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My grandfather's friend Jerry dropped me off at the Colorado Trail trailhead just as the sun was going down. With a rainstorm threatening I trotted off to find a campsite for the night. Like the entire trip, this drop off was last minute. I'd bought all my food, mailed my resupply packages, and packed all my gear over a weekend. Now after all the crazy planning I was finally going to do a thru-hike, or so I hoped. I'd been on dozens of trips from weekends to five days, I'd done even longer canoe trips, but I'd never been able to go hiking for more than five days at a stretch. The questions in my mind were "Can I do this? Will my gear work? Will I stay motivated? Do I have the right food?" Only time on the trail would answer.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

  • A Last Minute Start
  • Part 1: Racing the Clock
  • Part 2: Rain
  • Part 3: Boredom
  • Part 4: Going Remote
  • Part 5: Going High
  • Things Go Wrong
  • Final Thoughts

# WORDS: 5130
# PHOTOS: 40

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