Colorado Trail Day 7. Tuesday, August 5, 2025.
Beatnick, who was camped just a short distance from us, got up before sunrise. I could see the red glow of his headlamp as he sat on a log, making breakfast. I got up about half an hour before sunrise, at 5:30 AM, and joined him on the log.

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear, and it was about five degrees Celsius (41°F), but we weren’t cold at all. There wasn’t a breath of wind, even though we were on top of a wooded ridge at 3,420 meters (11,220 feet) above sea level. We sat there and talked quietly as the stars faded and the darkness gave way to the daylight. Facing in that direction, we watched the sun rise above the mountains on the horizon.

Normally, I wake Inger up at 5:30 AM, but I knew she hadn’t fallen asleep until late. I let her get some extra rest this morning, and she woke up on her own at 6:15 AM.

By the time we were hiking an hour later, Beatnick had already been on the trail for almost 15 minutes.

We are now on Section 6 of the CT. It ends at the Gold Hill Trailhead on Highway 9. It’s only a 15 km (9.3 miles) hike to get there. From there, we plan to take a bus north to the small town of Frisco, about 13 km (8 miles) away, to resupply.

The trail was downhill almost from the very beginning, making for an easy hike. It wound down the side of the valley, which was mostly wooded, but there were also some open sections that gave us great views.

After 10 km (6.2 miles), we reached a small river at the bottom of the valley. We ran into Beatnick there, who was filling up his water bottles. We still had plenty of water, so we kept going.

The last 5 km (3.1 miles) were a little more hilly, and we took a break after 12 km (7.5 miles). We had just spotted a deer on the path right in front of us.
Beatnick passed us while we were on our break. It’s often like that on the trail—you end up seeing the same hikers several times a day because you take breaks at different times.

About half a kilometer before we reached the highway, we passed a parking lot. A man standing by his car waved and called out to us. We walked over to him, and we also found Beatnick, Pinky, and another hiker there. It turned out to be Trail Magic!
We were offered cold drinks—soda or beer—and snacks. What a great surprise! There was also a chair, which Inger got to sit in.

We had a nice time before the five of us hikers walked the rest of the way to the highway together.

There’s a free bus that runs every half hour between Breckenridge to the south and Frisco to the north.

We took the bus to the shopping area on the north end of Frisco and went to eat.
The original plan was just to eat, resupply, and then head back to the trail. But over lunch, we changed our minds. It wasn’t even noon yet, and I suggested to Inger that we could take a Nero—a shorter day—and get a hotel in town. We could relax for the rest of the day, shower, and clean up. After all, I had a week’s worth of beard growth to deal with. Inger didn’t take much convincing.

Today’s section was 15 km (9.3 miles) with a 200-meter (656-foot) elevation gain. We’re staying in a hotel at 2,800 meters (9,186 feet) above sea level.