Colorado Trail Day 17. Friday, August 15, 2025.

It was a relatively warm night at the Angel of Shavano Campground, at 2,800 meters (9,186 ft). I slept well. The campground had a toilet, though without water, and I managed a quick visit before we started hiking at 6:30 a.m.

The day was partly cloudy, which suited us well since it wasn’t cold. For the first time on this trip, we heard coyotes. They were actually yipping after sunrise. For those of us not used to it, hearing them is fascinating. We heard coyotes almost daily on the first part of our hike on the Arizona Trail last year.

We see a lot of birds without recognizing all the species. Today we saw a red-headed woodpecker pecking at a tree we passed. We’ve often heard them pecking before but haven’t been able to see them. A little later, we also saw a deer that took off in long leaps away from the trail.

Today’s hike was short—a «Nero.» That means a day that’s almost a «Zero,» which is a zero-mile day. We were headed to Salida for resupply and a motel stay.
We had a little under 9 km (about 5.6 miles) to go until we reached US Highway 50. From there, we planned to hitchhike to Salida, which is about 25 km (about 15.5 miles) to the east.

We reached the highway a little before 9 a.m. and stuck out our thumbs to the cars passing by at high speed. It took about fifteen minutes for a car to stop. It turned out to be Debbie. She had just driven some hikers to Monarch Pass and was on her way home to Salida. Debbie is one of those volunteers who willingly shuttles hikers to and from the trail.

We had booked a room at the Woodland Motel, which Debbie said was her favorite motel in town. It was early, but she drove us there so we could drop our packs. Check-in was still many hours away.

It can be difficult to hitchhike out of Salida and back to the trail. It was incredibly lucky that we got a ride with Debbie into town, because she told us she was driving two hikers back to the trail tomorrow morning, and she had two empty seats in her car. We immediately said yes. What a stroke of luck!

Exploring Salida
We visited a cafe and resupplied in town before we checked in at 3 p.m. Salida is a town of 5,000 residents. It was established around 1890 as a railway hub. The railroad is history, but the town remains. The downtown area even has a pedestrian street, which is unusual in towns like this. Most of the buildings downtown are made of brick and were built around 1890. This gives the town a special character, and it’s one of the most beautiful and pleasant small towns we’ve visited in the U.S.

The Arkansas River runs through the town, and it’s set up for water activities like surfing, kayaking, and floating. You can even borrow a life vest and just float down the river. We saw several people doing this.

We now realized we should have taken a «Zero» and stayed another night to explore the town more, but there were no rooms available for tomorrow.

When we got back to the motel to check in, we ran into David, who we’ve met several times in the past few days. A thunderstorm had come through today, and he decided to leave the trail and stay the night in Salida. Unfortunately for him, there was a mix-up with his hotel reservation, so he couldn’t stay at the Woodland Motel.

As usual when we stay at a motel, we washed both our bodies and our clothes. I was also looking forward to shaving.
In the evening, we also get to have a different dinner than our usual dehydrated meals.

Today’s hike was 9 km (about 5.6 miles) with 270 meters (886 ft) of elevation gain.