for me. I feel like I've got a lot of my systems down and the things that I'm gonna take her are pretty static, and I mean, if you're really interested in that you can always go to outdoorvitals.mom and pull a checklist off the website. but you know, going into these type of this type of train Typically I plan for like three seasons, meaning it can get really cold really fast. It can be really hot in the day but it can be really cold at night, you know, storms can roll in. So I'm always bringing rain gear but also I'm usually bringing some forms of insulation and I'm bringing I do bring a thermals to sleep in and then, you know, usually it's kind of a debatable thing for us. I would say, between using a 30 degree, top quilt, and a 15 degree top quilt, I used a 15 degree topical, this time Because I wanted to test an insulation that we have in a in a model, a prototype. But it is debatable, I guess for me. Typically whether it's 15 or 3rd, we've been on trips like this where we've literally got snowed on. So I think that's where the debate comes in. Because we on that time, that trip, I think those that had 15 degree tops were very happy. We had 15 degree top quilts but turns out it doesn't always need to be the case. So,

[00:09:18] Tyler: For me. I was moving one from one house to another like, through the spring of this year. So I wasn't getting my normal routine of exercising in and so I actually was was starting my training a little bit late and for those who are familiar with the OV100, you'll know that, as part of that challenge, we give us a framework that teaches how to prepare for your 100 miles race or trip and a lot of that framework. Written through all of our experiences as well as just a lot of knowledge that comes from the ultra running world because there's a lot of crossover there. And, and essentially for that training program, the idea is that you ramp up your mileage in small increments every week with a weighted pack and the closer you get to your trip, the more you try to simulate, The weight of your backpack, the elevation gain that you'll be on your trip and altitude that you'll be doing your trip at. And I didn't have time this year to follow our own plan as as good as I wanted. I and so what I did was I took one of our new Fast packs. We have really cool running fast packs coming out here. Shortly that That are really great for this, the training that I did. So I would typically go running with this fast pack with, I started with about 10 pounds, and by the time I was done, I was at about 20 pounds in it, and I would run from my house to a Trailhead. That was, I'd run through town for about a mile, hit the trailhead and then go up the mountain from there and that was the majority of my training was like running in this Trail Network that had some decent elevation and terrain and and, I think that plan worked quite well. I did find that I have a lot of struggles with plantar fasciitis through April, and May as I was trying to kick my training off and get it, get prepared for this, mid July trip and so that slowed me down a little. I had to try a couple of different pairs of shoes and I ended up doing three different. shoe insole inserts, and finally landed on a combination that worked for me and Through all of that troubleshooting came out in a fairly good position. I'm feeling pretty good here.

[00:12:16] Tayson: After finishing this trip, maybe we thought getting into the too many details. What what did you land on? As the insole.

[00:12:23] Tyler: Yeah. So I think what caused my plantar fasciitis was a combination of spending really long days on my feet in bat shoes because I was remodeling a house and so I would work, you know, really late nights and every single weekend and I just had bad shoes and then I just went straight into kind of bigger mile runs. Like I think my very first training run. Was like a five Miler and then later that week, I did a seven and I just thought I would be able to pick it up really fast, and I think I came on way too strong for being inactive through the winter and spring and and then I I didn't have great shoes when I started. So what I ended up with was Hoka Speedgoats with some Superfeet insoles and And and, and then I just learned to do constant massaging and foam rolling and things like that. And it's been, it's been a learning curve, but it's been really good too.

[Editor’s note: The outdoorvitals.mom checklist, OV100 framework, product-testing discussion, and launch references above were recorded in 2023; current programs, products, timing, and availability may differ.]

[00:13:30] Tayson: As far as gear goes anything, you'd out or change from what I already said.

[00:13:36] Tyler: Know this. I think this is the heaviest I've ever had the CS40 loaded between the camera gear and impulse extra calories that I added in my pack that I didn't eat and it was it was awesome. It handled it, great and was really comfy.

[00:13:55] Tayson: Derek, had you train?

[00:13:57] Derek: so I was I wasn't a similar boat as Tyler so my wife and I we just bought a house Really around Christmas time or New Year's and so I've been pretty dang busy with that. So what I ended up doing is just running every day that I can which is most weekdays at run about five miles roughly, that's on average kind of what I would run every single day. I've found that with the limited time I had with different projects or priorities. There's some there's some health issues that we were doing with too. that was pretty good training but I do, I mean I would maybe I wish I would have done one other thing which is just include more elevation training. this year, I don't know that I felt Prepared for all the climbing, I handle it. Obviously we made it and then it works. But it would have been more fun and I would have enjoyed it, probably a lot more if I trained more for elevation specifically, so I Out of endurance with running and that was a good thing. Miles were not a problem, clicking off a lot of miles in a day, definitely, not a problem, but there was a point for for me, where, you know, after I've climbed so much in a day I got pretty tough so that's what I did. I do have some things that I wish I would have done better, but I think even if you only have an hour a day like I did to train just just do that and that's still gonna be a lot better than nothing. You're gonna have quite a bit of endurance and stamina that you built up and and, Yeah, that worked that worked pretty well for me but I do have some things I would change next time.

[00:15:36] Tayson: Yeah, and bring up, I will preempt, I'll preface, Brigham's training with with the comments that I think Brigham's training is probably the most ideal. For this kind of stuff specifically for backpacking. But so pay attention to this one. I don't know if you pay

[00:15:58] Brigham: attention or not, it's just it works for me. It works for me.

[00:16:02] Tayson: It works for him.

[00:16:03] Brigham: Yeah. And I don't, I don't really train for anything specifically. So anything that I did a month ago was the same thing. I did a year ago and so I just tried to have a balanced. I do two days at the gym where I'm working on strength. So I do kind of a full body, you know, legs and upper body strength training at the gym, two days a week and then Is a week. I do a weighted pack hike so I used, I just keep a, I maintain a 50-pound pack that I just grab and go. I do that twice a week and just hike up a mountain for an hour and then turn around. and then the other two days of the week I run five miles, so about 10 miles of running a week and then some some pack hiking and then some Jim work and It, it works for me, I felt I felt really good on this on this trip. So yeah, as far as gear goes. I think it's everything's echoed. You know, there's not much that changes other than anything that is being prototyped. I typically am trying to Work that into my kit for any given trip. So if it's appropriate. So if it's, you know, if it's a Not appropriate for the trip. Obviously not going to bring it but yeah, that I'm what was interesting this year was my my trail weight. So all my gear food water and fuel was within a half a pound of last year's 100 Mi trip and I thought that was pretty interesting. It's very consistent for sure.

[00:17:47] Tayson: Okay, so this kind of the the preempt to start of everything, our training going into this. We're trying to do 20 miles a day, we climb in 19,000 feet. It'll be definitely a big effort. The plan was to do it over five days. Meaning, start on Monday morning. We're gonna get a shuttle out of Silverton that take us down to Durango to the trailhead actually. And then from there, we would start the trail, get back to Silverton and try to basically hitchhiker ride back into town once we were coming off the trail. So we start on Monday morning, Plano said, get out on Friday and then begin to travel home Friday, and then likely get home by Saturday cuz it's 8 or so hours of driving for us. But Um, so drive over, we sleep the night in Silverton which was also on purpose because it did allow us to acclimate Silverton is at 9,000 feet. So gives you a little bit of, you know, sleep at elevation before we immediately climb into some very high basins and areas. So we do that kind of a sweet shuttle out of out of Silverton down. Her was a Hermosa, Hermosa bike tours, or something from Russia. Tours. They were, they were awesome. Definitely helped us out a lot. They also maintain a couple of the sections there and do a great job on the trail. Yeah. They they're, they're focus is definitely more on biking and we found out on the trail that biking is a big part of the trellis specially in this area. But yeah they they definitely helped with maintaining it and and we'll get into trouble conditions too. But she started off on Durango side. I want to say about 9:30 in the morning and Start the climb. I don't know what else just say. We were definitely concerned because it was very hot. In fact, on the way over, we even experienced some some temperature, warning in the vehicle. Just extremely hot. We're definitely in that season here in the in the west where Where we? We just need the monsoon Seasons to cover the monsoons to come in because it's really hot really dry. But not not much rain has arrived, so it's still just hot and dry. So

[00:20:00] Tayson: Play that was a concern leading in is, is the forecast was for Durango to be over 100 degrees. And we're gonna be starting really close to Durango and then just hiking up and out of their So yeah, what are you guys's thoughts on on day one and getting started?

[00:20:18] Tyler: Our packs were heavy. They're full of food. 100 Mi worth of food is quite a bit. and we knew, we knew it was going to be a big day, because Durango is right around 7,000 feet in elevation, right? And and so we knew we were going to be getting up to around 11 thousand. And so, I think we all kind of knew is gonna be one of our toughest days because we were starting later in the day been normally do, and it was gonna be at least 4,000 feet of climbing. Here we hadn't figured out the FarOut app yet. So we just knew from Trailhead to Camp. We're looking at about 4,000 feet of climbing, you know what? All the ups and down. so we we kind of knew we had it in for us, but

[00:21:11] Derek: It was harder than I expected. It was hot. I think for me the the heat was the hardest thing. I mean I don't think the trail was overly steep. I think you've already touched on this. The trail conditions were really nice, like it was, you know, not super Rocky or full of roots or whatever, but just the heat made everything exponentially harder. I'm just to do the climbing and to go the miles when you're just sweating your guts out. I think Tayson you mentioned. You you sweat the amount of sweat that you put out that day. Was more than you probably ever have in your life. Oh

[00:21:44] Tayson: absolutely. I don't know. I mean, other than the Grand, Canyon Grand Canyon. And that day at a Durango. Absolutely more. Sweat came out of my body than You know, then should ever be possible. You know

[00:21:56] Derek: I'm probably right up there with you. I mean you you made a comment on the first day we were far away through that day. I showed up to where you guys stop on the trail because Walking behind you a bit. And I was just drenched in sweat and you're like, man, Derek. I don't think I've ever seen. You look this hot and miserable before ever.

