CR 67 to Cripple Creek; Distance = 12 Miles; People Met = 3
We had breakfast at The Pantry one last time, joined by a few trail workers who were waiting for Mike to lead them on some finishing touches for the trail we hiked the morning before. We said our good-byes to Dick, and then to Martha our excellent host for two dinners. It was afternoon before we could start hiking, with an impending snowstorm in the forecast. We slackpacked to Cripple Creek to make good time before meeting Ky with our full packs. She secured a campground in town for us to set up our tent that evening, but she was going to head down from the higher elevations before the storm came.
As we were about to part wearing our full packs, a white pick up truck pulled up with obvious intent to greet us. Out stepped John Nicholas, our host back in Leadville. This was the one trail angel for whom we could not convey our gratitude because he left for work so early in the morning. He got the transfer to a different mining job he wanted, in nearby Victor. He saw us with our packs and thought “who else could that be?” So he stopped to greet us and we were able to get a bit of closure with expressing our gratitude. What a coincidence! Or was it?
We set up our tent at the campground, fairly close to the one other tent on the lot. I noted the steep pitch on the tent and thought that it might be better suited for the impending snowstorm than ours. Stay tuned to find out if that was the case or not.
Right before setting up camp we chatted with Connie and Debbie from Cripple Creek’s Community Center. Connie is friends with Dick Bratton and was “warned” of our coming ahead of time. She had two dogs that had been under the care of inmates at the Canon City prison. The idea behind the program is that training and caring for pets help prisoners get in better touch with their emotional side.
Connie and Debbie, from Cripple Creek's Community Center
