Pictures From My Colorado Trail Thru-hike
The Colorado Trail is a long-distance backpacking and hiking trail that runs 485 miles from Denver to Durango in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail in the summer of 2010 and it was one of my favorite hikes.
Here are some pictures from my trip…
Have any questions about the Colorado Trail? Post your comments below…
Wow, gloriously beautiful, Erik! Thanks. You’re one of the inspirations for me planning to UL-hike the JMT later this year; now I’m thinking about the Colorado Trail for future.
Hi,Erik. What beautiful pictures. I do have a question about the trail. Are there many stream crossings? And if so, how are they? Deep,wide,etc..
@Dambara: Thanks, glad to help. Hope you have a great hike on the JMT.
@Vicky: There were some stream crossings, but they are not big like on the John Muir Trail. Mostly small hop-across fords. The larger creeks are usually spanned by bridges.
How windy was it?
@Don: The Colorado Trail was not very windy when I was there (in June and July). But there were thunderstorms every day. They typically blew in around noon and lasted for just a few hours. It also rained for a few hours most nights. In between the thunderstorms it was sunny, clear and warm.
Wow!Great shots! Gives me some inspiration after my accident and subsequent rehab. (Still ongoing)
How long did the trail take you and what was your average miles per day? Was there anyplace that slowed you down any? Say, due to snow?
Would love to hike this one- seems about right for a hike after rehab, before I tackle any bigger trails. Want to be sure I can still do it after my shoulder got wasted in the accident.
@RJ: I took about 5 weeks to do the Colorado Trail and averaged about 17 miles a day. Didn’t run into much snow, just a few patches here and there. The San Juan mountains in the southern part of the trail are the steepest and most likely to have late season snow. Most thru-hikers start in Denver and hike south to give the snow time to melt and start out at the lower elevations.
Another inspiring photo set! I hope one day to at least hike some sections of this trail. Am doing the JMT this year as a warm-up. I have purchased your JMT Guide after several of my hiking friends gave it rave reviews and look forward to receiving it…….
Thank you.
I’ve got a couple free months in August and September this year, and I’m planning my first thru hike. I think I’ve got it narrowed down to either the Colorado Trail or the Long Trail? Any thoughts or suggestions?
@Josh: I haven’t hiked the Long Trail yet so I can’t make a direct comparison, but one thing you will want to think about is how long you want to spend hiking. The Colorado Trail is 485 miles and the Long Trail 272 miles, so the CT will make for a longer hike. It takes about 4-5 weeks to complete the Colorado Trail at 15-20 miles per day.
Something the Colorado Trail also has going for it is both the eastern and western terminuses (termini?) are near metropolitan areas (Denver, CO and Durango, CO) with airports and other public transportation, which makes it easy to get to the start of the trail and then back home after you finish. The trail towns along the route are also well suited for hikers and most of them have gear shops, post offices, hotels, hostels and everything you’ll need to rest and resupply. Overall the Colorado Trail is a very convenient trail for thru-hiking.
I look forward to hiking the Long Trail in the next couple of years too so if anyone has hiked the Long Trail (or both the LT and the CT) I’d love to hear your impressions.
Hi Erik,
Thanks for your reply…I have just found out that I will be leading a small group of backpackers to the Silverthorne, CO. I am going with a group of men that are bike camping the Continental Divide and are ending up in Silverthorne, which is the place where we have to meet them to get a ride back.So we would most likely have to start and end in Silverthorne. I was wondering if you could give me some advise of a trial (s) in the area. We are mostly hammock campers ( so trees a important..:o) I am to old to sleep on the ground these days) and we are somewhat experienced backpackers. I do not know the area and have never been to Colorado for that matter. Where do I begin any advice would be much appreciated.
Im hiking the colorado trail this summer and I was curious how you resupplied? Do you think it would be easier to mail myself packages or to just stock up in the towns along the trail?
@Turk: I’m not familiar with the trails around Silverthorne. I know it is a common stop for Continental Divide Trail hikers, but it’s a little off the beaten path for the Colorado Trail, so I did not go there.
@Alex: I bought all of my food and supplies in towns, most of which have a good selection of groceries and at least one gear shop. You can find a list of all of the towns near the Colorado Trail, how to get there and what goods and services are available in each in my Colorado Trail Atlas.
Did you use any bear precautions?
@Chance: I did not use any special bear precautions on the Colorado Trail. In areas where the bears have a reputation for being aggressive or eating people’s food (like the High Sierra) I’ll carry a bear canister or hang my food. But outside of those areas I don’t really worry about the bears.
Would you eat at your camp site or would you keep the two separate?
@Chance: Most of the time I would eat at my campsite, but eating dinner a couple of hours beforehand and then hiking a few more miles before camp is a good way not to attract bears. Generally, I do not pay any attention to bears. I have ran into quite a few bears while hiking and they have all been more scared of me than I was of them (black bears that is). The problem bears are usually “park bears” which live in places like Yosemite or the Smokies where a high volume of campers bring food that the bears get used to stealing and eating without any consequences. I believe in most other places it is still legal to hunt bear so they are pretty well afraid of humans. At least all of the ones I have seen were.
Erik, I have to say thanks for all the info I’ve been getting from your website…great job. Was glad to see your comments on bears. I’m planning on hiking the CT but I’m going to have to do it in segments, still working. Probably start next summer but may do a segment or two this September. Use to hike all over Gunnison County, Steamboat, Leadville area but it’s been a while, 30 years or so. Actually spent a summer hiking the Tincup area. I’m 58 and have always loved hiking Colorado but not sure what pace I can keep up…probably not quite what you young folks can do. Any thoughts on pace for this old guy? Get this, my receptionist just brought me my mail, your CT Atlas just showed up…guess I’m ready now.
