Shakedown Hike

After nearly a full month off of the trail, I came to realize two things: my leg wasn't hurting anymore from the accident in Vermont and I had been going stir-crazy. It was time to get back out on the trail.

Typical CT Marker

So with that in mind and the 4th holiday fast approaching, I decided that Ramius and I should head out and explore a portion of the Colorado Trail. There were many things I would've liked to have known about the Long Trail prior to starting it for a thru-hike; thus I wanted to use this trip to get a better feeling for the trail and for my reduced gear. The plan was originally to hike a full quarter of the CT (segments 1-7), but this goal slowly changed over the course of the first day and was completely scrapped on day two. This was partially due to time and partially due to a desire on my part to remain healthy. In any case, I have posted a slew of videos, a few choice photos from each of the two days, and hiking stats from each day.


Day 1 - July 1, 2012
We arrived at the west end of segment 7 to 9:30am. The West end of segment 7 is located near Copper Mountain Ski Resort along highway 91. We quickly hopped out of the car and started up the trail. The first half-mile or so of the trail runs parallel to a creek that runs North-South before crossing the stream and turning back on itself. Along this path we encountered a number of thru-hikers and a lone mountain biker. 

Introduction to Our Trail Goals

About 120 miles in 4 days was extraordinarily ambitious considering my recent leg injury, and it should be noted that I was under the impression I would have 5 days to complete that mileage until about 20 minutes before I made that video. It was something that I just decided to take in stride and roll with as I continued on my way toward highway 9.

Taking in the View

Vermont's Long Trail was amazing to hike along, is a beautiful trail, and I wish we'd been able to continue through its entirety. I genuinely enjoyed the lushness of the trail and its surroundings and the wet conditions that made it extraordinarily easy to find drinking water. I cannot begin to describe how shocked I was that I literally never had to worry about finding the next spring or stream and that I didn't have to worry at all about water conservation for me and Ramius. That said, I'm a Colorado Native. I've been exploring Colorado's mountains, lakes, and trails since I could walk. Segment 7 epitomizes the types of terrain that I love and made me ecstatic to be back hiking in the high country that I love so much.

Hiking a High Ridgeline

After enjoying the view of Copper, Ramius and I continued above treeline and simply enjoyed the views. We crossed paths with a few hikers - mostly day hikers at this point - and I greatly appreciated the encouragement handed out that we were 'nearly to the top.' I know that many hikers have a bittersweet relationship with such encouragement as it can ring somewhat hollow, but since both Ramius and myself were in the process of acclimating to the altitude after nearly a month at sea level I reveled in those few heartening words. The views to the East at the top of a ridgeline were simply gorgeous - valleys and mountains covered in pines, jagged rocks poking out of the mountainside, and gently sloping hills of grassy tundra above the treeline.

Ramius Waiting Patiently

As we gradually descended from that ridgeline, we began to run into the first few thru-hikers of the day. Of note was a guy, about my age, named Kyle who described a significant amount of segments 1-6 for me. It seems that the second section is even more dry than anticipated in the guide - that is even the one place that is deemed to have a high chance of water is dry this year. I can't say this surprised me due to all of the high profile fires in Eastern Colorado this year. He also mentioned that segment 7 is where the going first starts to get tough in terms of elevation gain. Segment 6 has a fair amount of elevation gain and loss, but apparently it is more gradual than what he was experiencing heading West along that portion of the trail. He was slackpacking when I met him (i.e., he had only water and a little food) since he had to wait until the next day to pick up a package of provisions from the post office. We chuckled about his improvised gear setup and shared a moment thinking about how lucky we were to be taking such an adventure before parting ways.

Greenest Part of Our Day

This trend of stopping for 5 or so minutes to chat each time I passed a thru-hiker or mountain biker continued all the way down to highway 9. I gained some valuable information about water availability and alternate trails that we might enjoy seeing (this advice of course came exclusively from mountain bikers since an extra mile or two means very little to them). At one point Ramius and I literally stumbled into a group of thru-hikers that were having lunch in a rocky outcropping. We'd clambered up to the rocks and I was about to hop down from a ledge when I realized I'd be jumping right onto a backpack. The group of 4 had decided to link up for the day and were enjoying their lunches while taking in the spectacular views. We chatted for about a half hour and prepared a quick snack for me and Ramius - summer sausage and kibble for him and GORP and chocolate for me. We discussed similar things to what Kyle and I did, but in more detail. We exchanged trail names - they were Duke, Got Here Yesterday, Blondie, and Hershey's. I introduced Ramius and I by our trail names for the first time in Colorado - "I'm Boone, and this guy here is The Goon." This, as always, was greeted with laughter at Ramius' name. After a while we decided to head on - we were less than 10 miles in at this point. We wished our new friends the best of luck and gave them encouragement for their upcoming climb, then headed happily down the trail.

