I stopped for the night essentially above treeline, so I still had 10ish miles of high mountain ridges to traverse as part of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness.
Once out of the wilderness area boundary, the hiking eased up and I enjoyed one last CO thunderstorm to dump rain and try to lightning on me, but at least I wasn’t above treeline this time!
By 430 pm, I arrived back at Dumont Lake Campground, where a little over a year ago I was completely alone and crying myself to sleep daily with grief having lost my friends, fear of grizzly country alone, and shame that came with continuing and “confirming” that I really am “too much” to deserve the wonderful community that is hiking world (which is what I was lectured on when I got left in Leadville). Those things are not true, but it’s really hard to believe it when you’re physically and emotionally exhausted from the Divide itself.
Today I arrived not unscathed, but centered as Blueberry nonetheless. I am where my feet are—a capable hiker, a physician in training dedicated to her studies, a close friend to the least of these, and someone who finds strength to keep it all spinning through movement and adventure. I know I am often labeled as overcommitted, overachieving, and tightly wound. Those labels used to bother me until I realized they are just attempts at describing Blueberry. She’s signing off from the CDT for now, but her spirit is coming to a Family Medicine residency near you.
Leave no trace and happy trails!
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