Flattops Wilderness

Saturday, July 24
A stroll for 96 miles in flowers. Yes you read this correct I feel like I just spent the last 96 miles walking through a field of flowers. I just completed another section of the Four Corners Loop. This section brought me from Meeker Colorado to Glenwood Springs Colorado through the White River National Forest, and the Flattops Wilderness.


As a bonus to the bountiful flowers everywhere came jaw dropping mountain lakes, with green blue water reflecting the mountain scape. Tall white trunks of the aspen trees with leaves fluttering at the slightest breeze, please the soul at lower elevations. The higher elevations were full of lush dark green and blue spruce forests with moss covered branches. I felt as if I was walking through the Pacific Northwest. The forest floor was blooming with fungus which reminded me of perfectly cooked pancakes.


The solitude abounds I feel like I was the only person within the Flattops Wilderness. I also had the opportunity to have my first serious thunderstorm and downpour on the Four Corners Loop. Hiking while it is lightning out, feels like a game of Russian roulette. There were trees infrequently spaced about, so I was not the highest thing, but anytime it is lightning your head feels quite high. I love the sound of the thunderous booms that echo back-and-forth making your ears feel alive and grateful to hear the fireworks of nature.


I hiked down almost a mile to reach Glenwood Springs along the Colorado river. The town is very silent at this time because I-70 the interstate that travels East/West through Colorado is closed due to mudslides within Glenwood Canyon. Some of these mudslides were created by the thunderstorm I was in the day before. Up in the flattops the thunderstorm was really a gully washer I can just imagine with the mudslides must’ve looked like coming down the canyon walls.


I am now relaxing in Glenwood Springs. My body needed a rest so I chose to spend two nights. Today I am going to visit both Hot Springs in town, and get a message so my sore calves and tight hamstrings and quads will be ready for the extreme up and down of the next two weeks.


I am not expecting a lot of cellular service for the next 180 miles. I am shooting to reach Monarch Pass by August 7, where my dad will retrieve me from the wilderness so I can attend my mothers funeral in Westminster on August 10. I think about my mom Margaret every day while on this hike, am I am grateful for everything she did for my dad David my sister Kelli, myself, and everybody she touched especially at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Westminster Colorado. She worked for the church for many years and was a special person to many of the parishioners. She will be missed but the memories of her will bring nothing but joy and smiles as time passes on.


Thank you for reading, it is now time for my first Hot Springs reservation. Hot water here I come!


The Animal