Colorado Trail - Part 3

On round three of what’s become a multi-year section hike, I set out to complete the Collegiate section of the Colorado Trail.  The section is unique in that there are two ways to complete it, a west high route and an east lower route.  Both have their benefits and challenges.  The west you stay higher, the scenery is better but getting to town is harder and snow lingers late into the spring.  The east is lower, there’s somewhat larger climbs in and out of valleys but the snow is gone early in the season and rides to town are often and simple.

My friend Daniel had agreed to come out to Colorado after his spring PhD exams for a little break and although it was still early in the season we opted to give the west route a go.  I had some hesitation about it, worried about snow still lingering and the jump to 12,500’ on day one but we went for it.

The day was warm but a gentle walk uphill from Twin Lakes where I had completed my 2024 journey was nice and easy.  Some trail runners had told us that the snow was mostly melted up on Hope Pass so we looked forward to clear trail to the top.  We began the climb up Hope Pass still full of energy but also heavy with 3 days of food, the climb was long and slow.  Near 11,800’ we sat and took a break, and both felt tired and a little dizzy.  The top wasn’t far, so we gathered ourselves and pushed on.

Near the top I found a trickle of water coming off a snow patch and filled my bottle while I waited for Daniel to get to the top a few switchbacks behind me.  As I drank and stood trying to catch my breath, stars started to swim in my vision, and I swayed, the altitude was hitting a bit.  Daniel reached the top, we got him some water from the snow and quickly headed down the south side of the pass, luckily snow free.
 
Daniel felt the same, dizzy, a little nausea, a sure sign we were both having a bought of altitude sickness from pushing hard on day one.  Once we got down 500’ Daniel felt better but every time I stopped my vision started to swim again and I stumbled on the verge of passing out.  We were both tired from the hard climb but the only thing we could do was keep going down until I started to feel better.
 
We cleared 11,000’ and I still felt unsteady.  Near 10,500’, I felt like I could catch my breath finally but was still wobbly.  Once we got under 10,000’, I finally felt like I had control back.  I could breathe, I was steady, whatever had happened had stopped.

Our original agenda had had us going farther on day one and potentially doing a 14er the next day, that was out the window.  I was worried about the same thing happening again if we continued over Lake Ann Pass at 12,500’ and we were both tired from that first push.  We opted to flip to the east route having also heard there was still a bit of snow on Lake Ann Pass.
 
We figured the lower elevation, and the certainty of no snow was a better option than taking the risk of staying high.  So, the morning of day two, we caught a hitch and flipped down to the east Collegiate route.  Our goal was to get to the Harvard Lakes and enjoy an afternoon of recovery.  Luckily day 2 went swimmingly (literally) and we got to the lakes. 
 
We camped by Elk Lake, the larger of the two lakes.  Someone had hauled a canoe up to the lake, so I got a chance to paddle around, and we both took a good swim/trail bath in the lake.  We lounged in the sun and read books as the late afternoon turned to dusk.  The amber sunset settled across the lake as dusk fell and we dozed off into a restful sleep.

Day 3 we had our last “pass” up near 11,900’, we both had a little hesitation, but we took it slowly.  We’d planned for this day to be a little treat; we’d booked a night at the Cottonwood Hot Springs.  A long shower, a night in a bed and a good soak in the hot geothermal pools would push us through the rest of the hike.  The pass went slowly but came easily, we both felt recovered and acclimated and enjoyed the day.  The downhill was long but a trip to town for food and a cozy night awaited.
 
Once we got to the road, we got lucky, and a hitch came quick.  A CDT hiker who had been nearby joined us and we happily headed into Buena Vista.  The first visit was the K’s Dairy Delite for some shakes and burgers before a quick resupply at City Market and a hitch back to Cottonwood Hot Springs.  Our hitching luck so far had been impeccable…. All good people, wanting to share stories, all quick rides.
 
The night in the hot springs was one of the most enjoyable of the journey.  Even though it was a short trip, this little hotel stay made it feel like a true vacation for me.  I remember on the PCT we took few breaks but the ones we did take I enjoyed thoroughly; this was no different.  Some chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks for dinner, real food compared to ramen and instant potatoes and a hot shower made me ready for the final three days ahead.

We’d gone up Cottonwood Pass when we flipped to the east route to see what trail conditions were like south of there on the west route in case we wanted to flip back up later once we’d acclimated.  I hiked about a mile up trail and what I saw was sketchy snow fields and deep post holes.  The first (maybe) mile took me 20 minutes fumbling around in the snow and once I got to a steep field and a large cornice, I knew this would not be the year for doing the West Collegiate Route, that would have to save itself for another time.
 
We stuck to the east trail, and it was enjoyable. We got another little treat with a hitch on the road walking section day 4 to the Princeton Hot Springs Convenience Store for a sweet treat and a soda before a couple miles more of walking along the road to a nice campsite along Chalk Creek.  It was a shorter day, so we spent a lot of time sitting by the creek reading in the afternoon.  I felt like I was finally hitting my groove as we got into the week but unfortunately, we only had two days left to hike.  

In the evening, we had several CDT hikers wander into camp, they were fun to talk with, a few working on completing their triple crown so we shared PCT stories.  As always, as the sun set, so did we.  The next day, they were gone by 6am and we snoozed until near 7:30.  The climb for the day was in the morning and nice and short.  We quickly started passing other CDT hikers heading north and then didn’t see another one for the rest of the day, the little bubble had passed. 
 
