I felt surprisingly good late yesterday afternoon despite the fact that I’d been on the road since 3am. So after checking in and getting settled I took a trail across the road from the hostel for a short hike. It felt good to get the heart pumping again so after reaching the top of the hill, maybe 100 feet or so, I hiked back down, crossed the road, and started hiking the steep ridge behind the hostel.
The initial couple hundred feet was pretty tame dirt trail but I eventually found a steep, rocky, section that took me pretty directly up another 400 feet. The hiking was easy from then on but beautiful. Most of Durango was in view directly below me.
Locals apparently spend a lot of time up here. There were several structures built from dead wood and stone – like these impressive chairs.
I eventually picked up about 1,000 feet of elevation before heading back to the hostel. Friends and family think I’m nuts for hiking the same day I arrived but it felt great to get moving – not too challenging at all.
Today will be a full rest day but there may be another hike Thursday. There are some easy trails nearby that pick up a couple thousand feet to 12,000. Whatever I do will be relatively easy because I don’t want to go into Saturday’s 6 mile +3,000 foot hike, and the climbs that follow, tired.
