Backpacking the Colorado Trail

We recently decided that showers are overrated, and took off for a fun adventure backpacking sections 10 & 11 of the Colorado Trail with Matt's sister, Erin, who flew from Indiana to hike with us (elevation 9,500-11,400 ft). We enjoyed Erin's company, and especially her cooking skills. A few highlights from our trip included: spotting a wild turkey fanning its feathers, gushing mountain streams, watching from a distance as multiple storms blew in over Independence Pass, seeing zero other human life for the first two days, reading Bill Bryson's, A Walk in the Woods, before zipping into our sleeping bags, and sharing a huge cinnamon roll (on the house!) at the end of our journey. Our favorite part was hiking down to the Twin Lakes Reservoir, which was beautiful! Below we've posted some pics to give you a little taste of our trip. It was three days of hard work, but everyone on the trip did great.

Jess and Matt, Day 1.


Whatever Erin touched tasted amazing!!


Jess and Matt in the middle of an Aspen grove.


The Twin Lakes Reservoir area.


Matt and Erin, Day 2.


Jess crossing over one of the many streams.


Matt filtering water on Day 1.


The crew!