Joanna On The Trail

Thursday, June 25, 2026
16.4 miles / 3,271 ft elevation gain

Another great night’s sleep, waking around 5:30am feeling well-rested. Everyone seemed to have their morning routine dialed in by now, and we were ready to go as soon as breakfast was done. We were all eager to get moving on a challenging and scenic day. The segment starts at 8,800 feet and tops out at 10,900 feet, so we knew the climbs would feel harder than anything we’d done so far. After a short drive to the trailhead, we were on the trail by 8:30am.

Into the Wilderness

The path started beautifully — through an aspen grove, a short exposed section, and then into pine forest — with a moderate climb of about 750 feet over 1.8 miles. About 45 minutes in, we reached the sign marking the boundary of the Lost Creek Wilderness. As planned, Dan and Sam reviewed the plan with us then set off, and a few minutes later we proceeded on our own.

The wilderness area lived up to its name. Dense pine forest, a feeling of genuine solitude even when hiking with others, and a forest that was clearly left to its own devices — trees left where they fell, no human intervention beyond keeping the trail clear. It was a good reminder of why these areas exist and why they’re worth protecting.

The wilderness section was 6.2 miles in total, most of which is a 5-mile climb of 1,750 feet that was modest for the first 2.5 miles (500 feet), then significantly steeper for the second half (1,250 feet over 2.5 miles). It then descends a gentle 400 feet to the boundary on the other side.

Finding My Stride

I spent the first 3.5 miles of the wilderness area hiking with Greg, chatting as we made our way up. Around the halfway point of the steepest section, Missy, Tom, Greg and I stopped for a breather at a trail marker. Tom and Greg seemed to be falling into step together, and Missy wanted to hike alone, so I went on ahead.

The long climb was tough, but I was hitting my stride — marching up at a moderate, manageable pace with few breaks needed. The switchbacks helped, offering short level stretches where I could take a breath and recover before the next push.

Before long I spotted Dan and Sam taking a break on the trail ahead. We waited for a few others to catch up, then let Dan and Sam go ahead and gave them a few minutes’ head start. Not long after, I caught up to them again. At that point I asked Dan if I could just go on ahead and wait at the wilderness boundary. He laughed and said it wasn’t a great look for him, but go ahead.

Near the top I fell into step with a thru-hiker whose hiking partner was further back on the trail with some knee soreness. We talked about their plans for the full thru-hike and, of all things, Apple — his partner had grown up right outside Apple Park, on a street I drove every day. Small world.

I arrived at the wilderness boundary about 10 minutes before Dan and Sam.

It was about 12:30pm when Dan, Sam, and a few of the others got there — perfect timing for lunch. The plan was to wait for the rest of the group to arrive before continuing in our usual formation. We ate, rested, and waited. And waited. It was about 1.5 hours before the last hikers came through, by which point we were stiff and antsy to get moving again. We still had 8.5 miles to go.

Long Gulch

The rest of the day was a welcome contrast — a gentle 6-mile, 800-foot climb along a long, straight path through a sun-drenched meadow with sweeping views of the surrounding mountains, called Long Gulch. The grade was so gentle that one hiker asked, completely sincerely, “when does the climb start?”

Somewhere in the middle of it we passed a sign pointing toward a white tent on the far side of the meadow that read “Trail Magic.” For the uninitiated: trail magic is an unexpected act of kindness offered to long-distance hikers by “trail angels” — often former thru-hikers who remember what they would have wanted at that exact point on the trail. It can be food, water, a ride to town, or really anything. A key part of trail magic is that it’s never expected. Not being thru-hikers ourselves, we resisted the pull and kept going. Later that day, multiple thru-hikers raved about what was inside that tent: burgers, beer, vodka, and more.

Except for the wilderness area, I spent most of Day 4 hiking with Dan, who I’d asked early in the segment to tell me the story of how he and Emily came to own Colorado Mountain Expeditions. He generously shared the whole thing in great detail — getting to the point of deciding they wanted to run a business just before we reached the wilderness area, then picking the story back up in Long Gulch. I was full of questions. It was fascinating to hear how two people with regular jobs decide to become business owners, and Dan’s story was a good one.

The meadow ended with a 2-mile, 700-foot descent through shaded pine forest to the Long Gulch trailhead, where Chris was waiting with the van and cold drinks.

Back to Camp

The drive back to camp was about 1.5 hours: 11 miles of bumpy dirt road, 22 miles of highway, then 11 more miles of bumpy dirt road. Tomorrow we will hike Segment 5 northbound (instead of southbound as we had been, which is also the normal thru-hiking direction), so that we can have a shorter drive in the morning to Kenosha Pass.

By the time we pulled in it was nearly dark and everyone was thoroughly done. The swing crew had dinner ready and waiting for us: burgers (veggie for me), caprese salad to start (one of my favorites). After such a long day it was just what we needed.

Given the hour, the exhaustion, and the need to get mostly packed up before bed to make the morning easier, we skipped the usual post-dinner hang and turned in. I did squeeze in a shower after dinner, not wanting to check into the hotel at the Denver airport tomorrow night not having showered for 3 days.

Tomorrow: Segment 5 (northbound), Kenosha Pass to Long Gulch. 14.6 miles, 1,858 feet of elevation gain. The last day.