South Platte, CO The Years Go By
Timing is everything! We did get married but not on July 8th, 2000 but rather on February 20, 2000. We started looking at halls and all that goes with a wedding. After some searching, Charlie had an epiphany. We had both done the big wedding the first time around and he wasn’t sure that was the way to go for us. We decided that our wedding should be more about us and for us, so we decided to get married on a cruise ship and the cruise would be our honeymoon. We did just that and it was fantastic! We got really involved with family visits, work, kids sports, boy scouts, school problems, etc., and somehow the years went by. It was now 2003 and Charlie talks to a co-worker about his Colorado Trail dream. Tim is interested in doing this too, so Charlie and Tim start planning. Charlie and Tim run it by their lovely wives who support the idea and will accompany them. As I said, timing is everything, and the time seems right to commit to continuing the journey. Segment 2- South Platte Town Site to FS 550 Crossing
As Segment 2 is fairly low (7760 feet), and the snow line is higher, we decide to do this segment at the end of April. The logistics of vehicles and start times are figured and we are ready. We plan to do Segment 2 and a little bit of Segment 3 for a total of about 11.5 miles. April 26, 2003

CNC at Judy Gaskill bridge

The day arrives. As we live about 50 miles north of Denver, we get up early and meet Tim and his wife, Jill. We leave Tim’s truck at Forest Road 550 near where the trail crosses the road. We drive the Explorer to the South Park Trail Head and got ready to start. I forgot to mention that we have an additional hiking companion, Tim and Jill’s black lab, Chevy (guess what kind of truck Tim has). The dog was initially a cause of some concern as Charlie had made statements to Tim about his feelings on not liking dogs on the trail. Charlie explained it was dogs that he doesn’t know which violate his space (uncontrolled dogs which feed his phobias from being bit several times as a kid) and that leave signs of their passing on the trail (owners should pick up after their dogs) that makes up his particular dislikes. After several discussions, all were at ease, as Chevy is extremely well behaved, known to Charlie, and has trail etiquette on doing his business. Back to the hike. We started at 8:50 AM and crossed the Judy Gaskill Bridge over the South Platte River. The trail quickly began climbing in switchback fashion letting us know we could be in better shape.

Buffalo Creek fire Area

When we top out on the ridge, we begin to walk through a burn area from the Buffalo Creek fire. Due to the fire, most of this hike is open and dry and we are thankful we are not doing this in the heat of summer. We see several small herds of deer as we progress along the trail. At around 5 miles, we can see Chair Rocks and other rock formations. In one forested section, we are startled by a flurry of activity just off the trail. At first we thought it was some turkeys, but it turned out be two grouse.
We stopped for a break at about 8 miles, on an east-facing ridge and could see the country we had just hiked through. The effect of the fire was very noticeable. Just before the crossing of CR 126, we took another break. Charlie’s calves felt like they wanted to cramp up, a problem he has had in the past. This is reason enough to start each hike with a couple of bananas for their potassium. Luckily, the sensation stopped and we moved on. After crossing CR126, the last 2 miles were tough. This was more due to physical condition (out of shape) than the trail itself. Although a struggle we made it to the FR 550 crossing and the truck, feeling both exhausted and fulfilled.

Cold Beer Cold water

We finished at 2:55 PM with a total of 11.4 miles behind us. Total time for this segment was 6 hours and 5 minutes. The day had been great with a temperature in the low 70’s and we did not see another person our entire hike. We were ready to drive back to South Platte where Charlie had some cold beers for our celebration and the river had cold water for our feet. Segment 2 Miles Hiked – 11.4
C.T. Miles Hiked – 27.6