[00:22:14] Tayson: Well, like what the biggest reason I said that is like one, you were actually sweaty which you don't get nearly as sweaty as me. But two, like, even in your face, like your lips. Looks like they're losing color, like they're white almost and it just almost looked like a kind of like an early sign of dehydration, like your red face and then your lips kind of not as flush as they usually are. And I was like, so I kind of made if you call us just seeing how you how you're feeling because you can see it a bit

[00:22:40] Derek: you that I was definitely having a really hot morning, put it one way. I think I was okay on hydration and and overall I was doing pretty good but I just don't enjoy the heat, you can ask my wife, you know, we got married in Mesa in July and And that was probably one of the best days of my life, but at the same time, the 30 minutes of that day, where we had to take pictures out in the, you know, 115 degree weather. That was not a fun 30 minutes. So me and he I don't know, I prefer to be cold. Then overly hot.

[00:23:18] Brigham: Yeah, I think we just got unlucky with the weather pattern. I mean, it is July and starting a hike down low. It's all obviously gonna be warmer than up high, but it was I was very surprised. That you know, I don't know if the miles that day was like 20 something low 20s and terms of miles, but we just kept climbing and climbing and climbing. I kept kind of thinking like okay once we get around like 10,000 feet it's gonna it's gonna feel good and it never did. And we got above 10,000 feet but it just never seemed to cool off. Like I would expect any other hike to at that same elevation, and that was a bit of a, just a long drawn out, very hot day, we slept at 11,000 feet, which meant that, by the end of the day, we clocked over 6,000 feet of climbing, on our watches and sleeping clear up there at the top of the past, it was still hot and at night.

[00:24:22] Tayson: Yeah,

[00:24:22] Derek: it didn't really cool off that night. We were just warm clear until the next morning which then we got even warmer.

[00:24:31] Tayson: I mean as far as just the journey up to it was is I think that was kind of our first taste obviously of being on the Colorado Trail. So we're meeting people We're getting the culture. I mean, the first thing I would say is, I'd probably call that like the the dog park Trailhead. I mean, about every hiker that was like day hiking had a dog or two and not a problem but it was just surprising because I feel like in at least in our little city where we do a lot of trouble running on local Trails, you know, not nearly that many dogs and not nearly that many dogs just wandering around but lots of people. Lots of people hiking for the day. Lots of Trail Runners and lots of bikers too which I don't know. Like I've heard of people bike packing the CT and and whatnot but I didn't realize That there was just gonna be that that many bikers. So we're kind of. I mean, one thing I just say is you do kind of keep your head up for bikers after being on that trouble while That's good. I mean, we met, we met people, that knew us, we got to talk to some brand new Backpackers that were, you know, from the Midwest and just overall, you know, lots of good people to talk to and, and as we moved farther and farther up the trail, I think we got out of like, the day hikers and the little bit newer, hikers and got into people that were for sure, hiking the Colorado Trail or starting, you know, starting out on their journey, to hike, the Colorado Trail. And it's got some really good conversations with with people like that as well. And yeah, just like, I don't know. We met a lot of people and how to a good time, kind of getting into the trail a little bit.

[00:26:12] Tyler: Yeah, everyone we passed, was this friendly, as anywhere I've ever had, which was fun, fun to talk, to people and see so many friendly people.

[00:26:22] Derek: Yeah, I really thought everybody, everybody, I passed. It was seemed so friendly on that trail. I thought that was awesome. There wasn't really anybody kind of grumpy or angry that anybody else was out there and the Woods or in nature, just kind of everybody's pumped that other people were around to.

[00:26:40] Brigham: Thought something that was really interesting similar to what you guys were talking about, but I wasn't wasn't specific to day. One was Seemed like, almost everybody we talked to on the trail. When we they almost it's like everybody had this. awareness of Backpacking thing and the Colorado Trail, whereas like whenever really had to explain to anybody what we were doing, just like somebody asked, it would almost be like well, which direction are you going or where are you going? So it seems like everybody including day hikers or people that were just on like a one or two night trip. They all they all could relate to what we were doing and I felt like that was a little bit of a new experience for me. I mean, when you're backpacking in the mountains, You're running into other people. They're probably backpacking too but it was there was something a little bit more familiar with everybody. We talked to that they yeah, there was just like this. heightened level of awareness or relate ability that everybody was kind of associated with what we were doing. I thought was pretty cool.

[00:27:55] Tayson: Yeah, I mean I think if you like on other striking Trails, you're going to Experience that and but it's just, it is different because you hop just over a state line for us and that changes, right? I like Governor hiking, you went to Highline trailer or the trails, like, people don't know where you're coming from, where you're headed. And or just day hikers aren't even familiar with with the trail you're doing. And so it is there's a sense of camaraderie with any through hike I feel like that's really palpable it's really and you pick up on it really quick and it's it's cool just how many people support it, whether they're doing the hike or whether they're day hikers or anything in between. It's it's a really cool experience. So segmenting, through hikes, you know, it's worth going and doing an experience and just for for that Sense of two, you know just go experience that too. So as far as day one goes though. Yeah it was it was a brutal day. We passed. A lot of hikers that day is like we overtook more hikers that day than any other day. I would say for sure, it's just passing Group after Group, after group, and then in the evening, we start passing camps. We took our dinner at my 1819 and we'd already done Over 4,000 feet of climbing. And I think we were we had a bit of a discussion whether we should call it a day right there or push on. We ended up deciding to push on get over the 20 mi, you know, March that we we talked about a lot and get up to 11,000 feet What did you guys? I mean, as far like, were you guys I know I'll get into how I felt at the end of that, but how did you guys feel at the end of that? Were you Fine adequate thoughts on just how the day ended.

[00:29:46] Tyler: Yeah, I think that discussion started with like well, We have good weather. We don't. We don't want to slack off on a on a good day and not get enough miles in. So that we have a deficit on a harder day where there's potentially bad weather or bigger climbs or or something like that and just kind of start. Behind the pace. And so that was that was like the argument for going all the way up and over the past. I think the other side of that was we didn't want to overdo it too bad on day, one, and then be lagging through the rest of the week or cause an injury, or altitude sickness or something like that. So, we were kind of treading the line there where we're trying to figure out what the right balance was For the group.

[00:30:45] Tayson: Yeah. I mean we ended up deciding to push up and through obviously on day one two your I feel like you come in with high energy and high morale and so you feel confident to be able to push on and whatnot and that's what we did. We got up to camp and right after dinners. Where we broke above tree line, right? And and That was, that was a nice end of the day. I would say it did get a little bit like a little bit cooler because we got out of the Sun, but it didn't feel much cooler. Still very hot coming up through the past, but at least. Yeah, extremely steep. We climbed 1700 feet right after dinner up to our camp. And but we did get out of, like I said, the tree line and so we got some of those views that that we, I don't know. But most of us, I would say in this car are specialty addicted to just that High Country look getting back in the High Country was was really really nice to happen at the end of the day. We have able to get some water and then find Camp pretty quickly. And we're setting up right on the cusp of it being dark. So, you know, you're basically able to set up camp without it without a headlamp, but right on the border of that got camp set up pretty quickly. For me, this is kind of where Have a bit of an issue prop up, which was I was definitely feeling dehydrated by that point. When we had stopped a filter water, I squatted down to filter and when I went to stand up, I got pretty light-headed which is a Sign being dehydrated and I kind of noted it there and I definitely pushed when I got towards the top of the pass, I definitely just push to get through the past. I didn't want to really slow down. I was kind of like, you know, you're close to the end. So just finished strong type of thing and I think between pushing a little hard at the end and just being so dehydrated. I drink, nine liters of water that day. Well eight, I drink eight liters on 9. It was nice. And then I think one in the tent or else ate, and then one in the tent throughout the night, to try to help get rehydrated. But even with me drinking that much fluid. I was still dehydrated. So I sat down on the tent body started to cool off with all the sweat on me and was kind of sitting when you're like facing uphill a little bit. So you're kind of not super comfortable kind of trying to lean forward as you're sitting up they'll just a hair and Snack. I was drinking a little bit of water, witness stand up and my lower ab cramped, which I've never had in my life and I think with my, with my like being dehydrated, it started to make me kind of black out a little bit and started to lose sight and it was just extremely painful and didn't really let go. And then ended up dropping into my niece. I thought I might pass out and Wasn't. I mean, eventually passed but then my body just wanted to pass out. I didn't pass out. No. Stood up from that, I mentioned something to Brigham. Just someone new. And then I went laid down on my tent and I tried to like take my my socks off and then my leg cramped up and then I like, so I lay down and then I go to try to take my sock off again and my foot cramps up and my whole body. Basically, just started to cramp up different parts of it, my back, cramped my foot, cramped my leg, cramped my calf cramped, anytime I tried to use it. So I got so frustrated and I started to get super cold and like shaky. I think because I was still in all the sweaty clothes and whatever was going on. And so I ended up just pulling my top quilt over the top of me with one sock on one sock off, not in my sleeping gear that I was planning on and slept like that half the night before I woke up and could move with that cramping up. So, It was. It was, I don't know, I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but it definitely had me on edge to say the least. And so that whole night, I just focused. I had a whole leader of water sitting in the tent with me and my morning. I finished that leader of water at one point in the night. I when I woke up and could get my sock off, I I ate like a bar just to try to get some more calories in me and some more salt and whatnot. And while I was eating and drinking, and all salt and carbs can help with with absorption of water, and Definitely was like, man, don't repeat something stupid at elevation where you could, you know, put yourself at risk of eating, altitude sickness and so just chug water there. The next morning that was kind of the mo for me and Skip ahead a little bit. Thankfully, I felt by midday, I had been able to rebound and rehydrate and really was was just back to Total normalcy but Yeah, that was how day one ended for me and that's when I like realized just again looking back. Like it's I don't know how I mean, I guess I could have just forced more and more fluid down, but it's It's hard to tell how much you really losing. In those conditions. Because I'll be honest, I've never hiked in 80 and 90 degree weather climbing, that kind of elevation. That was a brand new experience for me and, and turned out to be a good Learning lesson. Yeah. Starting off day two. What was playing?

