Day 1 - Horseshoe Meadow to Rock Creek Junction

Distance: 14 Miles
Elevation Gain: 1,884 ft
Starting Elevation: 8,612 ft
Ending Elevation: 8,200 ft

At the Cottonwood Pass trailhead near the Horseshoe Meadow campground about to begin our hike.

Our first official day of hiking! We wanted to get an early start to make it 14 miles, putting us at Rock Creek Junction, a point of low elevation where it might be warmer to sleep. We packed up our tent around 5:30 AM and began our hike to the unexpected sounds of cows mooing in the distance. Apparently, there was a ranch not far from the campground.

About two miles up the trail we decided to stop for breakfast in a tree covered section of the meadow, before we would make our first significant climb for the day. We ate oatmeal sitting on a log in the sun, feeling great in our first of many hours to come, blissfully unaware of what we would feel like 18 days from that moment.

We ascended Cottonwood Pass (Elev: 11,140') and gradually descended through the pine covered forest to our first camping spot on the trail at Rock Creek Junction. Just before the creek, which we would ford the next morning, a small clearing in the trees offered the perfect spot to set up our tent. There were bear boxes nearby with only a few other hikers to share them. We took advantage of our early afternoon arrival and washed some clothes in the creek, filtered water, and soaked our feet.

Sitting at the creek reading in the sunshine, a family of deer (one of many that we would see along the way) stopped by on the other side. We couldn't have asked for a better first day on the trail.