Adventures in Onionism

Oh my word, I am tired. Like my mom wrote below, I'm taking a day off in Lake City, CO. I'd hoped to go straight from Monarch Pass (which I hit on schedule on the 25th) but I got hammered yesterday going over 14,014 San Luis Peak. Bagging the peak is actually three-tenths of a mile shorter than the official trail that just goes over a shoulder, but when I got to 13,000 the winds were gusting to maybe 70mph and it felt like Nolan Ryan was chucking gravelly snow at me, so I bailed to the regular route. I met two nice dayhikers Dave and Greg that were good company during crappy weather. I still made 28 miles, but I camped right by the road to town and when the weather was still crap this morning I decided I needed more food/warmer socks to be able to make it through the San Juans. I got a pair of neoprene wading socks (the first time I've ever been glad an outfitter is fishing oriented!) and some more food and I should be good to go tomorrow, assuming I can get some slee...

From a postcard: 23rd, Twin Lakes - I'm a little bit loco. Climbed 14,433 ft Mt. Elbert (CO's highest) last night as a snow storm was coming in. To make it better, I did a traverse. Bummed I didn't do Mt. Massive (CO's 2nd highest) as well. Good thing - with PO hours, it really didn't set me back at all. Peace, G From a phone call: 29th, Lake City - He tried to climb another 14er but the weather turned bad and he is forced to take a break in town.

September 14 - left Steamboat at 7pm, did 12 miles of highway walking at night to get my miles in after 7 hours in town. September 15 - My 28th birthday. Did around 30 miles. Passed Wildcat, so I'm not the last southbounder anymore. September 16 - Woke early because of lightning. It was on and off all day. I remembered something - the weather in Colorado is horrible. And there's no shame in low routes when the weather calls for it - lightning will kill you. That's the one piece of advice Scott Williamson could give me about this hike - let weather determine your hike. It kinda sucks, but unless you have the time to wait out every storm (every day), which I don't, it's what you have to do. THEN IT SNOWED ON ME.

First, to mail me something at a post office, you can send it to: Garret Christensen c/o General Delivery Town, State ZIP But I won't be using that many PO's any more, just Twin Lakes, CO (81251) on 9/22, Grants, NM (87020) on 10/13, Pie Town, NM (87827) on 10/16. You could also use USPS to Ghost Ranch (on 10/7): Garret Christensen c/o Ghost Ranch Conference Center HC77, Box 11 Abiquiu, NM 87510 and write "Please hold for hiker, ETA ---" on the package. (The postal address in my last post for the Monarch Crest store is apparently no good, you have to use UPS, so don't worry about that.) THANKS! Everything is going well. It's raining like CRAZY outside, so it's good that I'm sitting in the library. I've got my next bunch of maps, now I've just got to go buy a bunch of food and mail it ahead to avoid some long hitches. There's a long highway walk south of town, so hopefully I can get started on that before it's too dark--camping b...

Hi all. Poor planning (I shouldn't have stayed in Lander) means I have to wait here for the PO to open tomorrow morning. Oh well. On my way into town a disabled vet gave me $1 and then said I could stay at his place, so it's all good. I did blow a day, but let's hope it doesn't matter. The desert was quick and easy. Lots of antelope and wild horses, and no 105 degree heat. For those of you wondering how much planning it takes to do a high-speed long-distance hike like this (or for those cool people out there that would like to send me cookies or details of the college football season), here's the e-mail I just sent my folks about resupplies for the rest of my hike. Hi. Here's my plan. The town name, the date I'll be there, and the miles from previous town, plus what I'd like to happen. An asterisk indicates I need you to send stuff. *Rawlins 9/9 *Steamboat Springs, CO Fri 9/14 (140) I just need the maps. I'll mail food from here to Monarch and maybe ...

First, happy belated birthday Mom. There were no phones at 13,000 feet when I was boulder-hopping across glacial moraines on the Divide in the northern half of the Winds, so I didn't call. Please accept my apologies. Anyway, I'm in Lander now. Here's the skinny: after 5 nights in Yellowstone on a made-up route that had some very cool parts (ridges, canyons, bison) I reconnected with the official CDT at Two Ocean Pass. The next day I got to Dubois , WY. Hitching took forever , but I finally got a ride from Matt Carpenter, a guy that horse-packed the entire trail a couple years ago starting at Canada in April and raised something like $8 million for the Make a Wish Foundation. (Google him, or try something like diamondc.wyoming.com?). Yes, starting southbound in April is nuts, and yes, taking 16 horses over some of these high passes is nuts, but this guy puts Jeremiah Johnson to shame. I entered the Winds and did two absolutely amazing high-route alternates--walking the...