by Ren Miller

Last year we test-hiked two alpine segments (22 and 23) of the Colorado Trail (CT) and a bit of the lower-elevation Segment 3 (click here for that adventure). This year we’re fortunate to be back in the Colorado Mountains and we’re eager to do some more segments of this grueling, but beautiful trail. I say grueling because the elevation changes are profound in sections, plus the high trail elevations of 10,000-12,000 feet are hard to get used to. We chose to hike segments 5 and 6, as well as a bit of segment 4, about a 65-mile drive from Denver on the north end of the CT. These segments are highly recommended by other hikers for their traverse through stunning aspen forests and for a breathtaking hike over Georgia Pass and the Continental Divide, the first time southbound hikers get above the tree-line and experience true alpine terrain.

Rusty and I hike a little different than other hikers. As we explore new trails across the country, we usually don’t know a trail angel (or anyone, really) who lives near a trail terminus or even a trailhead who could give us a shuttle ride from one end of a thru-hike to the other, sometimes hundred miles away or more. And we don’t much like hitchhiking. So instead, we’ve opted to self-support our hikes.  We find a safe trailhead where we can leave our van and hike our trails as “in-and-outs.” Sometimes, we’ll hike in half a day and turn around and hike back to our van. Sometimes, we’ll hike in for 2 or 3 days before turning around, camping at convenient spots along the way. In the end, however, we end up hiking each trail twice, once in each direction, and it’s definitely a different hike each way!

For this hike, we parked our van at Kenosha Pass Trailhead on Hwy 285. It was very busy, with lots of hikers and cyclists there for single and multi-day excursions, so it was a very safe place to leave our “home on wheels” for a few days. And, at 10,000 feet, we were already at some good elevation.

Segments 4 and 5

After spending the night at the trailhead, we started out early hiking north on Segment 5 of the CT. Hiking up from Kenosha Pass, the aspen groves were numerous… and healthy, some very large and old. The wildflowers were everywhere: columbine, Indian paintbrush, yarrow, bluebells, sunflowers, and so many more. There were lots of mountain meadows along this section, and we had plenty of reliable water. The vistas were huge and the ascents weren’t too steep. But because we hadn’t hiked with heavy packs in a while, we decided to stick to 10-mile days for the first section of our hike.

We were glad we got an early start on our first day because when we reached our campsite by early afternoon, the thunder we had been hearing earlier suddenly turned to rain, then into a torrent, splashing water up under our rainfly into the side of our tent… and all of our gear stowed under the vestibule. The storm lasted a couple of hours and we slipped in and out of sleep to the sound of rain, safe in our tent. The rain stopped sometime round 5pm and we managed to clean up a bit and eat a welcome dinner, before retiring again around 7pm, which we refer to as “hiker midnight.”

We were up early the next day for a couple of miles of downhill hiking, until it was time to go up again. There were lots of switchbacks and it wasn’t nearly as hard as we thought it would be. At the top, we crossed a small “mountain saddle” and likewise passed a small meadow. As the trail passed over the saddle, we found ourselves at the top of a long valley. We descended along the north edge of the valley, first in the trees, and then out in the open at the edge of a huge boggy area that lined the North Fork Lost Creek. It was so beautiful. A gentle downhill of 5.6 miles to the North Fork Trailhead and a close-by campsite, and we enjoyed every minute of it!

The next morning it was time to turn around and go back the way we came. We broke camp at 6:30 am, hoping to see elk or moose in the meadow during the early morning light. But no such luck! It was quite cold (I had to put socks on my hands!) and yesterday’s easy downhill turned into a long slog up the meadow again until the sun came out and warmed our chilled bones. We took many breaks that day, stopping for water, at trail junctions, and whenever we got tired. Still, we made it back to our previous night’s campsite in pretty good time, and surprisingly, nobody was there. We reclaimed our tentsite and cooked our dinner to the sounds of the forest.

On our fourth day we were excited to get back to Kenosha Pass, where we could sleep in our van and take a day off to rest and resupply our food bags. The hike seemed longer and tougher than that first day – the trail is always different when you hike in the other direction! We passed through several old aspen groves and admired them a second time. Rusty took lots of flower pics. Finally back at our van, we were able to clean up and make pizza for dinner.

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We had booked a spot at the nearby Kenosha Campground the next night for our “zero day” where we were able to rest, get cleaned up and resupply our food bags. While there, we met a young woman named “Two Cents,” who had injured her foot on the CT. We took her in for the day, and spent a lot of time talking and reminiscing about trail life until her father came to fetch her. Hopefully, she’ll be up and around again, and ready to get back on the trail!

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Segment 6

On our next day of hiking, which was Segment 6, we expected tougher going ahead. The elevations were higher, and we intended to hike 15.7-miles, which would take us over the Continental Divide. The first part of the day was all climbing, about 12 miles, but it was pretty gradual. About half way up, we began to cross the tree line and the views were grand and expansive. I forgot all about my aches and the climb and just reveled in our surroundings. It wasn’t easy, but we were so determined to stand at the top of the world that we just did it! What amazing views! And then we welcomed the 3.7 miles downhill to our planned campsite for a much-needed rest.

The next day we hiked to just short of the Breckenridge Trailhead at the end of Segment 6. The climbs were slow and arduous and this day had us stopping frequently to catch our breath. When we finally reached the top of the highest ridge, where we expected vast views, there were none! Then we started on a very long downhill, which was not easy especially as the trail was overrun by cyclists. This was definitely the toughest day, as we realized there was no flat hiking anywhere in this section. By the time we got to our campsite, we were beat, ready for a hot meal and welcome sleep.

On day seven, we started back to Kenosha Pass and we were prepared for another arduous day. But as it turned out, it wasn’t that bad hiking in the other direction, and getting an early start meant the day was cool for the first part of the climb back up to that high ridge. The trail was again busy with hikers and cyclists! Altogether, today we saw 31 hikers and 19 cyclists. We met several solo female hikers who seemed very happy about their adventures, one at the bench overlooking Dillon Reservoir and one near Middle Fork Swan River. We met a father/son pair; the son was thru-hiking and the father was accompanying him on this segment. The poor dad was exhausted.

We had lots of downs and ups and rocky trail before we reached Middle Fork, our last good water source for the day. We watered up and had to carry 5 liters (10 extra lbs) uphill 0.8 miles to our tentsite from two nights before and called it a day. Whew!

Our last day on the CT, we were excited about climbing back up to the Continental Divide again. Yes, it was a tough climb, but we enjoyed the day, the beautiful meadows, the snow patches, and wildflowers. By the end of the day, however, thunder and rain moved in. Luckily, we were able to hike back down to the tree line before lightening came our way, and we were pretty safe. But it was a pretty long day as we finished our hike of 102-miles. Wet and weary, we arrived back at the van, cleaned up a little, and drove to the Mt. Princeton Trailhead, where Rusty was to hike its 14,204 ft rocky slope the next day.

But that’s another story!