Mile 63.4 - 84.2 Most of the Colorado trail overlaps with the Continental Divide Trail and today we joined the combined path. We will follow roughly along the Continental Divide most of the rest of the way to Durango. Storm clouds We've quickly learned that afternoon thunderstorms are common this time of year. So far, … Continue reading Day 5. Continental Divide
Mile 44.5 - 63.4 Our guide book marked a significant stretch of today as being an "unnaturally straight meadow". We were not disappointed, as we did hike in a very straight line for more than six miles. Meadows are pretty rare so high up in the mountains, and as long as it's not too hot … Continue reading Day 4. Meadow
Mile 27 - 44.5 One thing that stands out so far about this area is the wildflowers. This probably isn't the peak time for them, but still they are plentiful. We're also seeing wild raspberry everywhere. Rocket was able to accumulate a meager harvest for snacking today. Starting a new trail, for me, comes with … Continue reading Day 3. Wildflowers
Mile 8.6 - 27 We hiked several miles in the morning and stopped for a snack at a trailhead and large river. Nearby campers offered us Gatorade and strongly discouraged us from climbing the rest of the hill in the heat of the afternoon. A fire in the late 90's destroyed the vast majority of … Continue reading Day 2. Chair
Mile 0 - 8.6 We've been looking forward to spending some quality time in the Rockies. This was our backup plan last summer for the JMT and it has been a goal of Rocket's for a long time. Rocket starts the fall semester of their senior year in high school in a few weeks. It … Continue reading Day 1 – Waterton Canyon
Unlike the JMT, no permits are required for the Colorado Trail. Also, we are not sending any food boxes in advance. So, all we need to do is show up at the starting point. We're going southbound so that means we need to get to Denver.Starting near a major city definitely makes logistics easier. We … Continue reading Getting to the Trail
Lou Sander, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The plan for the Colorado Trail, crossing the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Durango, began in the early 70's and was officially completed in 1987. It is around 486 miles long with total elevation gain in the southbound direction of 89,100 feet. Around 500 people per … Continue reading Colorado Trail
Mile 192.0 - The End! We got up super early, as our bus out of Yosemite was that afternoon and we wanted to spend some time in the valley. There was frost on the ground as we walked towards Halfdome. At the fork between Halfdome and the valley, I suddenly realized I had been there … Continue reading Day 13 – Happy Isles
Mile 174.2 to Mile 192.0 A little summer snow to start the day We woke up to a bit of a surprise, as the warm weather had shifted so abruptly as to give us snow. This was a good reminder that we were, in fact, outside, and that our plans were entirely dependent on the … Continue reading Day 12 – Yosemite National Park
Mile 153.2 to Mile 174.2 A sunny start to the day The puffy white clouds from yesterday have turned into dark rain/snow clouds over the mountains to the south. Fortunately, things look better in the direction we are heading. It is cold and windy where we are, but we're hoping for a precipitation free day. … Continue reading Day 11 – Donohue Pass
RocketWalk 