@Erik: I think that around 15 miles per day is a good comfortable pace. It’s enough time to wake up, have a nice breakfast, take a couple of long rest breaks throughout the day and still get in to camp before the sun sets. The good thing about the Colorado Trail is that is is broken up into segments that are just about that length, making it very easy to day hike or section hike. Good luck and happy trails.
Hi – sorry to bother you. Does your Colorado Trail Atlas contain any information on climbs on the Mountains off the CT Trail,( side hikes of the CT trail).Thankyou Tyler
@Tyler: Yes, the Colorado Trail Atlas shows the locations of popular peaks and side trips near the Colorado Trail. If there is a side trail to the peak that intersects the Colorado Trail it is shown on the map, and the distance from the Colorado Trail to the peak and the elevation at the top are typically listed.
Erik…read your comments about the rains that develop around noon on most days and again during the nights…I was curious about your experience with lightning…what precautions do you take…what about the metal objects in your pack during the lighting storms, etc.
@Thad: There was lots of lightning that went along with those storms and I didn’t take any precautions. I’m not really sure what could be done, aside from trying not to be on the top of a ridge in a lightning storm (which I was a few times). If the lightning starts getting really close seek lower ground. That’s what I did. And don’t stand under anything tall like a tree. But most of the time even though it sounds close, it’s still pretty far away. You can approximate how close it is by counting the amount of time that passes between the flash and the thunder (because the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound). When the thunder and flash are right on top of each other then it’s time to start worrying.
Did you see anyone hiking the trail with their dogs?
@Jeff: I don’t remember seeing any dogs on the Colorado Trail, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t hike with your dog. I know people have thru-hiked the PCT and AT with dogs. My dog (a German Shepherd) loves to hike short distances, but he runs out of gas after about four days, so I don’t bring him on the longer trips.
Erik,
I have a question regarding GPS. I am hiking the Colorado Trail this summer (2013) with your guide book as a shake down of my light weight equipment for the CDT through hike in (2014). I am getting a GPS and was wornding if you have any suggestion on what might be best for a through hike (CT and CDT). Garmins eTREX series looks good but not sure which modle may be the best. Thank you for your input. I look forward hearing form you. Peggy
@Peggy: Most of the GPSes are so good these days that you can’t go wrong with most of them. As long as it has the ability to mark and load waypoints and tracks and display color maps on the screen as you navigate. I think the Garmin Oregon 450T is the best all around hiking GPS right now. They have dropped in price substantially (now about $280), come preloaded with 100k topo maps and can do pretty much everything you need on a hike. The eTrexes look good too, but I don’t think they come preloaded with maps. It usually costs around $100 for the add-on maps, which eats into the savings of the eTrex versus the Oregon, so I would just go Oregon. The Oregon is the GPS I plan to buy when my current GPS (a Garmin Colorado) finally gives up the ghost.
Hey E the B,
How is trail culture on the CT?
I am hiking solo this summer and am hoping to meet a lot of thru hikers out there, starting around June 20th. Used your guide on the PCT in 2011 and liked the set. How is your CT set?
Thanks!!!
@Flash: There are not as many thru-hikers on the CT as the PCT but there are still enough so you won’t be all alone. I would guess there are maybe around 100 thru-hikers a season (and quite a few day hikers, section hikers and some bicyclists). Most of the thru-hikers start in Denver around the beginning of July. One thing I noticed on the CT is that the hikers do not hike as fast as on the PCT. Since there is no need to cover so many miles in such a short window of time most people do around 15 miles a day.
If you want to hang with other hikers you might want to push your start date back a couple weeks (to the first part of July), otherwise you might find yourself out front of everyone (especially if you are used to doing 20+ mile days like on the PCT).
The trail towns are great on the Colorado Trail and people are nice. I never had any trouble getting rides into towns. Colorado is a very outdoorsy state. Most of the towns cater to hikers, bikers and kayakers so they have gear shops, hostels and other services.
The Colorado Trail Atlas is a big improvement over the old PCT Atlas 2nd Edition. I took a ton of waypoints and notes while hiking the trail so the maps show almost all of of the water sources, campsites, trail junctions and other places of interest. The maps are better looking, easier to read and the book is lighter weight (about 3.5 ounces).
Hey Eric, do you think it would be hard to find a place to hang a hammock each night? I would like to do the CDT, but I will most likely not be able to get that one in, but I think the Colorado Trail is quite doable even for an old chick.
@Pat C: I’m not sure if a hammock would be the best choice of shelter on the Colorado Trail. You may be able to pull it off because there are lots of trees in most places. But there are some parts above treeline. You would have to plan it so that you cover those areas above treeline during the day and get back down to where the trees are by evening. The other thing to worry about is the midday thunderstorms (which can be harsh). I remember once where the rain got so hard and the lightning so close that I had to run for the nearest low point and hide out under my tarp for a few hours while it passed. It was just too wet and cold and exposed to keep hiking without risking hypothermia. In that case I was glad to have a shelter that could be pitched quickly in any terrain.
Eric, thanks for the info on hammock camping on the CT. It is nice to have someone that has actually hiked a trail that is so willing to share information and knowledge. Anytime you want to know about hiking in WV, just shoot me an email. Again, thanks for the info.
Was wondering what your bear concerns/ precautions were for your hike. Did you hang food from trees ect. Also how available were the water sources in segments 15-17?
@Justin: I was not concerned about bears and I did not do anything special for them. I did not carry a bear canister or hang my food. Some hikers hung there food but most did not. There was lots of water in Section 15. Water is scarce in Sections 16 and 17. In Section 16 the only water I found was Tank Seven Creek. In Section 17 there is water 0.5 mile off trail at Baldy Lake and seasonal water may be available from Razor Creek.