Mountain Goats

Today, I planned to climb Mount Massive, Colorado's second-highest peak at 14,421 feet. I packed up early and hiked 3 miles down the Colorado Trail to meet my friends at the Mount Massive Trailhead parking lot, marking the end of Segment 10.

After dropping my backpack off at their car, we started hiking back up the Colorado Trail to the Mount Massive trail junction. From here, it's 3.5 miles and 3,359 feet of ascent to the summit of Mount Massive, where we were met by a herd of mountain goats. They got uncomfortably close.

On the way down, I decided to leave my backpack and slackpack the first 6.1 miles of Segment 11 to the Twin Lakes Trail, taking the one-mile shortcut into Twin Lakes. There, I met my friends and was reunited with my gear. We ate burgers and fries at Punky's food truck, checked into the Twin Lakes Inn, showered, and watched the sunset behind the lake.

Later, my brother arrived after driving two hours from Denver to deliver my wallet. Relieved and grateful, I asked him if he wanted to stay at the hotel, but he had work in the morning. After a short visit, he drove another two hours back to Denver. Grateful doesn't cover it.