I think the 5th day was my favorite, I had fallen into my hiking groove, the miles came easy, and I was enjoying the simplicity of the trail.  I wasn’t thinking about what day it was, wasn’t thinking about what awaited at home, I was just thinking about walking on my line in the dirt and enjoying the views and the changing forest.  The day varied wildly below tree line, we started in a forest of Pinyons before climbing into the typical Colorado Lodgepoles, for a while we traverse through patches of Cedars before crossing into an area full of beetle kill trees.  The final section of the day was some of the tallest and thickest Aspens I’ve ever seen.  They towered and made it feel like we were somewhere else entirely than the mountains of Colorado.  For a tunnel of trees, it was quite the tunnel…
 
We got lucky yet again and the host at the Angel of Shavano Campground allowed us to camp for free.  We got an easy tent pad with a picnic table, a metal fire pit, and even pumped water, true amenities compared to sitting in the dirt squeezing a water filter.  There was access to one of the many branches of the Arkansas River from the campground and we got a chance to wash up and soak tired feet.  As the evening set it, we had our only fire of the trip and ate the rest of the food we had left, even grilling some tuna wraps over the fire.

The final day came and went quickly.  We only had 5 short miles to US-50 where we’d start our journey hitching back to our car we had left about 40 miles north by road.  We’d traveled about 70 miles on foot from Twin Lakes over 6 days, once we got to a car, we could go all the way back in about 45-minutes to an hour… I figured it’d probably take us two hitches, one down to highway 285 and then another to Buena Vista and if we needed, we could rent a bike there to bike out to the trailhead.
 
We stood along US-50 for 30-45 minutes with thumbs out, not a single car stopped.  Lot of Texans, lot of rental care plates, not good odds and the cars that might’ve stopped were zipping by at 65 miles per hour with a not too long shoulder to pull off on.  I figured if we walked down the RV resort, a little less than a mile down, maybe a camper would be heading to town for something and give us a lift.  Daniel and I started our walk, somewhat happy to be getting down, but somewhat saddened that we were walking still and not riding.
 
We snuck down to a side gravel road to get off the highway and slightly startled an older couple out gardening.  We chatted for a moment, and they said the shoulder at the campground wasn’t much better than where we’d come from.  The thought on our end was that anything was better than cars zipping by us to no avail…. The walk was easy, wandering passed empty vacation homes and a rushing creek.  Eventually we came to a gate and hopped over into the back side of the RV resort.  The first person we came to near their truck I asked if there was any chance, they were going to town jokingly.  Surprisingly, he ended up being the owner of the RV resort and said he wasn’t going to town, but his father-in-law might be willing to take us down to 285.  
 
While he went to ask, we perused through their camp store, grabbing sodas and candy after eating most of the rest of our food the night before.  Daniel had been having some allergy issues and luckily, they had single doses of Claritin to give him some relief.  The owner came back and checked us out and said his father-in-law would be over to give us a ride down in a few minutes, we were ecstatic to keep moving without having to thumb it again.
 
The old man who came and greeted us was named Harvey; he was an older a bearded man with a big smile. He was from Tennessee originally but now that his daughter and son-in-law lived out here in Colorado, he split his time between the two places.  Spring and fall in Chattanooga and summer and winter in Colorado, seemed like a pretty good life to me…. He had 16 grandkids, 3 of which were here in Colorado.  He told us about the oldest starting to be able to drive this year, the middle child being a big fan of hocky and traveling all over the state to play.  We talked about whitewater rafting and fishing and just being able to enjoy where we were at.
 
The conversation flowed easily, and he offered to take us all the way to Buena Vista which we happily agreed to and offered to pay him some, he refused.  I think Harvey was happy to talk and we were more than happy to keep him company.  He seemed like a person who’d had quite a life and told us all sorts of stories about trucking other hikers around the Collegiate Peaks area that had wandered into the resort like us.  His capacity to help others out of pure kindness and curiosity was inspiring. 
 
Once we got to Buena Vista, he surprised us again and took us the rest of the way up a bunch of country roads straight to the car.  What I had thought would be one of the hardest logistical challenges ended up being one of the best hitches I’ve ever had.  We said goodbye to Harvey, offered $20 for gas that he again declined and swapped back into my car.  The journey was done, and the stories had been made.  What started as everything going wrong turned into an enjoyable week and another section checked off my long journey on the Colorado Trail.
 
At this point, I’m sitting at mile 280.9 out of 486.  Ideally, I can take two weeks off in the fall and run my way out to Durango to finish it up but more than likely, I’ll finish to Lake City this year and the final bit will be waiting for me in 2026 (I unfortunately have too many vacations planned for 2025 already to get two weeks off, but you never know).  Just over halfway on something I thought I’d kick out in four weeks in 2024 is funny to think about.  The Colorado Trail has been a learning experience, about long trails, about logistics of section hiking and about myself, about what I like and don’t like when I’m out and about how your head works differently when you’re out for a week or two versus really checking out for a month or months when you’re actually thru-hiking.
 
Hopefully things work out and I get my feet back on the trail in September with my buddy Joe for a hundred miles or so to be a short walk from the finish line.  As always, thanks for reading and happy trails to wherever your feet take you this summer.

The world is quiet here... 
-Lemony Snicket