[Editor’s note: The heat, fluid quantities, salt/carbohydrate absorption comments, exertion, and recovery described above are one hiker’s 2023 experience, not a universal hydration plan or medical guidance. Adjust for conditions and use current qualified guidance.]

[00:36:25] Derek: Well, they too, we plan on packing up. We actually decided because day one had been so hot and miserable, we kind of rolled into Camp below the late. We just decided to allow herself to sleep in a little bit, but we wanted to roll out and get 20 miles down the trail. I can't remember. What's? what the, with the title of that destination was where we're trying to get to For the next campaign.

[00:36:50] Tayson: At the end of the day, we got just below black. Pass right. Okay, yeah.

[00:36:57] Derek: So we had just barely on day one, got into the High Country, like, you mentioned and day two, we started out actually, with some really cool views. We, we left camp and got onto some ridges for a little while. There's some really, really pretty stuff that we saw. We followed the Ridgeline for just a little while. Before dropping down into the trees. Again unfortunately, for me, I think the first half of the day really was the highlight on day two because of those views and the Ridgeline after we dropped down to the trees, I think the temperatures they picked back up again and there wasn't a lot to see other than you know, just walking through the woods which I do enjoy, by the way. But Yeah, we were kind of just making our way. You know, I don't remember too much that was very significant after the ridge line, until we got to just below Black Hawk Ridge.

[00:37:51] Brigham: Yeah, day two for me. Was a bit of a tease. It was a tease according to my expectation. So day one, I kept thinking We keep going up and up and up, and the scenery is not becoming what I expected it to until the very end. And it was, it was really nice. And so getting up that day too that morning was just glorious and beautiful and and it was I was really enthused about the scenery and for about the first four, maybe five miles or in this terrain that is exactly what I expected it to be like most of the time and it was really invigorating and fun to be out there and to be in this new place to see the vastness of some of these Mountain basins ridgelines and some lakes. And so, it was like I started the day with a bang and then, After that, almost the rest of the day. It was what I felt was a little bit. average in terms of scenery because we went down a little bit in elevation, but we're still talking like a 11,000 feet and in my mind, Terrain should be the same, but in these mountains it's not it was mostly wooded. And so we spent many miles that day in hot weather again and just kind of going through more wooded terrain, and and, It wasn't, you know, the spectacular views that I kind of thought were just gonna be present all day long. And so that's why day, two for me, was a bit of a tease in terms of scenery because I started out real strong with that gorgeous scenery and then it kind of Went downhill a little bit for me for the rest of the day.

[00:39:43] Derek: You know, to be fair another, another perspective that may be putting a dampener on how we feel about the the second half a day too. Was also the fact that we had a, I think a 16 Mile Water carry, you know, between where we could filter water, which is never very

[00:40:00] Derek: When you gotta carry a lot of water weight and if you run out, you're just gonna get kind of behind the dot in hydration.

[00:40:07] Tyler: We also goofed that water carry up because we were we stopped somewhere and we're like, oh there's more water in a mile and then the water carry starts well, we buzzed right past the very last water so none of us had quite as much water as I think we would have Planned on for the whole carry. But the good news about that whole day was, if you're going from Durango northward, it's mostly downhill. And it was shaded a lot. So even though we weren't having the same views as kind of what we had, right off the bat in the morning, I was grateful that it was mostly downhill and it was mostly shaded and it was still a very hot day and so we we were able to put down a lot of miles that day. I think that was our biggest smile day, right around like between 23 and 24 miles.

[00:41:06] Tayson: Yeah, we did mess up that water carry, and that was a little frustrating, but I think all of us were only planning to grab one last liter. So we were all pretty weighted up on water before we got too far on the trail and realized it, but luckily it wasn't. It wasn't too too crazy

[00:41:24] Derek: though, because we weren't climbing a lot during that water carry

[00:41:28] Tayson: Yeah, nothing really slowed us down much in those 15 or 16 miles—no big climbs, no big descents. We were able to hold a very steady 20-minute-mile pace for for pretty much the whole second half of that day.

[Editor’s note: Water availability and safe carry needs vary by route, season, weather, and individual. Verify current sources and plan conservatively rather than relying on this historical itinerary.]

[00:41:45] Tayson: One of the things I think that I do find interesting about the San Juan mountains in really Southern Colorado, is the tree line, you know, if you've ever been To different. Levels or elevator see Northern latitudes of tree line. They change, right? So if you're up in Montana, Tree Line, could be say at 7,000 feet. Well, here this far south tree line is is like 11 5 or I mean it's it's just really yeah at some in some areas it feels like it's 12. And so, by the time you break out a tree line, you're not, you're not like a little bit higher. You're extremely high compared to other parts of the country. So to Brigham this point earlier where he's saying, you know, we're still hiking the whole day at, you know, 10,000 plus feet. And we were in trees, that's just not common for a lot of the high mountain train that you can get into or breaking above tree line. So something to calculate and one of the things I think make the Santa on mountains that much more challenging one, they're extremely sharp. I mean Like every Canyon. It just feels like it's just straight up and straight down. It's it's basically if you weren't on the trail we were on. It was walking like a fairly decent Ridgeline like every other side of the mountain is just straight down. I mean, to the level, you're like, like, it feels almost like Cliffy, you know? It's just so sharp.

[00:43:14] Tyler: Well, I think they too is where we started to kind of recognize just how good the construction is and the maintenance is on the Colorado Trail. out in Utah and Idaho and a lot of the places that we go, when you're in in that South Alpine, Alpine kind of terrain, A lot of the hiking is like just loose free horse trails or game trails and this, this was like very nice Trail, and we were very appreciative of that. But I think days, two and three was where we really started to realize like hey there's been a lot of work put in to to the route of this Trail and paying attention to the grave and paying attention to the maintenance. And I was very impressed with that.

[00:44:15] Tayson: Yeah, I mean should we talk about shoes for a minute? Break it up. I I tried on some new hokas this year after watching these guys try them. I just hear a lot of different good things about them. And I've definitely never finished a hundred miles of trail with my feet feeling as good as they do right now. I was very, very happy with the hokas and and three of us on the trail had Hokas Brigham. You did not. So, what's your report?

[00:44:45] Brigham: well yeah, the last two years I have been using Hoka Speedgoats. This year. well, about four months ago, I bought a pair of Salomons And I've been, I've all my running has been with Salomon these particular Salomons. So I've been running with him for like four months. and, but what I did find is given how smooth this trail surface was, my feet were significantly more sore than they ever were after 100 miles using a Hoka Speedgoat. So it was really I was really frustrated that like I was having any Tenderfoot issues, you know in what seemed like a pretty mild or easygoing Trail surface. Say I was that's a definite thumbs down on long distance hiking with those those Solomons. I think the model is the Salomon Pulsar Trail, but yeah, you

[00:45:51] Tayson: have to rest of that unfortunate story. Where you have the other shoes?

[00:45:58] Brigham: Oh well yeah. So I I didn't plan to hike with these shoes. I had ordered a pair of Sauconys and I kind of made the decision. sort of laughs last minute but I paid like 30 dollars for Rush shipping so that I can have him in time for the trail and so I got him like three days before and so funny a time and I Take them out of the packaging and look at the size on the box and it's the correct size and then I take the shoes out and I look at them and think these look kind of big so that I checked the tongue and sure enough, they were one size, they were the wrong size, so they were one size bigger than the Box said and what size bigger than what I ordered. So that was kind of a bummer. So I yeah. Anyway, bad bad shoes situation for me this year. Yeah, I think just to add to that,

[00:46:54] Tayson: I have been using the Salomon Sense Ride 4s for the last two years and I always thought they were a solid shoe. I never thought they were like a phenomenal shoe, but definitely after trying out the hokas, I feel a little bit cheated. Like I stayed in those shoes way too long and There was, there's been some better options for me out there. So maybe I'll do some more shoot testing in the future and just broadened my my spectrums a little bit. But after having some plantar, fasciitis and gutting into the Salomons and then getting a a Currex insole. I kind of fixed that for me. So then I didn't want to touch anything for a while and that probably was what left me in there. But yeah. Anyways, enough probably enough on shoes for for now, but if you're looking for shoes,

[00:47:41] Brigham: there's a few touch points to build off of.

[00:47:43] Tyler: Yeah. I think it's worth staying, like, in our framework for the 100-mile challenge. We tell people to not Take brand new shoes out or like not you know to to do your troubleshooting and testing as early as you can in the season. I think Brigham is unique in the sense that he's our product designer and every time he goes out there's a whole lot of testing Going on. So but yeah I would say I would say get your testing done as early as you can, before you go out on your big trips and you'll be more comfortable.

[Editor’s note: The Hoka, Salomon, insole, and shoe-testing recommendations above reflect individual experiences on this 2023 trip; fit, comfort, and injury risk vary by person and conditions.]

[00:48:22] Tayson: Any other good stories from day two? I

[00:48:25] Derek: actually do have one. This is probably the most significant thing that I remember from day two, which is, you know, we passed some more hikers, but one of them towards the end of the day, he was, he had started in Durango as well, and he was working his way towards Denver was his original plan, but he was rethinking that and wanting to, at least, just get to Silverton and then kind of look at his options. The reason he was rethinking everything is because his pack was Enormous. And probably, Weighed 80 pounds, Tyler, you tried it on, right?

