more active forums on thru hikes of the Colorado Trail?

[longhiker]

I've only found trailforums.com so far.. a bit more active than here but not by much.

Does anyone know other forums catering to thru / section hikes of the colorado trail?

I need to find hiking partners and get some other info about the trail.. I post here 'cause I live in NJ and have been reading this forum for a long time.. but Colorado is pretty far away from the AT and there doesn't seem to be much activity here..

[Bearpaw]

I thru-hiked four years ago and trailforums was the best game in town. Not super active, but more up-to-date info. Your best resource here is Mags. He lives there and wrote the CT End-to-End Guide, available at PMags.com.

[longhiker]

Yeah, Mags' End-To-End Guide along with a journal of a couple linked from there are the most useful planning websites I've seen.

Since you did thru-hike it, can you tell me how important pre-arranging a partner from this trail is? That is, is it like the AT, with lots of hikers in most sections, easy enough to meet up with other thru-hikers while on the trail? Or would you mostly be alone?

The main reason I'm looking for partners is safety.. would like to be discovered soon if I'm partly fried by lightning :) I wouldn't be as worried on busy trails/ sections..

[Cool AT Breeze]

A friend of mine hiked it last year. He seemed to meet plenty of people.

[longhiker]

Would you know which month your friend hiked by any chance?

[Mags]

The CT is not like the AT (or even the PCT) in terms of a social scene. Due to the relative shortness of the trail, people can start anywhere from mid-late June to early-mid September. So, finding partners (while on trail) is not as easy esp since many people start the trail not expecting to partner up.

Having said that, I'd say the high season of hiking the trail is early-mid July to early-mid August. That's when most people seem to start their hikes.

I would not sweat finding a partner, though. The challenges of the CT are like any other trail/ They seem daunting at first, but can be adapted to and even enjoyed. I should also add that unless you go off trail (not the CT..off trail period) you rarely go a whole day without seeing anyone. Hikers, mountains bikers, climbers, trail runners, etc. will all be sharing much of the CT with you. Even in the San Juans (the most isolated part of the CT), there is popular train stop that drops off hikers.

As for forums, it is this one and Trailforums for the most part. :)

[Bearpaw]

Since you did thru-hike it, can you tell me how important pre-arranging a partner from this trail is? That is, is it like the AT, with lots of hikers in most sections, easy enough to meet up with other thru-hikers while on the trail? Or would you mostly be alone?

The main reason I'm looking for partners is safety.. would like to be discovered soon if I'm partly fried by lightning :) I wouldn't be as worried on busy trails/ sections..

I started very early, June 7, going SOBO. I got sort of lucky with a massive late May/Early June heat wave that melted off a LOT of snow on passes, but still had to contend with a good bit in places. All of the NOBO CDT hikers I encountered said I was the first CT thru-hiker they'd met that year.

But with that early a start, I only ran into 3 other thru-hikers heading south. One, Roni from Israel turned out to be a regular buddy that I encountered pretty much daily from weeks 3-5. We finished within 10 minutes of each other.

However, by July I ran into a LOT of NOBOS, probably a dozen or so in the last week of my hike, the second week of July. So a great deal depends on when you hike. It is NOT the social gathering of the AT by any means, particularly since there are no shelters to congregate around.

However, the southern and northern sections are both very popular with mountain bikers. The middle sections are popular with peak baggers, especially the Collegiates. And you'll encounter CDT hikers if you start earlier in the season as well. So you won't be totally alone either.