Walk and Roll with the Wander Women: Colorado Trail Thru Hike

Left to right: Annette,Shug, Kristy, Carolyn and Lynn

Celebrating the Transition For years we had talked about completing a through hike of the Colorado Trail, but had never been able to take off that many weeks from our jobs and home duties. So now that we had no jobs and no house what better way to kick off our retirement than to plan and do a backpack trip on the Colorado Trail. The Colorado Trail runs from Denver to Durango--a 500 mile backpacking trek through the mountains and valleys. Two friends joined us so we were a group of four women and we gave ourselves the trail name of Wander Women. Our dog Shug joined us with an appropriate trail name of Trail Boss. Our Colorado Trail trek began in Denver early in the morning on June 28, 2015. We had the time of our lives. Our friends and family gave us support along the way, picking us up at trailheads and driving us into our resupply towns. Hanging out on our rest days in the little mountain towns of the beautiful Colorado Rockies and engaging in unlimited calorie consumption was a blast. Our favorite times during the trek were hiking and camping in the alpine zone above 12,000 feet in the Rocky Mountain tundra. Over the seven weeks we were hiking we met great people and wandered through incredible beauty. Along the way we were able to find several places to spread Melody's ashes. The journey was a healing time and also a celebration of life. We finished the trail on August 18th walking into Durango with tears, laughter, and an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

Kristy placing Mel's ashes amoung the Aspen trees.

Walking the Colorado Trail became a living metaphor for walking into the next chapter of our lives and we were psyched. We were ready to hit the road with Biggie Moms. Unfortunately, Kristy got sick a week before we finished the trail, suffering with stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea. After several more weeks of assorted testing, a course of antibiotics kicked in and her symptoms disappeared. But then to add to the confusion, the gallbladder tests that Kristy had initially taken showed that she needed to have her gallbladder removed. Then her routine physical showed questionable results that required a breast biopsy. UGH!!

Completed the Colorado Trail

Finally, two months later on October 17, 2015, with all the medical appointments behind us we left Colorado and headed for Texas. We were on the road rolling out onto a blank canvas anxious to create our new life. All of the research time and hard work, the ending of careers and saying goodbyes, all the planning and preparing are behind us now. We are free as birds.