Seeking Guidance on Thru-hiking the Collegiate West

[mckillio]

Hi all,
I plan on thru-hiking the Collegiate West Labor Day Weekend and I'm hoping to get some advice.
Is it easier physically to start from the South or North?
Which starting point is better logistically? Where is the Southern TH, I've had no luck finding it, I just plan on jumping on the CDT near Monarch.
Any other words of advice?

[hikeandbike5]

there is no southern or northern trailhead- the collegiate west and east meet at the junction of the CDT/fooses creek trail at the southern end and at the interlaken junction at the northern end. both of these collegiate west & east junctions are not at trailheads.

it's easier to do the collegiate east section as the first half of your loop, i don't think it makes a difference if you're going south vs. north.

[colorado_rob]

it's easier to do the collegiate east section as the first half of your loop, i don't think it makes a difference if you're going south vs. north.

I got the impression the OP was just doing the Collegiate West portion of the loop, correct? If so, I agree, not really easier/harder one way or the other IMHO. I personally would do it NOBO, start at Monarch Crest (get dropped off), hike to Twin Lakes, simple as that.

I kinda always like hiking north vs. south, keeps the sun at my back more often. Technically, it will be ever so slightly easier as the south "trailhead" (if you start at Monarch pass) is higher than the town of Twin Lakes (the north trailhead). I stayed a night at the Twin Lakes Inn. Fantastic little place, and reasonable.

Prepare to see some motorbikes on a portion of the trail near Texas Creek.... I recently hiked a good portion of the CW trail, I was surprised by them, never once previously had to step aside to let dirt bikes pass... saw about 3 groups of 2-3 bikes on a Saturday; labor day weekend, they will be out in force.

Enjoy!

[hikeandbike5]

I got the impression the OP was just doing the Collegiate West portion of the loop, correct? If so, I agree, not really easier/harder one way or the other IMHO.

whoops, yeah I kinda assumed collegiate loop, upon re-reading it looks like OP just wants to hike the CW section. monarch pass/monarch crest store is the defacto southern TH of the cw/ce, in actuality the junction is a few miles south at the aforementioned fooses creek trail/CDT jct.

[saltysack]

I got the impression the OP was just doing the Collegiate West portion of the loop, correct? If so, I agree, not really easier/harder one way or the other IMHO. I personally would do it NOBO, start at Monarch Crest (get dropped off), hike to Twin Lakes, simple as that.

I kinda always like hiking north vs. south, keeps the sun at my back more often. Technically, it will be ever so slightly easier as the south "trailhead" (if you start at Monarch pass) is higher than the town of Twin Lakes (the north trailhead). I stayed a night at the Twin Lakes Inn. Fantastic little place, and reasonable.

Prepare to see some motorbikes on a portion of the trail near Texas Creek.... I recently hiked a good portion of the CW trail, I was surprised by them, never once previously had to step aside to let dirt bikes pass... saw about 3 groups of 2-3 bikes on a Saturday; labor day weekend, they will be out in force.

Enjoy!

Damn y'all are driving me nuts!!! Pics are incredible!! Can't wait! Rob your motorbike comment makes me think of that Jim Stoltz song "fat man on an atv".....


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[Venchka]

Damn y'all are driving me nuts!!! Pics are incredible!! Can't wait! Rob your motorbike comment makes me think of that Jim Stoltz song "fat man on an atv".....


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Amen! I'm not even backpacking anywhere near there, but we hit the trail in a month. Time is dragging. I'm ready to go now.
And then it'll be over. Time to start planning the next trip.
Y'all have fun!
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[mckillio]

Yep, that's exactly what I plan to do and thanks for the info! Pictures look awesome!

Looking at the CT Foundation map, it has you going West to East, South of Twin lakes and then coming back around on the North side to the town but looking at Google Maps (they seem to have good data on the CT and CDT) it just continues North and then turn East to Twin Lakes. Are both of these correct? If I'm feeling good and still have plenty of time I'll take the longer route around Twin Lakes.

Thanks for the info everyone!

[colorado_rob]

The trail situation around Twin Lakes is convoluted and confusing, at least to myself. I recently did a portion of the CT loop, starting down south, heading north along the west side, then looping south for a way.

See the attached pic, I hope the resolution is good enough.

Hiking north along the west side, north of Hope pass, you drop into the valley that includes Twin Lakes. See points 10 and 9 in the lower elft of the map. Couple of choices here. You can turn left (again, heading north) at point 9 on a trail that immediately crosses a bridge, the trail labled "Willis Gulch Cutoff", and you can hike this to the road (highway 82), looks like 1.2 miles. From here you should be able to hitch into town.

What I did, because I knew you could do this is simply cross the river by continuing straight to point 8, then keeping straight there, following points "cross1" - "cross6", then hit the road and you're right at about 1K from town (0.6 miles). I'm the world worst hitcher, so I liked this option. It is "feet wet" crossing the river, ankle deep in my case. It is a little convoluted, but I had these GPS waypoints to guide me.

After my town stop, I went around the north side of the lake. this involves a boring road walk from town until point K072XT, then some really boring, open, hot trail all the way around the lake, following the "K" points until you hit K137XL, at which time you hang a sharp left and you're now on the east side proper.

What I personally would do next time is simply re-cross the river west of the west lake and turn left at point 8, then take points 7 - 2 and hang a right at K137XL, in other words, hike on the wooded south side of the lake vs. the barren north side.

If you're doing the loop CCW, just reverse everything I'm saying, of course. the key point is the south side of the lake is more enjoyable than the north.

If you're interested in this and want the GPS coordinates for the "cross" points, let me know. Or if you're better at hitching than myself, just use that Willis Gulch cutoff access to the trail.

I'm also including a google-map view of the crossing. You can see you're essentially following a dirt road on both sides of the river, but it is a little confusing because you hit the trees just north of the river, and there are a couple different paths.

[aaronthebugbuffet]

Thanks for that info rob. I was just looking at the map yesterday and wondering how that crossing at the west end would be.