Colorado Trail ‘21 - Near Durango
This was in the afternoon of the last full day I was on the Colorado Trail last summer - I finished the trail the next day after hiking for a month.
Early in the day, I'd stopped by a few hikers filling up water and someone shared that it looked like a storm was going to come through that afternoon, which is pretty typical. I managed to make it over the last pass before the storm found me and ended up waiting under some trees for a while waiting for it to go by (it didn't). When it seemed to slow down a bit, I started hiking again, just looking for the first level spot to set up my tent for the night. A bit down the trail, it started hailing and I snapped this next photo.
The white streaks and dots on the trail is hail. One of the nice things about bringing a film camera hiking is that I didn't worry as much about it getting a little wet compared to something digital. I wouldn't have taken this shot if it weren't for that.
My feet were soggy - no - I was soggy. Again. My socks had holes in them. Again. My body hurt in all sorts of different ways. I wanted some rest, but I didn't want it all to end.
When I started the trail, I wasn't sure I could do it - spending a month in all the elements, hiking at elevation 500ish miles, hitchhiking into town to resupply on food. And in the end, I wasn't sure I could go back.
We're capable of a lot more than we think.