Colorado Trail Pre Hike 5 July 2018
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The swirl of days blend together to form whirlwind weeks that surround the momentum of my presently wandering life. In two weeks I will be in the middle of the first week of the Colorado Trail Thru Hike accompanied by my sister Julie and her husband Ed. I try not to think too much about attempting another thru hike and the difficulties I will face on the trail high in the Rocky Mountains. I do try, but my feelings and emotions come bursting through. I am truly excited and filled with abundant anticipation. Thoughts of panoramic vistas and high mountain passes covered with layers of tundra and wildflowers fill my mind and feed my adventurous spirit. But this time my wanderlust and yearning for adventure are not seeped in a romantic version of a thru hike. I am prepared for very hard intense days on the trail. I think of fortitude, endurance, stubborn willpower and completion. The Pacific Crest Trail taught me valuable lessons. I don’t want to revisit those sweltering, withering moments on that dusty hot trail. Hiking is hard. Very hard. And all the beautiful images and lengthy poetic descriptions of landscapes will not diminish the physical and mental stamina required to walk through challenging terrain in potentially harsh atmospheric conditions. Now I am ready. At least I tell myself I am. I simply have to believe I can do it.
I have been hard at work preparing a resupply blueprint. This time around, instead of 30 resupply locations like on the PCT, we have 8 stops in small mountain towns with names like Jefferson, Breckenridge, Leadville, Silverton. Some stops will include spending the night while others will also include taking a day off - a zero - to rest, replenish and do laundry. After spending so much time preparing for the PCT, I feel up to the task for prepping the Colorado Trail. Along with drafting the resupply blueprint, I have been reading about each of the 28 Segments of the trail and the 5 segments for the Collegiate West – an alternative route that opened in 2012 and follows the Continental Divide Trail with higher elevations than the original Colorado Trail on the Collegiate East. We are planning on hiking the Collegiate West.
The Colorado Trail Foundation has a fantastic website filled with information for hikers along with an online store to order a small data book that one can easily take on the trail as well as a more detailed CT Guidebook. We won’t be taking the CT Guidebook as it is too heavy but I will be including a digital version on my iphone. Guthook has an app for the Colorado Trail to help with navigation, camp sites, water sources, mileage and elevation. I have also downloaded CT maps to my GAIA GPS app. Everything I have read indicates that the trail is very well maintained with clear markings for staying on the trail. When we hiked Segment 8 in 2016, we witnessed firsthand the confidence markers and well graded path. This summer will definitely have some distinct challenges; a fire near Durango has closed the last 4 segments, 25-28. And the entire trail has fire restrictions. We will be able to use our canister fuel stoves but all open fires and campfires are prohibited. It’s been a very dry summer. The brush is dry and brittle. We are hoping that the mid-summer monsoon season starts soon to help prevent any future fires and to assist in containing/stopping the current flames. We have developed back up plans in case Segments 25-28 remain closed by the time we get there in mid-August. We may go back and hike the Collegiate East. I have also been reading about some alternative trails including the Continental Divide Trail that will get us close to Durango. I feel compelled to get to Durango. Denver to Durango.
Last weekend I found myself back at Mohican State Park in Ohio with Julie and Ed for another training hike in preparation for the Colorado Trail. With the temperature forecasted for the 90’s with high humidity, we were prepared for a sweaty, hot hike. And while I was often drenched in sweat and extremely sticky, it wasn’t as quite as hot as predicted – but pretty close. The trees provided welcomed shade from the driving force of the sun’s heat. And while we had plenty of gnats buzzing around our faces, there were surprisingly very few mosquitoes. We began the hike along a horse path that wound downward along tree covered hills with base layers of ferns and green brush. The recent rains had left the trail extremely muddy in places. We had to be cautious stepping around sudden mounds of horse dung that mixed in with the mud creating aromatic layers of deep brownish wet clumps. We also had to wade through a river that intersected the trail numerous times along the path. It seemed appropriate to forge through the cold refreshing waters in our trail runners to test how fast they would dry. The immediate slushiness of the water in our socks and inserts soon gave way to a general sense of dampness. Feeling the cold water as the current rushed past our legs was worth having wet feet. I was careful where I stepped along the submerged rocks covered in slippery moss and then up and over the embankments slathered in ruddy mud.