[00:48:58] Tyler: I picked it up. Yeah, he told us that it was 75 pounds and he invited Tayson to pick it up and Tayson's like, ah, no. Thanks. And I went over and and picked it up and it was like, no doubt in my mind heavier than 75 pounds. It, it felt like he had, it felt like he had a bag of cement in there with all of his like Camp gear tied to the outside of it. And he had a lot of Camp gear like hanging off the outside. So Not only was a heavy but it was there was a lot of Leverage pulling you backwards because it was the wait was dispersed so far back from his back and Yeah my guess would be 85 pounds or more

[00:49:46] Tayson: well and to build on your point Derek. He was rethinking his his itinerary essentially because he was going much slower than he thought he would write. So he was saying he was meeting 12 liters of water in that dry. Yeah, because he was only getting five miles a day. So when he left was called, Taylor's Lake, you left, Taylor's Lake did a big hike. And then there was actually more water a little bit farther down the trail, but either way he had been carrying water from Taylor's Lake he'd filtered 12 plus liters of water. I don't know if it was 12 liters of Taylor's lake or if that's what he still had when we caught up to him. But that was also a massive part of why is pack was so heavy

[00:50:29] Tyler: but his trekking pole was bent like a you like what? He had one straight pull and one super bent one. Like that gives you an idea of how heavy he's going

[00:50:38] Tayson: and and he even he filtered water started up the climb out of Taylor's Lake. Realized it was just too ridiculous went back to a parking lot, a mile away, gave some of his stuff to people in the parking lot and then came back. So his pack wasn't even as heavy as it was when he started out, right? Yeah. It was he'd already give him some stuff away but I guess the whole thing on this right is like everyone can do their own style throwing hikes and and there's reason I mean I firmly believe there's times and places to bring more gear extra gear, you know, nicer stuff there's just it's all situational right but for through right that's really hard and it a lot of that to me builds into the conundrum of. If the more weight that you have the less miles you can do, that's just Truly like, if you if you had an ultra Runner who can run 50 miles in a day, you put a pack on them, that's 10 pounds, it might knock it down a little bit. You put it back on those 20 pounds. It's gonna knock it down, more significantly, 30 pounds more significantly. You know, just going down to where they would. Also maybe be doing five miles a day if they had 100 pound pack on, right? But it like built this conundrum for him where it was like because he only did five miles a day, then he had to carry 12 or 15 liters of water and vice versa. And this is kind of this, this Downward spiraling slope that it felt like this guy was, was caught in and it was, It was kind of rough to watch. He did not, I mean he was smiling, but he was also standing there with the cold soda, from a really nice, camper van lady, but it didn't, he didn't seem like he was having as much fun as he thought he would.

[00:52:16] Brigham: When he said out. No way. I mean that guy looked like he was just slogging through the mire. I mean that's that's how I would describe it. Just everything about what he was doing made, what he was doing more difficult. and, It was just unpleasant to even like look and just kind of listened to what he was describing it was yeah felt

[00:52:42] Tayson: really bad for the guy. It's rough.

[00:52:45] Tyler: Yeah, we we don't say that because we want to talk down on anyone. We just It's probably the most extreme example I've ever seen on the trail. Someone being overburdened and just really feeling the pain of it. And as we were, we we just talked to him real briefly and I was trying to figure out how we could help him on trail, but I I just couldn't figure out. much more than for us to just try to pass a little bit and knowledge on you know, and and kind of tell him how we were doing things but Fully he will make it to Silverton and the next couple days and, and sort things out a little bit. He seemed really gung-ho and Mikey like he was gonna keep trying. And and I think he'll figure it out, that's just that's just one where he he went to the School of Hard, Knocks first.

[00:53:42] Tayson: Yeah, Brigham you say this a lot, but experience is the best teacher, right? And I think You know that's a situation where he was learning actively by giving his stuff away on the trail by getting to Silverton and maybe cleaning things out a little bit more. But there's a reason that that we do. I mean us ourselves do things the way that we do and Lot of that comes from, you know, miles and experience, collectively. And yeah. I think if you're if you're interested in going and doing a big trail like there's so much knowledge out there at least. You know, try to consume some of it so that you don't have to learn every lesson in life yourself. It's a really good quote that I heard decades ago. That was Life's Too Short. Yeah, it does make me sound. I'll just say a decade ago, I said Life's too short to learn from your mistakes alone and that's that's something that that's worth internalizing. So, Okay. Any other stories from day two? We we did get to Camp. We've met some really fast through hikers on day two. Yeah.

[00:54:53] Tyler: Like we, we ran into at least two different guys that I remember. Who were one of them was going to be finishing, the Colorado Trail in, like, 17 days, and it was day 17, or something. He was on day 16, and he, and he was within range to finish the next day when I talked to him. So that was about 25 miles a day this guy was averaging and he was, he was happy and just hauling the mail down the trail, so he was a, he was fun to talk to. We talked to another guy later in the day who was on like day 20, as well. And and, you know, he was very dialed and, and it was just really fun to see how those guys do things as well. Get to talk to them.

[00:55:43] Tayson: Yeah, as far as our camp that night, I found a nice little place next to water, got through that water carry and I think the only thing that I would call out about that was we did do a bearing and then like five minutes later after we got our stuff up. Right in our camp basically. We had Bear poop. So it's a good thing we, we got that done and then we had some really friendly deer, that just guarded our tents, all night, all night, Okay, day three.

[00:56:19] Tyler: We started just below. Blackhawk Mountain. so, the first order of the day was to get up and over that big pass, And the plan was 21 or 22 miles.

[00:56:34] Tayson: Yeah, I think. 21. Something that sounds right. Yes, we had a climb right out of the morning and then just a cover, quite a bit of country and then a climb to basically end the day for the most part. But if this point, we were back in the High Country, you know, really from the moment we left Camp until we got the camp that night. We had it was I think this was like our like a medium level day as like 3,000 feet of climbing and 3,000 feet of descent, something like that.

[00:57:10] Tyler: I've Got us. At 5,000 feet of climbing that day. What? 5,000

[00:57:19] Tayson: yeah, dang, maybe it's more than I remember then because it was spread out throughout the whole day, which is always nice. yeah, just again, another really I don't know, I don't know. Like, I'm trying to think of like what the highlights are, what things to call out but I know. The biggest highlight, which I'm sure everyone will comment on. Is we ended up dropping into a canyon towards the end of the day. That was just one of the biggest Canyons I've ever been in my life. I feel like and there's just waterfalls pouring off all sides of the canyon and have this massive Basin, you know, at the end of the canyon, there's a 13,500 700 foot Peak above us. Just a, I mean, I I don't know. I just one of those things that's kind of just sealed in the memory and super, super enjoyable place to be and just an amazing amazing views but

[00:58:26] Derek: it was it wasn't incredible like it it's like this huge high elevation Basin with like down the middle, the middle of the bottom like there's a really deep Canyon cut through one of the big rivers with some of Waterfalls that you mentioned Tayson and and I think for me everything looks so much more awesome when it's cloudy or stormy a little bit like and some rain clouds did role in right about when we got to that Canyon and everything just kind of looked really cool. It's just this really neat kind of unique mood through all the scenery that was around us that time of day and and I loved it. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip gave us some extra energy because all the sudden we thought we were racing the storm clouds over the past, right?

[00:59:12] Tayson: Yeah, we heard that we heard the thunder in the distance and we've we have had enough experience. I would say to just expect it to get right and to get ugly when we hear that but thankfully you know, we didn't we didn't end up needing to race. Any rain clouds or anything like that. Just just cool to off of it and the left us alone. Yeah,

[00:59:36] Brigham: that was a really good day. Just starting the morning that way. Climbing up over that pass and The morning air and kind of staying up high a lot of the day. And then, even when we would come down into a deep Canyon with climb right out of it and get up high again, it was yeah that was a great day that Canyon that you're talking about as

[01:00:01] Brigham: It was it was massive and then for me like there was this very unexpected. Like intense waterfall that came shooting out of a really narrow section of that Canyon. And just yeah, the whole mood of that time of day was really cool because the wind was blowing really hard and we thought we were about to get dumped on and, and then it really only just kind of sprinkled on us for A few minutes. And then then we had a big climb, and I really enjoyed kind of our dinner. Stop location that that evening. And because we were about, we had to climb out of that deep Canyon. And we were about halfway, Out of it, kind of up towards the next pass and it was a it was a good enjoyable dinner. Stop. And then Climbing up over that pass that evening was. It was a good client, but turned out just. So, yeah, it was like, the all the somehow, all the clouds went away just in time for us to climb up this big pass, but it was still really beautiful. It was kind of that evening time. And yeah, that was that was when we ran into That I think it was a father and son, but it was the the backpacking scouter.

[01:01:20] Tayson: Yes,

[01:01:21] Brigham: is the YouTube channel but it was a really cool guy. He recognized us and talked to us for a few minutes. And and anyway, it was, it was fun to chat with him for a bit and that was That was cool. I think it's cool thing that he's doing and going out and doing the Colorado Trail. They were almost done at that point. So Good on them for doing it.

[01:01:43] Tyler: We saw a few

[01:01:44] Brigham: father, son, combos out on the trail

[01:01:46] Tyler: and her daughter, and

[01:01:47] Tayson: yeah. Yeah, I mean it was it was really cool. I thought like it's a really cool Dynamic to be able to go and chose memories like that. Yeah. I think we all kind of agreed that day. Three was like kind of the perfect backpacking day. We had a good amount of elevation gain up and down. We had a good mix of. We had some shade, we had some really cool views, we covered a lot of country and we just we all ended feeling really good and when we got over that last big pass, We we had planned to just get over the past and then camp for night. So that was going to put us at like 19 or so miles for the day 19 or 20 and right when we got to the top of that pass it was it had turned out to be like no wind and and quite hot. And then we saw the Lakes down next to where we were planning to Camp. So Tyler is all like I'm gonna go jump into one of those things and start swimming and these Are like really high up 11000 feet snow melt snow melt. I actually on some of them there was snow, right? Like touching the water so he he charges down there and I charge after some, I'm gonna film this and make sure that we can show people Tyler doing this crazy thing. But we had plenty of energy to do that, Tyler and I were basically running down that mountain says we had a kind of a personal goal to beat the sun.

