Recent Animas High School graduate Kristina Bodewes completed her west-to-east hike on the Colorado Trail just over the intended time that she set for herself. The trip was the hardest thing she has ever done, but she is grateful for the experience.
Bodewes, 18, said she completed a 485-mile hike to Denver at 8:48 p.m. July 15 in 14 days, 15 hours and 48 minutes. Her goal was to reach Denver in 13 days or less.
But a fastest known time has not been recorded for a self-assisted west-to-east collegiate hike in the women’s category. Bodewes has submitted her time to fastestknowntime.com and is waiting to see if it will be accepted.
For much of her hike, she was above 13,000 feet in elevation. She got off to a great start when she left Durango in the beginning of July, but as the first day progressed, Bodewes met her match when she encountered a thunderstorm at the top of Indian Ridge, about 15 miles from the start of her adventure.
She encountered thunderstorms multiple times on her hike and she often found herself trudging through the rain.
“There was one time I got caught right before the top of the mountain, inside the cloud,” she said. “That was probably the single scariest moment on the trail. Lightning (struck) very close to me and I ended up running down a field off the trail about 200 meters and then kind of just followed (parallel to the trail) because it was a bit lower and I was less likely to be the highest thing on the mountain.”
Bodewes said the first thunderstorm she experienced on Day 1 changed her idea of how difficult it would be to reach Denver. It was a wake-up call, she said.
“I was making great miles. I was moving fast, I was feeling great,” she said. “I (thought), I’m going to do so great, I’m good at this, I know what I’m doing. And I got on that ridge and was like, yep, Mother Earth definitely knows how to humble you.”
The most difficult moment of the journey came just 30 to 40 miles from the halfway point. Bodewes was feeling emotionally and physically exhausted, having hiked through downpours for six consecutive days. She remembered thinking of calling it quits and what she would tell her family and friends.
But after a phone call with her parents, Molly and Joe Bodewes, she decided to press on.
“I was crying,” she said. “They talked me down and I was almost to my next resupply where I was going to be able to take a shower. … Once I got there, they gave me a free shower, I got my food and I was like, oh, I can do this. This is fine. But just that one phone call was probably my lowest moment.”
But the hike wasn’t all bad. Bodewes said every time she found herself on a mountain peak, she was at a personal peak as well (when she wasn’t running from lightning, that is).
And every time Bodewes spotted a rainbow she felt like everything was OK because it signaled the rain was gone.
“That was the best feeling ever every time I saw that. It was like a feeling of safety,” she said.
Bodewes also met other people on the trail who recognized her and encouraged her in her efforts. She encountered three women of similar ages to her near the end of her trip and she felt good seeing other young people outside and taking on the Colorado Trail, she said.
“They were super, super sweet and they were trying to hike the whole thing as well, just in the opposite direction,” she said.
Bodewes’ mother surprised her with a veggie burger when she reached the end of the trail. She planned to drive back to Denver on her own but was relieved to find her mother waiting for her. She took several naps the next day but by the end of her hike her body was accustomed to waking up around 4 a.m. every morning.
Bodewes said she is glad she took on the Colorado Trail and completed the hike, but she has no plans to do it again soon.
“But I am super stoked for whatever the next adventure is,” she said “I definitely want to keep being outside and doing really hard things and challenging myself and my limits.”
She said completing the hike is a “big confidence booster.”
She might have missed her personal goal of 13 days, but she is hardly disappointed, she said.
“I think just finishing alone, the whole thing, I feel good about,” she said.
If Bodewes can offer any advice to first time trail blazers it would be to pack more food than you think you’ll need and don’t bother with any nonessential items. You’ll be burning more calories than you think, she said.
“Even if you’ve hiked 20 miles before, you probably haven’t hiked 20 miles with 30 pounds on your back,” she said. “And you’re burning a lot more calories that way.”
Bodewes used her hike to raise money for Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource. People can contribute to her GoFundMe page or directly to Bodewes through her website. She has currently raised $2,273, she said on Tuesday.
The GoFundMe for Compañeros can be accessed at https://bit.ly/3mTcASq and on her website at https://bit.ly/39shNOh.
cburney@durangoherald.com
