It is Saturday evening, and I've enjoyed a restful day at home, getting ready for my final leg of the trail. I've got 74 miles left to complete the Colorado Trail, which I will be doing this week. Jim Redfern, the terrific contractor who I've worked with for the last five years in renovating the Horseshoe Lodge, has kindly offered to drive me to Durango, a five hour drive, on Monday. Friends Mindy and Patrick Meiering generously offered for me to spend the night at their home in Durango, then a ride to Molas Pass on Tuesday morning where I will start the 73.9 miles of Sections 25-28. I'm so pleased to be at this stage of the hike...it's been a lot of planning, driving, and especially, putting one foot in front of the other. And I am so excited to have the completion for this challenge a few days away. Of course, I still have a good hike ahead of me, but I am rested and ready! I expect to get to the the end of the trail, just outside of Durango, on Friday or Saturday. Pledges and donations continue to come in and I am at over $73 a mile so far. The funds being raised are directly supporting MPEC's education programs, with an emphasis on this year's Earth Studies program. Through ES, every 5th grader from Pueblo City Schools, around 1300 kids, gets 6 full days of Nature-based education spread throughout the school year. Serendipitously, this year's first day of Earth Studies is this Tuesday as well. All week, while I'm covering the final miles of the CT, students from Parkview, Baca, Spann and Carlile Elementary Schools, many of whom will be going to the mountains or taking a hike for the first time in their lives, will be in Pueblo Mountain Park kicking off the the 10th year of MPEC's award winning ES program. That is all the motivation I need to complete the hike!
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