[01:03:18] Tyler: Yeah, I didn't want to swim in a glacial Lake in the shade. I wanted to at least be a little bit of sun like evening sunlight, to help warm me up afterwards.

[01:03:30] Derek: And I am happy to report that we did win. So, we were able to still get to those Lakes while it was still warm and sunny.

[01:03:41] Tyler: Yeah, that felt so. Dang. Good. It was cold at first, took my breath away for a second. I think the water was probably actually around like 50 degrees instead of, you know, closer to 30 like I expected because it was, it was a semi shallow and it had been being heated up all day, but it was such a big relief on my Specifically, my calves were kind of getting tight that day and and that cold water just filled amazing. But before jumping in,

[01:04:16] Derek: Tyler, you did have. A little bit of hesitation well, so screwed up,

[01:04:23] Tyler: I screwed up my my biggest mess up of this trip. Was I thought I put bug spray wipes in. And I thought I put two wipes in each food bag for each day, because that's kind of like my rationing for the day. Well, it turns out I only put two wipes in my entire backpack. And so I was going on You know, day three of trying to use one wipe. Like one bug spray wipe. It was pretty nasty. and so I like got to the water and I was like, I don't know if I should wipe off the wash off, the little bug spray that I have. So I had to ask Derek like if I swim will you spot me with some bug spray? so

[01:05:08] Derek: which I gladly dig, some like we didn't run all the way down here for you not to jump in this Lake and I had I had enough so so And then well after that, I'm like, well I don't need to see, you know, sprawled out on the ground. Drying off have naked. Well, I don't know. Maybe you got all the way naked. I wasn't there for that all the way. Naked. There's nothing like

[01:05:28] Tyler: being all the way naked up in the Mountains like that. Yeah

[01:05:31] Derek: well I just decided that it was my time to leave before that happened. And so I was gonna go back Brigham and Tayson. They stayed on the trail and well, they didn't really want to jump in the lake. So, They found a place to camp and I'm like, well, I'm gonna go find Lakes for everyone

[01:05:46] Brigham: to have their own. I don't know what you guys. I was Funk testing all my clothing. I'm not gonna. Oh, That

[01:05:58] Tayson: was some serious Funk testing that we got done their

[01:06:01] Brigham: serious. My excuse was you guys could have gone to the lake

[01:06:08] Tayson: right next to the trail and you didn't. Wasn't I wasn't gonna go walk and clear off Trail just for just for the heck of it, I guess.

[01:06:17] Derek: well, I, I went to go find those guys and because they, I mean, they down the trail kept going a little bit and So I head back over towards the trail, and, you know, get back on and start hiking down thinking. Hey, I'll see him at some point wherever they decide to set up camp because we were gonna set up camp somewhere in that area, right, by all these Lakes because there's a bunch all over the place. But as I headed down the trail, I got further and further, I passed this huge Lake, there's this nice little stream, kind of flowing out of it, a good place to filter water. I'm like, oh yeah, for sure. If we were gonna set up camp, it would be here, seems super, super convenient. But there wasn't anybody there so I'm like, I guess they, they went further or something. So I keep walking down the trail and pretty soon. I'm noticing the tracks you know because it's sprinkled or earlier that afternoon. And the trails. So well maintained there's a kind of a fine dust onto it and it's pretty easy to see footprints. I noticed that the only footprints. That were on the trail. We're headed to the opposite direction. So luckily I turned around and went back, you know, the way I come which is the good thing because you know, they, they actually camped Further behind where I had rejoined myself with, with the trail. So, I got lost for a little while there. I had no idea where Tayson and Brigham went, but I found It.

[01:07:45] Tayson: Yeah, we started hooting and hollering we thought you might go over the next Ridge. So we actually got a little atcha.

[01:07:51] Tyler: I think when I yelled the loudest, Caused a rock slide. And yeah. Oh yeah, I did. Oh,

[01:07:59] Tayson: it was the way it was some rocks that started tumbling. And first, I thought it was Derek responding and then sat there and listened to the whole rock slide come down,

[01:08:07] Tyler: which is made me want to yell more when I get up there.

[01:08:12] Tayson: yeah, I think other stories from the day were just that this was their first night that actually cooled off. It's probably my best night of sleep the whole time because it actually You know, cooled off a little bit and and was comfortable, the sleep. We were

[01:08:29] Tyler: camped way up above tree line for that. Yeah, we

[01:08:32] Tayson: were 1000. Plus I want to say 12 one or 12 too. Yeah. So I was that was really nice to finally like get at least a little bit of relief from the heat as well as hiking that day. We have like both extremes like a times that felt good in another times, it felt super hot I mean and they're definitely was some some hot sections in there for sure. But I would say other things that come to my mind from the day, we got to see those salamanders, what are they called?

[01:09:02] Tyler: The axolotls They look like axolotls, the jury's still out on whether or not they're

[01:09:07] Derek: they're they could be tiger

[01:09:09] Tyler: salamanders or if they're actual axolotls, but we got videos of them. So just

[01:09:16] Derek: We we did do some quick searching since we've gone into the car and hit the road axolotls, they only can survive in a couple of lakes in Mexico and apparently also in a couple of what a few lakes in Colorado Stillwater Lakes. So it's very possible that there was some relocated Axolotl salamanders in there since they've kind of been 100s of them. Yeah. But they aren't they, they're not exchange, but they're in danger, that's where I'm looking for. So, we don't know, but they were cool looking. They have kind of like this. Finger looking things sticking out from behind their heads.

[01:09:55] Tyler: They look like salamanders but they have like a main and they have gills.

[01:10:01] Derek: Okay, so that was that was pretty cool. We got some footage that we recorded of those so you can see that on an upcoming documentary.

[01:10:07] Tayson: The other thing that I thought was we passed another lady early that morning. That that was quite a bit older and we talked to a lady previously too the previous day that was out there anyways. It's cool to see that people were doing that at all ages of life as well. And I think that that was just something that kind of stuck out to me is was just like, man, you can I don't know, one, cool thing about backpacking and Hiking is, it's something that, you know, Shoes to. You know, permitting, I guess and extraordinary things but it's not. It's a type of hobby that I hope to be able to do for very long time. And I think I was just inspired by all of the different types of people in there, we met people out there with kids, they're hiking with kids bike, packing with kids. We can't hear someone who I'd like a three or four year old kid was doing the Colorado trail bike packing, but it's just really cool to see all the different people out there that were that were getting it done and and how this can be a sport or a hobby that that you can really do your entire life. So Yeah, I think those are my my takeaways from day three.

[01:11:25] Tyler: I think another reason that we all enjoyed day, three so much was because we covered a lot of ground and we could see how far we had come when we got to that. A big pass. And not only that, but we rolled into camp. Like, well, before the sun was setting. And so I got to go swimming and I still set up my tent in the light which when we're doing big days on on. The intense Trails sometimes we're setting up right at dusk or even in the dark. So I think we all appreciated the fact that we got to set up in the light but then We sit around and watch the deer and Elk come out and just just get to enjoy that evening. A lot, which Was good. It was a great change of pace.

[01:12:20] Brigham: Yeah, the setting of that I can't say. That was my favorite campsite of the trip for sure. The setting was Like my favorite just above tree line. And, and even just the tent sites themselves, it was like, just this really soft. Grass that was like only like three or four inches tall. There were hardly any bugs up there so we could kind of hang out outside without being bothered and and we just had incredible views. probably, like, I don't know, 180 degrees of Direction and So that was to me. That was, that was my favorite evening and night of the, of the trip for sure.

[01:13:03] Tayson: Okay, so end of day three started day four, this was our last full day on trail actually, and we were going to go through Molas Pass, then drop down to the Animas River, which is also where the train tracks are and then climbing up the other side into an area called Elk Creek, Plano to do 22 miles. A lot of dissent about 4500 feet at ascent and I think 2700 feet of climbing was kind of the Tiner on the day. So we opted for an early start that morning. I want to say, we woke up at 6:00 a.m. and started just to beat the heat. I think we were all In favor of trying to defeat the heat. It was just ruthless on this, this whole trip. And so we got up early, hit the miles and yeah. I mean I I really enjoyed the first part of this day. We we just you know kept a lot of our like we slowly descended maybe but what kept a lot of the elevation and went around a bunch of different ridges and just covered More Country in the High Country. Looking at all these far off 14,000 foot Peaks and 13,000 foot Peaks and yeah. And that's another really enjoyable morning. It was definitely cooler, temps, the wildflowers were out which I don't think we've talked about yet, but they were, you know, the length of the entire Trail they were they were definitely out. And yeah, I just had a good smooth, start to the morning. After I guess we we did go down, we crossed the highway. So this is our only highway crossing of the trip at Molas Pass and Took our lunch just a little bit past that and then proceeded to drop all the way down into the canyon

[01:14:57] Derek: Tayson made this comment the end of that day. He's like wow, like with the amount of elevation we just lost and then the next day, the amount of elevation that we gains back. Essentially, the equal of crossing, the Grand Canyon rim to rim in mileage and elevation. So we called that the the Grand Canyon of the

[01:15:20] Tyler: CT, that was about 4,400 feet of elevation loss that we had that day, which we knew we were gonna have to make up on the last day or partially that day. And then on the last day,

[01:15:31] Derek: it was kind of crazy. Once he crossed the highway and start started dropping for real, like we've been gradually dropping in elevation before the highway, but after that, it started getting, you know, steeper steeper and more consistently. You Know we're Direction. It was just a whole lot of down for a lot of miles and a few thousand feet. When I was hiking down that I passed a few hikers ever had in the opposite direction and a lot of them looked super miserable. They were coming up after crossing the train tracks to kind of get up towards where the highway is. And they weren't having a very good time. I ended up handing him. Some high chew candies that I had in my hip belt.

