Hi All: Just a quick update....My back is finally starting to feel better. I still have to be careful about lifting, but I am back to walking in the neighborhood again. My plan is to get back on the trail again next summer.

Just a quick up date. Rick is now home, as of Monday night (July 9). He ended up being rescued off the trail last Friday and went to the hospital by ambulance to Durango, Co. He is okay, but has a slipped disk in his back and can barely walk let alone carry a backpack. Needless to say, he is disappointed. The doctor said he has to lay around for a couple of weeks and must continue to be careful. He can't sit up and we had a hard time trying to figure out how to get him home. Jay, our son who lives in Oklahoma ended up driving his mini van (so Rick could lay in the back) to Colorado to get him. We then drugged him up for a 2 hr. plane ride from Oklahoma City to Chicago. Leslie and I picked him up Monday afternoon. Wow, now that I have this in writing, I think we must be a little crazy. Ha! What an ordeal. We are happy to have him home, so we are not worrying so much. He hasn't given up on hiking, just has to let his body repair its self. Will post occasionally and give updates.

Slow going today.  (July 4th) Had snow, hail, and rain all in one afternoon. He also said that some how he has hurt his back.  Could it be do to the fact that his pack weighs between 50 and 60 lbs.  Hmmmmm!  Saw this moose while hiking through the Rio Grande National Forest.  This was the high light of the evening.

Finally had a break in the weather for a few hours.  Rick calls every evening when he stops to set up his tent.  He is suffering from the high altitude.  Hard to breathe and feeling nauseous today. This is info from Tuesday July 3rd.

Rick started hiking from Wolf Creek Pass last Saturday.  It was pretty slow going. Only made 12 miles per day the first two days out. Cold and rainy.(Hard to believe it's cold anywhere). This is a view from the San Juan mountain range. You can still see a little bit of snow hanging around.

This is a view from a Fourteener(a mountain over 14,000 ft.) It's actually a view from Pikes Peak in Colorado. We drove to the very top. What a magnificent view. No way could I have ever hiked this. However, Rick WILL be hiking some Thirteeners and Fourteeners when he returns to the San Juan mountain range later this week. Hopefully the snow has melted.

Well a lot has happened in the past few days. After I dropped Rick off last Friday I was expecting to get to  him in a couple of days, but he was up so high he ran into a lot of snow.  It was very slow going. Only went 8 miles in 12 hrs. He ended up being out 4 days and was rationing his food.  He finally made it out to a road that wasn't still drifted with snow so I could pick him up.  He has made a decision to hold off on going forward for now until some of the snow melts in the San Juan mountain range.  This mountain range is one of the biggest high lights of the whole CDT hike. He could have taken an alternate route, but doesn't want to miss the San Juans.  Still not sure what our plan is now, but will post again as soon as we get things figured out. He's not stopping,  just talking a couple weeks of down time while we wait for the snow to melt.