The Dave Journal

Woke up at 7am, started reorganizing supplies and setting aside extras for resupply later. Made the decision to hike around Lake Wellington with Travis and start midway through Segment 3.

We ran a few errands, checked out Travis’s studio and Pearl Velo, and we almost forgot to stop at REI on the way out town from some critical supplies. I discovered Justin’s Nut Butter as a perfect alternative to energy gels, available in peanut, hazelnut, and almond flavors, each with chocolate and honey varieties. Why eat GU with the texture of horse jizz when you can indulge on high-fat, high-calorie, hazelnut butter. I also lightened my pack a bit further by swapping out a few of one-liter Nalgenes for a four-liter MSR Dromedary bag.

On the way out to the trail, we stopped at Qdoba in the Aspen Park area. Qdoba’s menu is very similar to Chipotle’s, but I was less than impressed with the quality of the ingredients. Specifically, the carnitas was almost soupy and generally subpar compared to Chipotle.

Travis and I finally made it out to Lake Wellington only to find it closed, so we doubled back to the Colorado Trail trailhead and did a quick 3.5 miles out-and-back starting Eastward; we were caught in a brief downpour around 6 PM. We headed back to the car and integrated the new supplies into my pack.

I hiked 1.1 miles Westward to my first campsite. No dinner as it was already dark by the time I got my tent and bag setup; I settled for a pack of Justin’s peanut butter with chocolate.