[01:16:15] Tyler: He never gave me any candy. You didn't know what the heck, man. I

[01:16:19] Derek: got you. You guys didn't look tired enough. These guys were like they're, they're a little bit of older and they were just, yeah, I'm like you need a quick energy shot. I got some candy, some sugar, so that's I mean kind of creepy of a stranger to do but I give him I was that guy but they were they seemed happy for it. I'm glad I still had some left for going up the next side. For some, some of those quick sugar sugars. Because, yeah, we had, we had plenty of our own climbing to do after crossing the train tracks.

[01:16:49] Tayson: Yeah, so that Canyon being down the bottom of the canyon was really awesome. We got to see two trains go past and to their horns and echo down that hole Canyon, which is, which is way cool and I mean, we stay Canyon but it's like It's like a whole valley Canyon mix. I mean, it's just so big in their to go down there. We started walking down the train tracks.

[01:17:17] Derek: We were supposed to just cross the train tracks but we got lost.

[01:17:21] Tyler: Yeah we got excited about flat ground for a second.

[01:17:25] Derek: Tyler found a new tent stake though. Yeah, so

[01:17:29] Brigham: just to clarify what the train tracks are. So this section of the CT crosses over this Railroad and it's a it's a train that takes you from Durango to Silverton and or back vice versa. So it's a really high elevation passenger kind of a touristy scenic. Train ride and it passes right through this Valley. So that's that's kind of what we're referring to with the with the train tracks. It's just this giant, beautiful Canyon Valley that this scenic Drive train goes up and down throughout the day and it's kind of cool.

[01:18:07] Tayson: It's basically Wilderness. Like you can't drive. There's no dirt roads in there. There's no like this is Its. The only access to this Canyon. So people actually use this train to gain access to Wilderness areas in this area in the San Juan. So it's it's a really unique train. I mean I it's brutal terrain to to try and build a road or a railroad

[01:18:31] Tyler: into. So the fact that there's a train there is so impressive. It really makes me want to learn a lot more of the mining history of that area because they did some crazy stuff there.

[01:18:47] Tayson: And yeah, so we got cruising down the railroad tracks and then after a minute, I said bullets, let's check the map and sure enough we were, we were screws down the railroad tracks, not cruising down the CT. So we took a Bridge Trail that jumped us back onto the CT. That was pretty straight up, and then we started the climb next to the Elk Creek. I guess it's a creek but it seemed like a river. It was roaring started started up Elk Creek and Just just climbed the nice part about this was. I think, after all of the down, the climbing up, actually felt pretty nice and other than a few sections, it wasn't too steep. So I think we were all just enjoying this Canyon now too. It was just really pretty, great views, huge massive, Peaks up above us to look at and an awesome. Awesome. Raging Creek down below us to view, so, Came up there. I think we realized pretty quick that that Canyon was like, it was like headed of camping down there. It was like we're in the middle of nowhere, you know, and and tons.

[01:20:00] Tayson: Tons of people in there. I don't know if that was if they were, I assume that most that not all of them were through hikers. That a lot of them were riding the train in and then camping in that, that Canyon and then It's kind of using it as a full experience between train and backpacking. So it's a lot of people in there saw a lot of them. I mean there's just some gorgeous campsites in there and we ended Up, getting our 22 miles in and finding campsite right before the canyon, got kind of too narrow to really be able to find much for camping. And and started to get, I guess too steep for camping. So that was definitely a really tight. Canyon compared to what we had been in most of the other hike.

[01:20:49] Tyler: Just very straight up and straight down on the canyon walls. The creek dominated the bottom of the canyon, and then there's just tons of vegetation all around. And so, it just felt felt very wild and junglee. And like, you were just had these massive Peaks on either side of you. So, It was. Unique spot.

[01:21:09] Derek: That's really, really beautiful Canyon. I think I agree with Brigham though. He said earlier today about you know is very, very likely that the people building The Trails through Elk Creek Canyon, where prisoners I mean, so many of these Trails did not make any sense. They would just pretty much go straight up, the steepest incline and almost to the point that when you're trying to climb up it, you didn't have enough traction or grip to even get up at, you know, you take a step and almost start sliding backwards down the dirt because it's so

[01:21:49] Brigham: steep. Yeah, I think we just got like spoiled from the trail conditions leading up to it. They were all always so good. And then this day going up, this Canyon, it was just such a stark contrast from everything else previous. So it was Just seemed like there was no Rhyme or Reason to what direction they've decided to cut the trail straight up the side of the mountain versus back down towards the river. There was one really interesting switch back. That was about six feet long to avoid a little spruce tree and Was back to just like this random thing but I if you're prisoner, you probably make great trails. Up. Anyway,

[01:22:35] Tyler: it was definitely like back to the, the more wild Backcountry type feeling trails that we get when we're doing our own exploring in Utah and Idaho where you're just kind of following Old Trapper Trails, not really like well thought out, engineered engineered and and very heavily worked and maintained.

[01:22:58] Brigham: Yeah, that Canyon definitely had a very like rugged and remote feel I really liked it aside from all the people which was just really odd but the canyon itself. Yeah, it really did feel rugged wild and remote was cool.

[01:23:11] Derek: like Tayson mentioned because of all the people we did end up kind of Camping that night in a in a place that wasn't. Used very often. I mean there was there was a campfire, kind of ring that some of the before and obviously a space for that, the grass had been kind of, you know, flattened out a little bit. But it was clearly not a campsite people had used a lot and it wasn't marked on the FarOut app that some of us had had been using to find water sources or campsites and things like that. But We ended up making it work. It was a little bit hard. It was a little bit tricky to try to find. four places for, you know, four different tents there but we eventually did find Flatty enough places. To camp and, and end up camping right there. And honestly, I think that was a, my second, my second favorite Campsite, in that Canyon, when the, when we woke up the sun was hitting the peaks of some of those, the Steep mountains, that Tyler mentioned, kind of around us in that little Larry. And it was a kind of a meadow where it opened up, so you can kind of see through the trees, or there wasn't really trees blocking your view, but you know, waking up and seeing that that little canyon in the morning was really, really pretty. Yeah, that was that was the end of day four, any other I guess story lines to

[01:24:35] Derek: wrap in here. How is everyone feeling any highs lows? Issues to touch on.

[01:24:42] Tayson: I feel like everyone kind of had their own. Minor little issues. I know quite a few of us did end up using a little bit of Leukotape. Tyler, created his own issue with well swimming. Except ya Adventure.

[01:25:01] Tyler: I had taped up the toe before I went swimming, and then after I went swimming, I didn't retake and it turned out that while I was walking around in the mud of that Lake, I got rocks inside of the tape. So I walked the first, probably, 10 miles of the next day, with a rock inside of the tape, that didn't help anything. Like I was like I was a oyster trying to make a pearl or something.

[01:25:25] Tayson: Don't take rocks to your feet. That's rule. Number one. Yeah, I kind of my socks had got so dirty and somehow I was kind of scooping enough dirt into my sock that I also created a blister. Buying up taping up my feet. I think date. Two just one spot on that helped. That helped the whole time. but yeah, I mean, I think other than that we everyone I mean it's pretty incredible. I guess that we have the group that we have that can go out into these conditions and kind of cold turkey, start on a trail doing over 20 miles a day, continued to hold that pace and Work through issues. And I think, I think we've, you know, obviously Built up our abilities over time too. And I think, you know, that that's fueling hydration. We all kind of have our own little different ways of doing things that we we've learned and I think we've I mean it shows right? This is this was I mean knock on wood. We didn't have to send anyone off the trail which we've had to do before. Full times from sickness or elevation or whatever it is. So yeah I think we all at different times have a little things pop up other it's Cal walls or hydration or anything else but we're all pretty good at adapting to them now and just moving on so really no major issues to report.

[01:26:58] Brigham: Yeah well I mean one thing it wasn't major but it was it was a little unique for me on this trip like almost the whole time I was taking advantage of a lot of casting rocks rocks. Like almost like every time we'd stopped for water I would feel like I wanted to stretch out. my calves and they they never like cramped or locked up or anything but they always just felt like I appreciate it. A good calf stretch. Like every time we stopped.

[01:27:29] Tayson: I think, I mean, I think there's a few of us that tighter casts on the trail, but I mean that's I think Tyler brought a Rawlogy ball. How did that work out? Is it any good?

[01:27:40] Tyler: Yeah, yeah, I think I mean I didn't want the plantar fasciitis to come back, so I rolled my foot and my calf most nights and I would do it sometimes at lunch, when we take our shoes off, And yeah, I think it's a awesome little tool to have on trail. I think the biggest thing is just doing, proactive recovery work like what Brigham was doing. He was stretching before cramps, you know, and and me rolling before there's issues I think. Being preventative about stuff. Is way better than trying to fix issues after they become a bigger

[01:28:20] Tayson: deal. well, and on that note, one thing that I I know I just didn't act on, I guess on on day one or Was, maybe it's even my day too, but, um, I'm a big advocate of taking my shoes off at lunch and letting my feet dry out and potentially inspecting your feet. If there's any issues. And if I had done that, like, I normally do every day, I probably would have caught my issue with just a lot of debris in my shoe and dirt in my sock around my heel for some reason. It's just kind of trapping right there. And I probably wouldn't have worked up a blister. I mean, I've spent hundreds of miles in these shoes with no issues, but typically it's, you know, five to 20 miles at a time and, you know, then the shoes come off and, and so, it's just so, I don't know. I think that would have saved me just that preventative taking my shoes off. Now, I don't, I know, I not everyone on the car even like to do that, but for me personally, that's something I I like to do. My feet are very sweaty too, so I think it just by airing them out for a second at lunch time. It it does a lot for preventive and preemptive care.

