- CT Day 7, July 6, Thursday
- Start: S8 mile 7.0, CT mile 124.2
- End: S9 mile 4.9, CT mile 147.5
- Miles walked: 23.3
Above treeline in the early morning, a herd of elk regards me with caution.
Looking back at the river valley we climbed out of, a string of beaver ponds glint in the sun.
Several snow fields must be traversed, and melting snow makes mud on trail.
At Searle Pass, I get a view of more heights to climb.
Marmots like to hang out on trail until hikers come. Notice that two are in the photo. The nearest was licking dew off of plants, instead of drinking nearby snow melt.
Reaching Kokomo Pass signals a long descent.
Later, down below, the route passes broadleaf sagebrush, and I approve.
A bridge crosses next to a waterfall.
The trail goes by Camp Hale, a decommissioned military base, with risk of unexploded shells, and asbestos.
It may be hard to make out in the photo, but a moose is grazing in a marsh.
Tennessee Pass looks different from my memories– old mining artifacts have been removed, and a hiking/skiing hut system has been added.
My campsite is a few miles from the wilderness boundary, near a river. I am in a hiker bubble, not seeing any other CT southbound hikers since Copper.