Eventually we encountered one of the Mohican bike trails which wound up and around more forested hills. This narrower path was a welcome change to the muddy wide horse paths. I found myself settling in to a pleasant hiker rhythm, keeping a steady pace while my mind drifted in and around random melodies and then suddenly stumbled upon heady thoughts of the very near future – Colorado. I would sometimes pretend I was hiking along the Colorado Trail nearing the tree line in preparation for summiting a pass high in the gossamer clouds. I felt a cascading thrill rush through my body and my skin tingled with heightened electric current. Soon. Very soon. Colorado. My Zpacks Arc Blast felt really good on my back and shoulders. I wasn’t sure if this was the right pack for me but I am now committed to taking it on the CT. The Brooks Cascadia trail runners seemed to be working out as well. Having gear I trust provides bountiful confidence on the trail.
After hiking for 7.5 miles, we arrived at our campsite nestled in a forested ravine along the shallow banks of a gentle river. The established site contained a luxurious table made of stone and an enclosed fire ring. We went about our camp chores, setting up tents and inflating sleeping pads. I chose a spot relatively close to the river. The wet dirt ground was relatively free of rocks and small twigs. I had brought a new tent on this hike. As much as I have tried to love the Zpacks Duplex tent, I felt that I needed a freestanding or semi free standing tent on the CT. The Duplex is a great tent. Truly one of the lightest tents. And if I had had more experience setting it up, I am sure it would be included in my gear for the CT. But I had problems getting a good pitch on the PCT due to the soft ground. At the end of the day after hiking for many hours, I want to know that I can easily set up my tent. I don’t want to have to scramble to find rocks to hold loose tent stakes or spend time being creative with rigging. So I bought the Big Agnes Tiger Wall 2 - a two person semi free standing tent with dedicated tent poles. I brought it on this hike to test it out. And I love it! It weighs a bit more than pound over the Duplex. But the weight is the same as my Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 1 which is a single person tent. I feel like it was a very good compromise. I am willing to carry the extra pound and will try to eliminate other items in my pack to account for the added weight. I can set the Tiger Wall 2 up in minutes. It's spacious and I love the gold color! Because the air was still stifling hot as I set up the tent and the weather forecast did not indicate any overnight rain, I didn’t use the rain fly. The exposed overhead netting of the tent body would allow me to see out into the night sky while allowing for voluminous air flows and hopefully no deep night condensation.
Soon we had our pots filled with water heating over the powerful flames of our cook stoves attached to fuel canisters. We cooked ramen noodles adding in packets of chicken. Perfect! It was exactly what I needed and filled me up. After dinner, Ed masterfully got a fire started using wet twigs and larger pieces of sodden wood. The flames flickered as the sun set behind the trees while the smoke billowed into thin wisps of cloudy grey plumes. I stood close to the fire to help dry out my salty sweat drenched wet clothes and reduce the humid clammy sheen that clung to my skin. The smoke’s woody fragrance wafted through the thick air. I found the dry heat and smoke comforting amidst the damp wetness that lingered in the evening air. As the sun sank beneath the tall trees, we hung the food bags and then made our way to our tents for the evening. It was still too warm to even contemplate getting in my sleeping bag. I spread my sleeping bag liner on top of my sleeping pad and just lengthened my body resting on top. With my sleeping bag bunched up near my feet, I was able to elevate my legs a little. I just lay there feeling hot and sticky. I hoped that my stillness would soon cool my body enough so I could fall asleep. The sounds of the river rushing nearby were indeed soothing. And soon, as darkness approached, fireflies began to circle in the air above my tent creating a random ballet of flickering yellow lights – a moving constellation hovering close and then high high above me toward the tops of the shadowy trees. It took me a long time to fall asleep amidst the nocturnal reverie of nightlights and cascading water. But eventually I did fall asleep. And then eventually I awoke just as the morning sun was beginning to spill sunlight into the ravine. And I watched the world change from shadow to radiance.
