We finished the trail today! Our last day didn't have any special views as we were mainly going down, down, down in elevation and we were surrounded by trees. It got much warmer too as we got lower in elevation; I had almost forgotten it was still summer below 10,000 ft.

But the Colorado trail didn't quite let us finish without a final storm. When were about 10 miles from the end of the trail a storm rolled in and hail poured from the sky. Colorado has taught me that while the horses don't mind rain or thunder, they do not like hail, and they will often stop once we are under some trees to take a break from being pelleted by the pea-sized ice balls. While waiting for the storm to pass, I crossed paths with a hiker from the PCT in 2016! He recognized the horses and asked if I had been on the PCT the year prior. We had met around mile 1025 and walked together for a few miles. It was great to chat and catch up. I had bumped into several other PCT hikers on the Arizona Trail back in April and May too. I love how I can run into people in different state in a different year and draw a connection back to the PCT. It's always an amazing and unique connection to share.

Once the hail passed, the sun came out again and it was downright warm out. We made it to the end of the trail by 5pm. There was a horse camp 30 mins away so I trailered the horses there for the night and the next morning we headed for Arizona and then home to Los Angeles. I was sad to leave the mountains for the next 8 months, but I am already planning our next adventure for 2018! Hopefully we'll be back in Colorado very soon . . .

#2017CT