Today we passed under the Apishapa Arch; this seemed to me to also be a figurative gateway that is our unofficial starting point. The Civilian Conservation Core built the road in 1933-34, and tunneled through one of the dikes (volcanic intrusions that form these long walls) after building a rock masonry arch to support the dike as it passed over the road.

We continued upward; the road became steeper and there was increasingly less gravel and more rocks. There were some switchbacks, and the road meandered back-and-forth across private and federal boundaries.

We decided to camp on the near side of 11,248 foot Cordova Pass. This way, the horses would have access to grass. Also, it wouldn’t be as cold or windy as it might be on the top.

Next: Dispatch #3: Moving Right Along