Colorado Trail Part 1

Whenever you start a thru-hike, there’s always a bit of fear in your mind of the unknown.  It’s this palpable mix of excitement and anxiety all bundled together.  For me, the Colorado Trail seemed far off for all of this year, way out in the wings.  As June came around, it was all of a sudden here.  I had prepared, planned and was ready to go.

The first section of the trail winds it’s way up along the Platte River into the Front Range.  It’s this oddly green section of trail, that for me, was unlike anything else I’d hiked in Colorado.  Wet, lush and humid once you got into the forest. That first day, there were more Mountain Goats than hikers on trail, it was an interesting sign of the quietness to come. Over the next few days I slowly moved into the Colorado I know, dry, piney and rocky. As I chatted with the other hikers I passed, they all seemed to be section hikers, weekend warriors and a mix of other things, with very few thru-hikers those first days.  I was getting curious if I’d started too early.

As I progressed out of the Buffalo Creek area and into the Lost Creek Wilderness, I felt myself settling into the trail.  The trail progressed into the Terryall and Kenosha mountains, smaller ranges with little traffic. They were beautiful and cozy places I hadn't spent much time, overflowing with spring water and ready to be explored.  I had some soreness in my legs but all in all, I felt good at the end of each day.  I felt like I was making good time and I felt like I was starting to enjoy the nature of this trail, less of a highway like the PCT and more of a slow country road.  I started to take more time and breaks in my days, soaking my feet in frigid creeks and splashing water on my hot head in the late afternoon.

The Lost Creek Wilderness was a treat, big open grassy meadows with cruisy climbs and gradual descents.  Deer would stare at me through the trees as we passed each other and marmots and groundhogs would scurry through the meadow.  I kept my eyes out for Moose and Elk with no such luck.  The section went by quickly, but in a good way.

By my fourth day on trail, I was closing in on Kenosha Pass, an easy hitch into the small towns of Jefferson or Fairplay.  A part of me wanted to just keep going, a part of me wanted a short rest in town before I continued on my way.  I met another thru-hiker named Frank, who I wouldn’t see agin due to the short days he was doing, but after a good conversation, he convinced me to go into town for a bite to eat and a little bit of civilization .

Going into town was a good call, I got charged batteries, a belly full of real food with buckets of salt and some more good conversations with the townies.  Jefferson had 3 businesses and they all seemed to cater directly to weary travelers and hungry outdoors folk.  By early afternoon I was back on trail and heading for Georgia Pass, my first run-in with snowy conditions.

I climbed along the trail to just below the pass and spent the night with the fourth CT thru-hiker I had met, a girl whose trail name was Cheesit.  We sat and talked about the miles ahead, what got us to be out here and what we hoped to do in the coming days.  We talked about how we were in the first dozen or so hikers to head southbound on the CT, I had wondered why the trail was so quiet compared to the PCT and now I knew!  I just enjoyed the company after camping alone the previous few nights.

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On my fifth day I was up at 4am, the sun had barely started to illuminate the forest.  I wanted to get up and over the pass early to be able to stay on top of the frozen snowfields instead of running into midday slushy slop.  I quickly found my way up the mellow and beautiful alpine pass, easily dodging most of the snow on the way up, only to get to the backside on the way down and spend an hour struggling over large drifts quickly starting to melt again.  It was tough going but I knew a night in a bed in Breckinridge was on the other side.

I pushed along and met my second CDT hiker heading up the pass who seemed as excited to see me as I was to see him.  The CDT had been quiet and he seemed happy to see another hiker and share what he knew about the trail ahead of me, I tried to be as helpful for him as I could but was definitely less so. We chatted for a bit after realizing we both hiked the PCT in 2021 and then headed on our separate ways.  As I got down to Breckenridge, a sharp pain started to radiate along the back of my left heel.  It felt like a popping blister and a tight muscle at the same time.  By the time I got to the bus station I was limping from the pain, not a great sign.  I got sandals on, which felt slightly better on my achilles but the tenseness was still there. I spent the rest of the day, elevating and icing, took a soak in the hotel hot tub and hoped that it just needed a short rest and the brace I bought in town would help.  

The next morning, I sleepily packed my things in the hotel to get out and do the climb over Breck Peak 6 before the heat of the day kicked in.  I made it maybe 2 miles before I bailed down to Frisco.  Every step felt like fire on the back of my ankle, I had hoped it would work itself out, but it seemed to be staying persistent.  I was stuck, there was no way I could hike further without more rest.  I didn’t know how much rest that would be…

As I felt my ability to complete the first half of the Colorado Trail how I had planned slipping away, I was sad, frustrated and confused.  Only 3 years earlier I had hiked the entire PCT in similar shoes, with more pack weight and bigger miles.  How was only 100 some miles on the Colorado Trail enough to put me in this much pain, almost unable to walk?  I accepted what my body was saying, I needed rest.  When I got to Frisco, I hatched a plan.

After much messaging back and forth with several hiking friends and Googling different shin and ankle issues, I decided I could probably bike without doing more damage.  I hobbled into Rebel Sports in Frisco, they were kind enough to stash my pack for a few hours and set me up with a rental bike so I could check-off the last 10 miles to Copper Mountain (where I had intended to hitch up to Leadville). As I road along the Ten Mile Rec Path to Copper, I was happy I had found a way to go a little further, I was happy that I had the opportunity to be out doing what I was doing and enjoying the simpleness of just focusing on getting from point A to B.  My leg still felt tight, but wasn’t in pain from pounding. The air was crisp and cool, the bike trail was full of wildlife and I came to peace with the fact that this portion of my journey was over.

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I’d spend the next few days hobbling around Leadville, enjoying chit chatting with ultra runners at the hostel, catching up with a co-worker who was on her way to Vail for a wedding and being a thru-hiking bum around town while I still looked the part.  Kat eventually came up for a preplanned trail visit and we continued to wander around Leadville for the weekend.  Without much improvement in my left leg and some healing tightness settling into my left calf muscle, I went back to Colorado Springs to rest.

Every little journey teaches us some kind of lesson.  After the PCT, it took me a long time to see the lessons. So far on the CT, they’ve been very obvious.  As much as I love being out in nature and moving through landscapes, I love the people you meet along the way just as much. Elliott and Cameron, the young guys from Boulder hiking the old fashioned way with a paper map and no phones, Frank, the only other person I saw on day 3, enjoying his retirement, and Cheesit, the last CT hiker I saw on my way over Georgia Pass, thank you all for your company! The harder lesson, I’m getting old…. The body can’t take the beatings it used to without giving it enough back.  In the future, I hope to listen to it better and hopefully work with the body I have with more success.  The next month will be dedicated to some self prescribed physical therapy and muscle rehab.  The mind truly is stronger than the body sometimes and I'm glad I didn't walk myself into the dirt.

I’ll be taking a few weeks off to recover and hopefully returning to trail July 20th from where I left off. 
​Stay tuned and happy trails!

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep"
​- Robert Frost