[01:29:26] Tyler: Yeah. You Used to be on the trail Runner gator. bandwagon with me and then you told me, you didn't need him anymore about a day before you got the issue,

[01:29:38] Tayson: okay? That's because she only asked the day before, when I started running on these, I never did put a gator on him. I just never was kicking up enough dirt into my own shoe or whatever it was to feel like I needed. Gators. But that was, that was proved wrong on this. This journey I constantly was getting and I wasn't really feeling it but like when I stopped to check, yeah, sure enough. I had debris every single time in my shoe and that's that's what led to my little blister. So I feel like yeah I I would I'd run a gator again just just to avoid kicking your or whatever or other people kicking debris into your shoe.

[Editor’s note: The massage-ball, stretching, blister, gaiter, shoe-removal, and foot-care practices above are personal experience, not medical advice. Stop and seek appropriate care for concerning pain, heat illness, or injury symptoms.]

[01:30:20] Tyler: I think there's a little bit of that when we're in a group and we're going fast, we're we might kick a little bit of dirt and rocks into each other's shoes and things like that. So that might be part of the difference between your training, or if you're bringing you might just stab someone's foot with your

[01:30:35] Derek: one point this morning or last night, sometimes it's nice to just settle the tip of your pole into a nice soft tissue. I was just I was just standing there. We'd pause on the trail for something. I don't remember what? There's looked down. I start feeling something to my foot like what that is going on? And like, I looked down and Brigham just like slowly stabbing his trekking bowling to my foot that I was like

[01:31:06] Brigham: going through the laces of Derek shoot like past his tongue and like into the top of his,

[01:31:11] Derek: like, going into my shoe, I was just like well he wasn't looking at me, I was like what is happening? What so I kind of like just I don't know you said crab is trekking pole and like gently, put it next to my shoe. But, you know, this is this is a better place for they.

[01:31:28] Brigham: I don't know, something really polite but like I don't know what it was because I had you not said something I would not have even known. I was Yeah, no idea. I had no idea.

[01:31:39] Tyler: We had a lot of good polite Corrections on this trip. Like when we're going through a tunnel and I was like, that's a cool Bridge. It Tayson, like I think that's a tunnel. I think this is more of a tunnel.

[01:31:54] Tayson: Yeah, it was I don't know where we're at, but preventative care. Rawlogy ball. We basically just have day five left, which is today and having just wrapped up the trail. Yeah. So today we decided to get an extra early start set. Our alarm clocks for 5:30 in the morning

[01:32:15] Tayson: again, because we just wanted to beat the heat. We knew we had like a 2000 to 2500 foot climb right out of the gate and just thought, hey, what if we could get that done in the cool morning temperatures before the Sun hits us, because we were in a canyon or the sun would be slower to hit us. So we went ahead and and woke up real early and got started real early. um, and yeah man, I think these guys kind of touched on it a little bit already but climbing out of the Canyon today was, I think a highlight for a lot of us it was just Extremely pretty here, getting higher and higher, you're basically getting above Tree Line, you're getting closer and closer to these big 13,000 foot peaks of just granite and Limestone above us and yeah. Just incredibly pretty cool. Temperatures is the first time and the only time on the entire Trail where I felt cold for half of a second like my hands were cold.

[01:33:17] Tyler: Yeah. I hiked comfortably in the Nebo Windbreaker, like three quarters of the way up that

[01:33:25] Derek: Pretty cool. Yeah. you know, we said that day three was probably our favorite day as far as like how how He's working everything and the train we were in, but I think that the morning they five hiking up out of that Canyon that those first three miles which during those three miles, we did climb the 2000 feet. The Tayson mentioned. Those were my favorite three miles of probably the whole trip being able to see that really narrow steep. The sun was Rising was just amazing and the higher. I got the more like really unique waterfalls and rock features became visible. And I, I loved every minute of it. I think it also helped me to just enjoy it more with with the cooler temperatures I wasn't just focused on getting sweat out of my eyes or whatever else it was just kind of You know, as long as I could keep breathing, I could keep hiking and enjoying the view.

[01:34:26] Tayson: Yeah, I don't know. There's there's much else to pull out of that climb out, got up to the top met, a few hikers on the way said hi to them. And then, Essentially Brigham and Derek. Derek started a little bit earlier than us but I think both of those guys from moving up the trail little faster me and Tyler were we're taking some photos and shooting some content and these guys asked for the car key in case they were wanting to in case they got ahead of us again that maybe they just try to get all the way down into Silverton head of us and I would say there's a bit of a Standard. Now that when when Brigham and Derek are on the last day, their stride gets a little longer. They get a little faster and I didn't think we'd see you guys the rest today. Actually I we were, we were kind of swapping beds. I got you all. Might you almost didn't? Yeah, I I am surprised like when you guys came back towards us on the trail, I was I was surprised but

[01:35:28] Tyler: we would have passed you down the road with her new friend, Tyson,

[01:35:32] Derek: that's later for today.

[01:35:35] Tyler: But yeah, essentially Derek and Brigham must be able to gawk and not trip as as just better than me and Tayson because I was just feeling like we had plenty of time so I wanted to go slow and have a field day with the camera and just soaked it all in and I don't think those guys feel like they go too fast. But for me, I just sometimes like to slow it down and really soak it and I want to ask I want to ask. Do you guys feel like you hike the same speed or faster today?

[01:36:10] Derek: I thought it was pretty much the same speed we're going most days. Yeah, I don't like consciously. I was hiking in any faster, maybe I was. But all I

[01:36:23] Brigham: do know is that I liked today's hiking was amazing. Like I just love it up there that like that's the like in the Alpine above tree line. there's the possibility that my energy levels are just really high because I'm just really invigorated and happy like just excited to be up in that type of terrain and So that's its possibility that I sped up, but I didn't like there was no intention to

[01:36:49] Derek: I actually slowed down a little bit. I felt like at some points today, I probably had the worst like issue that I, you know, had throughout the whole trip with my feet. So there was a lot of side hilling and and today the area we were hiking through the trail was really narrow, and a lot less well, taking care of, you know, at least wouldn't compare to, you know, The trail from the first three or four days. And so with the side hilling, as we were kind of going along the side of some of these different mountain tops and Hills way up there. The trail was a bit uneven and it kind of tilted my foot. This is enough across enough miles that. I like, you know, that little ball on the outside of your ankle. Like constantly getting like jammed into the sidewall of my shoe like really uncomfortably to her, is started swelling up and was causing like a real amount of pain. And I was struggling pretty hard with that to the point where I was really trying to walk on my foot really weird to try to avoid, you know, my shoe from hitting that the ball of my ankle there. And definitely slowed me down. Quite a bit. I was using muscles that I normally don't use when walking because of the way I tried to contort my foot, to keep that shoe from just jamming, into my ankle like that. So, I mean that's the only issue that I really would say was the the worst from this trip that I had and I don't know, I don't think I want fast with that, for sure. Yeah. I didn't that's what I assumed. I assumed both of you guys would say, like

[01:38:31] Tayson: no, we were just hiking our same Pace the whole time but based off of watch statistics, which Never Lie, right? We never have discrepancies 0. Discrepancies, he's three people's watches. Yeah, yeah, you guys were booking it. We were still doing our normal meeting minutes. We were doing very much our normal pace and most lunches which were at 12:30 typically we were at like nine miles. We were at 10 Mi by by 11:30. You guys were there at 11. 10 miles in. So like, just looking at those metrics, I think you guys should know that you guys definitely picked up your pace significantly. I mean, there was times when me and Tyler, slowed, down the pace, like, on that morning. Climb a little bit off of, like our normal trajectory for some of the shooting, but like there was no brakes hat. No stoppage for you guys. And you guys books it to the end. I'm just saying But no, I would agree with Brigham Brigham. You kind of made the comment of like you could just live up here for a few weeks at a time. It really is. It's just something really spectacular. I remember, I always described like the first time I went to areas like this. It was kind of like my expectation of going to somewhere like Alaska. Like just completely different ecosystem, terrain everything, and You've never.

[01:40:00] Tayson: On to this type of terrain and experience that it's well worth getting on a bucket list and and making it happen because. Yeah, every time I go there, I just want to go back or spend more time

[01:40:12] Brigham: Yeah. And you know, that's just me like, I know that's not everybody's favorite. But I think for me a lot of us just it's a very nostalgic to like what just lit my fire about backpacking. As a young kid was We would go on these backpacking trips into Idaho. And my dad would take me and my brother up into he would just call the high lakes and it was all off Trail travel. But we would, we would go from this Lake and then break up into the Alpine above tree line. And we would just spend an entire day essentially, trying to Tag as many lakes as we could. And a lot of these nakes are a lot of these Lakes are not even named, they're just numbered. And that. I just remember as a kid being up there and and feeling like it was just the ultimate Kind of remote ruggedness of terrain that it's it's like been invigorating like since I was five years old and so I think that's why I just get really excited about that that kind of terrain and it's very nostalgic for me.

[01:41:27] Tayson: Okay, so finished out the CT segment for us, we entered at Stony pass. Which which was a good place for us to hop off the trail and essentially try to get a ride back into Silverton. Original plan was to take a trail down, we ended up starting to walk the road down and I don't really know what happened, but if Tyler was just overly friendly or if this get contacted you, but we literally got a ride with the very first vehicle that attempted to pass this.

