Colorado Trail Day 3: Friday, August 1, 2025
Last night the temperature dropped to 43°F (6°C), and we had a lot of condensation on the tent. Tonight, it didn’t get below 50°F (10°C), and we had no condensation.

We were on the trail by 6:30 AM. This section of the CT is also used by mountain bikers, both local day-trippers and those biking the entire trail. As we were setting up camp yesterday, a couple from California passed by on their way to Durango. We passed them today after hiking about 2 miles (3 km). They were sitting outside their tent eating breakfast.

After another mile (1.5 km), we found a cell phone on the ground. Someone had dropped it. The background picture showed a man with a yellow bike—a biker. What should we do? Leave it? Take it with us? We hadn’t seen any cyclists today, so it must have been there since yesterday. We decided to take it with us.

Just then, a cyclist came by, so I stopped him and explained the situation. We found the emergency information on the phone, and Damon called the number but got no answer. I asked the cyclist, Damon, if he could take the phone since a fellow biker had lost it. I got Damon’s phone number in case we ran into the owner.

We continued hiking and, after about 9 miles (15 km), we reached a gravel road. We planned to hitchhike to the small town of Bailey, about 9 miles (14 km) north, to resupply.
When we got to the gravel road, a man with a yellow bike was standing there. He was the one who lost the phone. We told him what we had done and gave him Damon’s number. He was happy to hear this. If we had taken the phone with us, we could have returned it directly to the owner, but we chose the solution that seemed best in the moment.

There was little traffic on the road, and it took about 45 minutes to get a ride to Bailey.

We bought freeze-dried dinners at a small sports store that specialized in fishing gear.
The small grocery store didn’t have the cereal/granola or sausages we needed. We crossed the busy highway that ran through the town and met Deborah. She was originally from South Africa but now lived in Bailey. We started chatting, and she offered to drive us to a bigger store a few miles down the highway. We only meet friendly and helpful people.

At that store, we were able to buy everything we needed, and she drove us back to Bailey.
It was time to eat, so we had hamburgers and chicken at one of the restaurants. We got a table next to an outlet so we could charge our power bank and phones. We also took the opportunity to use a real toilet.

Then it was time to try and get a ride back to the trail. We stood at the beginning of the gravel road and stuck out our thumbs at the first car that came along. Believe it or not, it stopped! It was Tracy, who was on her way to pick up her daughter from a camp a few miles past the trailhead. Talk about luck.

She dropped us off at the parking lot where the trail crossed the road, and we were able to continue our hike after a four-hour break. Our visit to Bailey had exceeded all expectations.

At the parking lot, we met Merilla, who was also hiking the Colorado Trail.
It was now afternoon, and we hiked another 4.5 miles (7.5 km) until we found a nice area in the pine forest to set up camp. We barely had the tent up before it started to get windy and rain, and we were quick to get all our gear inside.

Merilla and another hiker arrived shortly after and camped in the same area.
As usual, the food was packed in an Ursack and tied to a pine tree.
Shipmunks are running around the tent. They are cute but very cheeky and curious. I hope the food is safe tonight.

Today’s section was 14 miles (23 km) and 3,018 feet (920 meters) of elevation gain. We are camping at an elevation of 9,416 feet (2,870 meters) above sea level.