I know this was a long time coming, but I finally have the time to catch up. This past September, I went and hiked the Colorado Trail. I already hiked over half of it while on my 2013 thru-hike of the CDT, but I was still excited to head back out to Colorado and hike it. So I contacted Matt Signore, and he and Yogi met me at the airport in Denver. From there we drove to Durango and hiked the trail Northbound.
I got a great chance to try out a new Yama Mountain Gear Cirraform. It worked flawless. It was easy to set up, super light, and with plenty of room. I was very impressed and glad I brought something a bit more solid than a tarp.
On the 3rd morning, Matt blew past my camp before light and I was quick on his heels in attempt to catch up. We were both on our way up our second high mountain pass, when I could hear Matt talking to someone up ahead. Soon I could see, what I thought was a stuffed dummy up on the pass. It looked human, but, It was to white and blown up to be human. But I could still hear Matt talking up on the pass. Soon as I got close, it was obvious that there was a human body lying on top of the pass, motionless. As I got closer, it appeared that a hiker had sat back and died on the trail, and Matt was talking to Search and Rescue on the phone.
This really put a bummer mood into things, but we both just pushed on after Matt was done on the phone. There was nothing we could do, and we had not had enough food or water to stick around.
For the next few days Matt and I played leap frog on a rainy trail, and made our way to Lake City for resupply. The following day we head back out into nice sunny sky's. It was there that Matt and I parted ways for the remainder of the trip. I had decided to hike up San Luis Peak, a 14r, that is right off the trail. Although climbing the peak only took a couple of hours, I could never catch Matt after that. I continued on into Salida, and stayed a night at the Hostile and decided to hike the new high route that had been completed, since my previous years hike. This was a treat, for the high route was incredible. The trail was perfect and winded its way on a untouched portion of the divide. Soon I was in Twin Lakes, where I then decided to climb Elbert and Massive, both 14rs. This was another highlight of my trip as I climbed them both in a day, camping on Massive.
After that I made a mad dash to Breckenridge for my last resupply. I dodged a bit of rain, and had excellent weather to the finish.
The Colorado Trail was a nice hike, and I thank Yogi, and Matt for setting me up with the CT book. I also thank them for getting me to the trail. I highly suggest 4 weeks minimal for this trip, for it is not one to be rushed. The towns are great, resupply is easy and the trail is a A+.
