Leasons learned on the CT

[colorado_rob]

Will do....with a few new gear purchases I've got my base weight down under 11-12 lbs inc pups bag. Although it's just a guess as I don't own a scale but I pick up 10 lb plates at the gym daily so think I'm close. My food haul is a different story...I'm prob closer to 2.5+lbs per day...I like to eat hourly and bring Gatorade powder....yea it's heavy! I find I keep my energy up if I eat something every hour or so. I'm doing 3 food drops to keep load down....I'm a big fan of the Guthooks app! I used it on the JMT and loved it! I bought the Collegiate loop app...already have target camp spots etc.....let the fun begin!!!

I swear I'm jealous, even though I live here. for the 2nd September in a row, I'm outta here tomorrow, choosing instead to hike in New England! Best time of year out there as well, far as I can tell....

I wish I had more bike-info for you on the east side, but mtn bikes should not be a problem on the west. There is a short stretch, just south of Lake Ann pass which is legal for dirt bikers, and I did run into 6-8 of those guys when I hiked through there in July, but it was a weekend. They, too were very polite, and the three groups I saw all instantly stopped their bikes as soon as they saw me. One guy even dumped it! I felt a little guilty. I waved them past, no sense them waiting for slow old me to pass. I hope you have fine weather on the west, the east side is looking great for the next 4-5 days at least. Enjoy!

PS: don't OVER hydrate, I see lots of that. Normal hydration is all you need, over hydration does NOT help with altitude acclimation, though under hydration does hurt.

[Coffee]

Regarding few backpackers, this was true two years ago in August for me. I met a few before Breckenridge but lost track of everyone but one who I happened to see again near Salida. The CT doesn't have the "trail community" or chances for "trail family" like the JMT does (for sobos)

[hikeandbike5]

i had been in colorado about a month before i started my ct hike. i was huffing and puffing a bit at kenosha pass (10,000'), but after that no problems and i didn't notice the elevation at all.

honestly if you had continued/pushed on, you would have finished no problem, the trail gets warmer after the collegiate west (or take the collegiate east for a warmer/lower elevation route), and it's smooth sailing all the way to the san juans, which at that point you're nearly done.

[aaronthebugbuffet]

How bad are the mtb's on collegiate loop?....got me thinking as I'll have my dog with me...on and off leash.......ill be starting clockwise Monday at twin lakes and plan to be at monarch crest @ Hw 50 on Friday...hitch into Salida, start CW on Saturday...damn...


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Hiked the loop Sept 3-10. Busiest area for mtb riders was on the east side CT section 14. Considering it was the Sunday before Labor Day it really wasn't too crowded. I ran in to a half dozen more around Monarch.

I did meet a motorcycle rider on a no moto section though.

[HeartFire]

I hiked the CT 3 years ago, and I hiked it again this year. 3 yrs ago, it was 'mountains? what mountains?' in other words, I had no trouble with altitude or climbing, this year, I just couldn't get it going, every climb was a huge struggle - There was no significant difference in my gear or pack weight, no difference in health etc. Same amount of time 'acclimating', so it just shows adjusting is different every time.

I found some sections (Monarch pass to highway 114) was in much worse shape - dirt bikers really tear up the trail, the new section of the collegiate west was amazing. They took about 30 miles off of dirt roads that were horrendous and put the trail way up high with much more (higher) peaks to climb. Just after Lake Ann Pass, we ran into Dan Cohen who is on the board of the CTF, had a really nice conversation with him about the trail. The top priority he said for the CTF is to move about 100 miles of road walks, but they have to deal with the BLM, Forest management folks etc, so it's very political and will take years, but just the work that has been done is amazing. 3 years ago, we maybe saw 20 other hikers the entire time, this year, it was probably 20 a day (maybe that's a slight exaggeration), but we kept meeting up with the same group of hikers at every town stop.

Three yrs ago, there were no cows what so ever in the Cochatopa Hills, this year, it was Cow-****opa because that's all there was - cow *****, every step of the way from highway 114 almost up to San Louis Pass! Three years ago, I never needed rain gear - not once, this year it rained quite a bit. We also had a brief blizzard while crossing Snow Mesa. I did get off the trail in Lake City, but that was because of totally non hiking related issues.