Typical Stretch of Trail in Segment 6

It took us another two hours or so to get to highway 9, and when we did I refilled our water for the third time that day. The heat was simply brutal. Keep in mind that it was only about 80 degrees up in Summit County, but it was clear to me that neither Ramius nor I had fully acclimated to Colorado's climate. We took a half hour break while the Aquamira did its magic, drank a full 3L between the two of us, refilled the Platypus, and headed into segment 6. It is notable that segment 6 is the longest segment in the first quarter of the CT at just around 32 miles total. The plan was to complete at least half of the segment before going to sleep for the night. This put us at about 30 miles for the day, and I felt good about it going into the segment. 


The Western end of segment 6 is quite exposed to the sun. Because shade was so sparse, I decided to carry Ramius' pack for him in order to increase the distance he could travel and he seemed to perk up immediately. Well, it could have been that or the frequent stops we were forced to make as mountain biker after mountain biker after mountain biker came rumbling down the trail. I'm pretty tired of them, even writing this a week afterward.

The Day's Realities Set In

As we continued along with little water, I became resolute that we hike until the next water source, where we would make camp. Alas, the CT Data Book misled me. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that I'd become quite comfortable relying on its ability to accurately indicate when and where we would find a water source. About 8 miles in, it became clear that we would need to continue for at least another 6-8 miles in order to find water. So we trudged on despite fading light and fatigue.

The Decalibron and Quandary at Sunset

Eventually, as night began to fall, I gained a second wind after seeing a cluster of 14ers that I'd previously climbed: the infamous Decalibron. Consisting of Mount Democrat, Mount Cameron, Mount Lincoln, and Mount Bross, these peaks represented a previous challenge that I'd faced in the past. We pushed upward from the ridge that afforded that view and eventually came to a series of switchbacks that were to bring us to about 11,000 feet. Upon arriving at that elevation I decided that we needed to stop and eat. The elevation was getting to me after such a long day and I'd been trying to conserve our water as much as possible before getting to the next water source. After eating, I gave Ramius a good, long look and decided that we needed to stop for the day. This put our total day's mileage at about 24-25 miles. Our longest day in Vermont was about 20 miles, so I felt completely satisfied with this - especially after being off of my (and thus our) feet for a full month.

View of Sunset from our Camp

Ramius waited patiently as I set up camp on a ridge with a beautiful view of the setting sun to the West. We had some additional food - predominantly the moist summer sausage - and drank the last of our primary water. This left us with 0.5 liters of water for our morning hike. At this point I decided that it wasn't prudent to continue to push Ramius and myself as hard as I was with my injury and our lack of physical fitness. I resolved again to try to arrange a ride from between segments 2 and 3 in the morning. We slept without the rain fly, and woke up periodically to see the waxing moon shining high above us. If only we'd had the energy, it would have made a night hike simply marvelous.




Day 2 - July 2, 2012

Waking Up... Slowly

After waking up we split the remaining water, made some phone calls about getting picked up somewhere near Jefferson, CO, and broke camp. Then, we headed West. 

Accepting the Change in Plans

I began the hike knowing that things may not work out according to plan. Indeed, I'd just found out that we'd have 4 days instead of 5. I think this made our hike back to highway 9 much easier to accept and allowed me to enjoy the experience a heck of a lot more. And so we hiked around six or so miles back the way we'd come to the nearest water source. I have to admit that the way back seemed much, much, much longer than the way there. Perhaps this was due to the heat, our lack of water, or some combination therein, but I was ecstatic when I saw the power lines marking the gulch with a small stream running through it. 

Sweet Water! (also, apologies for showing so much of Ramius' junk)

Lunch Time

After gathering water, we needed to get back in the shade immediately, so we continued West for about a half hour before having a leisurely lunch of shepherd's stew, dog kibble, and (of course) summer sausage. I took a nap under a tree and Ramius joined in. I'll admit that I hadn't intended on taking so much time off to nap, but was happy that we did considering how quickly we made it back to highway 9. This put our total mileage for the day at around 11-13 miles. Once we made it there, I stopped to refill our water and we debated between remaining where we were until our pickup time or heading back to Frisco.

Killing Time

The weather made our choice for us and we ended up hanging out under a bridge. That's right: the Goon haunted the underside of a bridge for a number of hours. I read while Ramius slept, then I slept while Ramius slept, then I watched a small bird fish while Ramius slept... basically, Ramius was ready to be done for the day and I made use of my time in a number of ways. It eventually started raining, and we left the bridge due to the constant flow of water through its slats.

Rain! 

We found cover in a nearby bus shelter and waited another half hour or so before our ride picked us up. I spent the next couple of hours having an idle conversation, but my mind was still on the trail and dying to explore those places we weren't able to get to on this trip.