[01:41:56] Tyler: I think he heard my joke about the truck because I think he was up just a little higher when we were walking and he's like, you guys all have the same uniform on which is a comment we get a lot when we're all wearing the same color altitude in the same backpack and the same hat and like, all the gear that we're testing. And, and we were just kind of like yeah, we get that a lot and then we kept going and we see this little little pickup truck with some bikes on the back and the windows were all the way down and the hood was up. And we were, we were just starting to walk down the road. and, and like, talk about trying to hitch a ride and, and talk a little bit of strategy where, like, well maybe Maybe. Split into two groups will be more likely to get picked up and driven down into the Silverton. and so we're walking past this truck that has the hood up and I kind of like It's in the hood. And and I was like, well, maybe if we could fix this truck, we could drive it down to Silverton for whoever left it here and I think he was not far behind us when we were Walking and walking. And so here comes this, this pretty new little Chevy pickup down the road behind us and he's like hey if you guys want to ride down the canyon and we're like We're too stinky to get in your cab and and we essentially just ended up hopping in the bed of the truck and riding down a really sketchy dirt road talking to him through his back window. So I don't think Tyson will ever listen to this podcast because he Dropped his wife and daughter off to do to hike from Stony pass down to the train, which is a serious hike and he's, he told us, he hated that kind of stuff. So, so he was, he was a funny guy and we really appreciated his lift down the mountain.

[01:44:02] Tayson: yeah, it was I think in the back of our minds, we were all kind of like, oh man, how hard is it gonna be to get a ride? Brigham was like, I'm just gonna walk the, like eight miles into town, like, that was kind of like, and that was kind of like, that's worst-case scenario. But I definitely didn't expect the very first vehicle to pick us up, which was really cool. And very nice of Tyson to give us a ride down and I mean it also just not write down those was really phenomenal. Got to point out the the sweet mine clear up on the cliff, but that terrain is just something else entirely. So there you go. We finished our OV100 Mile Challenge. Collectively, as a group did our first segment on the Colorado Trail. Minimal to know. No, no real issues, maybe that's just go through our rapid fire round. So And anything else you want to add to in closing remarks? But typically on the rapid fire round for these will ask, is there a piece of gear you wish you would have left home. What was your favorite piece of gear? And yeah feel free to add any additional comments. So Of you guys are ready to jump. Right in. Go right ahead, I got it. Favorite piece of gear was Skyline Shorts with how hot. It was. Super nice to be able to have that much ventilation and yeah, love that. Something I would have left behind. It wasn't necessarily gear, but I definitely had too much food. I realized that I brought two extra Backpacker meals, and then I didn't even hardly touch any of the food that I packed for today during the day. Slowed down long enough. Well breaks, I had enough bars and different things left over from the other days that I ended up just needing bills for breakfast. Or as I was going, you know snacking. Away that I really didn't need to eat. The food that I packed for today. So I had a bunch of extra food. Wait that I didn't need to carry the whole way. Right on. And what else? Okay.

[01:46:13] Brigham: Favorite piece of gear. I'm gonna have to say, I don't know the It's always hard cuz you know, somebody else's gonna say one thing, I'll just say Altitude Hoodie. The thing took a beating and a chemical beatdown. And just functioned exactly how it was supposed to the whole time. I wore the hood the whole time for sun protection and it did the job quite well. There really isn't anything. I would leave home honestly. I anything I didn't use, I would consider a necessity just in terms of safety, but Yeah, I was pretty happy with all the gear I had.

[01:47:09] Tayson: I feel like at some point I'm gonna need to change the question from what you would have left home because I feel like we just most of us, we don't pack extra anymore, you know. Like I feel like maybe when I first started ask that question years ago, there are still a lot of us in the group that would be like yeah I really didn't need this or something like that but anymore, I feel like most of our systems are dialed where most of the stuff we leave home is more of my food or like like just, I don't know not Not like, say, like, usually pack him for safety concerns. So if you guys have a better idea, I'm open to it. Additional rapid fire round question. But Tyler.

[01:47:54] Tyler: I think my favorite piece of gear would have been the altitude, but It's freaking took that one, I'll throw in another one which was for me, being able to get my Footwear dialed on the last couple hundred milers. I've finished them with pretty tender feet. And this time, I was feeling great, so between The Superfeet insoles and the Hokas and the Rawlogy ball. I like, I think that was all Very good gear to have so I'd say that was my favorite. I definitely I I usually try to pack around 3,000 to 3500 calories a day and when I was packing food this time, Had a panic moment because I realized it wasn't even getting to 3,000. So I went and raided the pantry upstairs and I don't think I a single one of the Clif bars that I threw in my pack, for the sake of extra calories, because I don't need them at home. My family, eats them, but I don't like them and I didn't eat them on trail. So I just packed like, basically a box worth of Clif bars box. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:49:13] Tayson: No wonder what your pack at the end. I was like, like, two bars,

[01:49:16] Tyler: a day that I was neglecting and I couldn't even give them to anyone.

[01:49:21] Tayson: So about a porcupine and Elk Creek,

[01:49:24] Tyler: I don't want to encourage any of those, any of those rocks.

[01:49:31] Tayson: That's a lot of the bars for me, favorite piece of gear, these guys left me at the CS40. So I feel like I've got to take that one. Performed phenomenally, as usual incredibly comfortable. Just day in day out. 15 Mile Water carries. Whatever it is. You throw out at it? Plenty of room. I actually think I could get, you know, more like eight nine to 10 days of food in there. I quit room, but just a really comfortable pack even when my straps are so salty, they're hard to adjust. Still able to always get them adjusted and comfortable. Because, but it was, it was definitely A favorite piece of gear to gear. You just use all day long. What I would have left home. Yeah, I don't have Tan that I would have considered leaving home, kind of like Brigham said, from a safety concern, but I did pack some extra batteries that I didn't need at the end. So for camera equipment and I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with trail, mix, I did try to bring some more trail mix usually, I can handle like a little bit of Trail Mix, but if I bring too much trail mix, it's really high calorie Browns but I get really fatigued of it. It's sick of it. And the first two days, I was able to get it down and the next or the first, maybe the first three days. The last two days, I couldn't get any of it down, so, That was a little bit of extra food as well, but overall did well. I actually packed 4,000 calories of food a day and ate all 4,000 calories of food. The first Three days. I believe. And it wasn't till day four when I Wasn't able to get it all down. And and so that was that was interesting. And I definitely noted when I got off the trail that this is the first time that I wasn't just craving food in town that I wasn't just I don't know. It's having an issue with the food I brought or feeling more fatigued or something like that. So 4,000 calories is a lot but I'm a, I don't know. I think it it wasn't the wrong amount. I'd love to be able to pack less and carry less but it worked out for me pretty well this time but maybe the longer I'm on trail. The more I start to diminish the Cal towards the end maybe that's my my new strategy start with 4000 and go down a couple hundred calories a day, tell your baby at 3,000 on the last day, it would be a thing. But I never did get fatigued of my cheese witch on on tortillas that was and it was mayonnaise. That's still a solid stapled backpacking meal for me. So, Okay. Yeah guys. I mean that's that's a run through of everything. It was awesome to meet a lot of people I thought we Least had conversations with eight, different people that stopped us recognize us on trail. I talked to one guy who recognized us, who would run into another OV100 Mile Challenge member on the CT. So, a guy was from Texas. He was, he said, he was selling them, the gospel of Outdoor Vitals. Just really gonna tell him how great all the gear was. So he was planning on looking stuff, more at the end of the trail, anyways, but it was really cool that have conversations that with everyone that did stop and talk to us along the way. And, and everyone, you know, that we met along the way too is, it was definitely a really cool trip. Yeah. Any final comments from you guys?

[01:53:06] Tyler: I was thinking about it when we were eating at that. Awesome, barbecue place. After I think this is one of my, at least top five favorite backpacking trips I've ever done.

[01:53:19] Tayson: It's great. That's all it. Breaking into the top five. Yeah, it was, it was an awesome trip. And I was really impressed with a lot of things. We got to go see and do and It's kind of nice being able to break out, break up long Trails, like the CT intersections that are doable. You know, people like me that, you know, we just can't spare more than five or six days. So I kind of grateful for that and just the System that's built around that to be able to tee into the trail and get off when you need to and still cover. A lot of country.

[01:53:51] Brigham: Yeah, for me, it was a great trip, you know. It doesn't matter to me that there were some days that were maybe a little less than Stellar in terms of scenery. I just think getting out there and having more and more experience and learning as much as I can. And Joining the even, the what's mediocre in terms of scenery is still still beautiful. And I think one thing that I've kind of had a recurring theme in my mind is just with some of the people we mentioned in countering on the trail with, you know, very heavy loads or whatever is like you know I I applaud them for for going and I think it's it's great for anyone to just get out there and just start Somewhere. If you are starting in the wrong place, at least you're starting. So I I enjoy seeing people like that even though looks terribly uncomfortable. But I think you know, I just I know they're learning something as they do it. And I it kind of excites me. So it was a great trip and that was kind of one of my takeaways from it.

[01:55:01] Tayson: Okay, there you have it. If you guys are interested in the OV100 Mile Challenge, stay tuned for next year. We'll start that back up in 2024, registration usually opens up around the first of the year. If you guys want to participate, it's a awesome way to just set a big goal and go get it done out on trail. You can do it either in one go like we did or any stacked version if you want to look look up more of any of the gear that we talked about, in this podcast, you can do that at outdoorvitals.mom. We've got any questions, you can just open up the chat window there and and ask our support team. They're phenomenal. They'll point you in the right direction and get answers on anything that you need. If you're not yet, subscribe to the podcast, make sure you're subscribed. If you haven't rated the podcast, please do so that helps us with our mission of helping connect more people to the vital outdoors. And with that, we'll see you on a future episode.

[Editor’s note: The OV100 Mile Challenge timing, outdoorvitals.mom product references, promotions, support invitation, and calls to action above were recorded in 2023 and may no longer be current or available as described.]