longhiker
06-23-2010, 15:48
My girlfriend would like to join me for 4 - 5 days at the end of my CT thru' hike, in late August, near Durango / Silverton. I think I'll be there in the last week of August.
My default plan was for her to join me at a trailhead a little past Silverton (after she spends 3 nights or so in Silverton) -- say Segment 26 / 27 -- and hike with me at a greatly reduced pace to Durango. (She was going to join me by getting a ride with a shuttle company in Silverton that does trailhead drop-offs..)
But the problem with this plan is the following:
1. She will fly in from sea level in NJ (we live here) and will be of normal fitness.. not thru-hiker fitness. So I'm guessing she'll do at most 7 - 8 miles per day?
2. The final segment of the Colorado Trail doesn't sound like it has great views and yet lasts 20 miles or so.. I'd like her to see the best of the San Juans in her time there.. above treeline, views of the ranges and peaks... not many days in the woods.
So..
Does anyone have a suggested route we could spend 4 - 5 days on in the San Juans, on or near the CT, given all the above constraints? (Ideally between Silverton and Durango..)
A loop might work too.. she'd go back to Silverton and I could finish.. finishing together in Durango would be fantastic but I don't have to hike every mile of the official trail.. 450 / 486 is good enough for me.
My default plan was for her to join me at a trailhead a little past Silverton (after she spends 3 nights or so in Silverton) -- say Segment 26 / 27 -- and hike with me at a greatly reduced pace to Durango. (She was going to join me by getting a ride with a shuttle company in Silverton that does trailhead drop-offs..)
But the problem with this plan is the following:
1. She will fly in from sea level in NJ (we live here) and will be of normal fitness.. not thru-hiker fitness. So I'm guessing she'll do at most 7 - 8 miles per day?
2. The final segment of the Colorado Trail doesn't sound like it has great views and yet lasts 20 miles or so.. I'd like her to see the best of the San Juans in her time there.. above treeline, views of the ranges and peaks... not many days in the woods.
So..
Does anyone have a suggested route we could spend 4 - 5 days on in the San Juans, on or near the CT, given all the above constraints? (Ideally between Silverton and Durango..)
A loop might work too.. she'd go back to Silverton and I could finish.. finishing together in Durango would be fantastic but I don't have to hike every mile of the official trail.. 450 / 486 is good enough for me.