The sign of a successful vacation is having to do three loads of laundry consisting of filthy dirty hiking clothes when you get home.

We did the Continental Divide Trail through the Weminuche wilderness in Colorado about 25 years ago and wanted to repeat it, but no one could join us to help with the car shuttle. Dr. Dr. Dan was busy, B was getting ready for a new job, G, D, and J all needed time to "get in shape" so we went alone. Then we thought: when we did this epic journey, we noted that the second half of the hike, from The Window to Stony Pass, was the most spectacular, and we said we would come back and just spend time there, so that's what we did.

We hiked up Vallecito Creek to the Divide and spent two days at Nebo Lake, one of the spots we remembered on our headlong rush as "ooh, pretty, but we have to get off the ridge before the daily lightening drifts by, so let's go". At 12,000+ feet, it was pleasantly cool, and no bugs. Using our Leave No Trace skills, we left the area pristine.

Coming back out, we were going to camp at the junction to Johnston Pass, where a lot of hikers stay on their way into Columbine Basin where the three 14ers are, but we got there at 10 AM, the afternoon storm was just moving in, and we were both almost out of book. We thought of crawling into the tent to wait out the coming storm, and reading some more, then going to sleep at dusk and lying there for 14 hours, and thought: we could make it out today. So we ended up doing a 20 mile day. My neuroma hurt so badly I didn't even realize I had two big blisters. When you own three pair of hiking boots (day hikes, corridor hikes, and off-trail hikes) you tend to forget which set of socks goes with which boots, and I didn't have the optimum sock combo for my off-trail boots.

We then boogied over to Mesa Verde to visit some of the ruins. Since our week in Santa Fe, we had been learning all about the Pueblo people, so MV seemed a fitting degoumois. And I haven't been to Balcony House since Robert was knee high to an atlatl.

I am Sooo glad I usually hike in a place where campfires are banned. There were fire rings all over the Wemenuche. I cleaned out several and tore them apart. News flash y'all: FOIL DOES NOT BURN. So we get to MV, and everyone in the campground has a fire. A smoky fire. A nasty, smoky, chemical charcoal fire. Welcome to the great outdoors: let's fill it full of smoke.

Balcony was good, and then we went to Wetherill Mesa and did Long House and Step House and all the stuff on the Mesa. It is actually a Cuesta, not a Mesa. A mesa slopes away on all side and a cuesta only slopes away on one. So this is actually Cuesta Verde.

Travel tip: when you want to find good Mexican food, ask a park ranger. In the west, at least, they love Mexican, and since they live on a pauper's salary, they look for the cheap. We were sent to Tequila's in Cortez, and it was great. Then on to Navajo National Monument to visit Betatakin. Navajo doesn't allow campfires, thank goodness. Betatakin was one of the last places they lived before heading south and/or back to the Hopi Mesas, so it was fitting to finish off with that one.