Thu-hiking WITHOUT hitchhiking - feasable?

[double d]

Great-thanks Cookerhiker! I must have missed it, as Mags has a wonderful link and information on the CT. Thanks again.

[Highway Man]

I will be hiking the CT this summer, but only for a about two weeks, as I don't have the time ability to hike longer, but can anyone provide information on a Grayhound bus service from Breckenridge to Denver? I could rent a car as well back to Denver from Breckenridge. thanks

I took the Greyhound bus from Durango to go back to Denver after completing the whole trail. The bus came from Grand Junction, west of Rt. 70, and stopped at Frisco. This Greyhound route is popular, I believe. Check their web site for the detailed daily operation schedule. There is a shuttle bus running between Copper Mountain, Frisco, and Breckenridge, which is free, and has tighter schedules during the rush hours. So pick up a time you want to leave Breckenridge, and find a Greyhound bus that fits your time at Frisco. Booking a ticket three weeks ahead of the boarding time can save you quite bit of money. You can change the departure date, but better check with the count clerk to see what exactly their policy is for changing a date with a penalty, or without. I bought a return ticket at Breckenridge, and changed the departure date at Durango without getting any penalty, that was nice!

[Mags]

I took the Greyhound bus from Durango to go back to Denver after completing the whole trail.

Alas, I don't believe Greyhound serves Durango,CO anymore... Pretty sure last year was when it ended. The Greyhound website also does not show any stops there either.

[Cookerhiker]

Alas, I don't believe Greyhound serves Durango,CO anymore... Pretty sure last year was when it ended. The Greyhound website also does not show any stops there either.

That's too bad. We were fortunate that my hiking partner's friend drove down from Denver to pick us up but as a contingency, I had checked out Greyhound and as of September, still served Durango. I also found that it was just as inexpensive to fly one-way on Frontier.

[Mags]

That's too bad. We were fortunate that my hiking partner's friend drove down from Denver to pick us up but as a contingency, I had checked out Greyhound and as of September, still served Durango. I also found that it was just as inexpensive to fly one-way on Frontier.

IIRC, Sept 6th, 2011 was the last day they served Durnago. No listing on this page FWIW:
http://www.greyhound.com/en/location....aspx?state=co

You mention Frontier..probably (in part) why they discontinued the service. With airfare relatively inexpensive, hard to compete in many cases!

Too bad. When I did a San Juans trek a few years ago, taking the bus from Durango to Molas Pass was very convenient. According to the bus driver, many hikers choose this an alternate for heading into the San Juans vs the more expensive D&S Railroad.

So it goes!

[Coffee]

I also have an aversion to hitching probably because I have only hitched once (and it turned out fine). I'm currently planning on the following resupply strategy:

• Waterton Trailhead to Breckenridge: 105 miles, 6 days. Take bus to town from trailhead.

• Breckenridge to Twin Lakes: 73 miles, 4 Days. walk 1 mile off trail.

• If I take Collegiate East option:
  
  • Twin Lakes to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs: 53 Miles, 3 days, on trail
  • Mt Princeton Hot Springs to Creede: 113 Miles, 7 days, +10 mile road walk to town, paid shuttle back to trail.
  
  

• If I take Collegiate West option:
  
  • Twin Lakes to Monarch Mountain Lodge: 74 miles, 4 days + 3 mile road walk to resort, walk/shuttle back to trail.
  • Monarch Mountain Lodge to Creede: 93 miles, 5 days, +10 mile road walk to town, paid shuttle back to trail.
  
  
• Creede to Molas Lake Campground: 67 miles, 3 days, half mile from CT
• Molas Lake Campground to Durango: 75 miles, 4 days. Walk 4 miles to town.

Using this plan, the longest stretch without resupply would be either 105 or 113 miles depending on which option is taken. I would only stay in two real "towns": Breckenridge and Creede, where I could stay in a hostel, purchase canister fuel, do laundry, etc. But I think that is ok with me since I want to avoid taking many zero days anyway and would rather stay on the trail.

One thing I haven't planned for or accounted for are potential side trips to 14,000+ foot summits which might require an extra day or two in certain segments.

The only lengthy road walk would be getting into Creede and I might be able to get a ride talking to people near the trailhead but would still account for walking time to town.

Does anyone see major flaws in this plan?

[HeartFire]

Creede / Lake City - The owner of the Ravens Rest Hostel in Lake City is planning to start a daily shuttle to the trail head next year. I highly recommend the Ravens Rest Hostel, Lucky, the owner is wonderful, the hostel is clean, amenities in Lake City are fantastic. (except for the outfitter - they cater more to fishing crowd) - Everything in town is walkable with in 1/2 mile or less, great restaurants, saloons, coffee shop right next door to the hostel. Good resupply in grocery stores.

[Coffee]

Creede / Lake City - The owner of the Ravens Rest Hostel in Lake City is planning to start a daily shuttle to the trail head next year. I highly recommend the Ravens Rest Hostel, Lucky, the owner is wonderful, the hostel is clean, amenities in Lake City are fantastic. (except for the outfitter - they cater more to fishing crowd) - Everything in town is walkable with in 1/2 mile or less, great restaurants, saloons, coffee shop right next door to the hostel. Good resupply in grocery stores.

That's good to know, thanks. I'm thinking about carrying a cell phone to use for calling a shuttle from the trailhead as well. I need to look into cell coverage in these areas for the major carriers.

[HeartFire]

We were both on ATT. Spring Creek Trail head (Lake city / Creede) there was NO service. BUT, up on Snow Mesa - several miles before the pass there was ATT service. Tennessee Pass - going into Leadville - go across the street from the trail head , behind the war memorial, - I had full service on my phone. We actually camped out overnight in the woods behind the memorial, there is even an outhouse there! Wild Bill of the Leadville hostel was surprised when I called him, -that I had service- when you go back across the street to the trail head, no service! Monarch Pass - great service, Pretty much from the start of the trail to Monarch Pass we had cell service when ever we were on top of a mountain. After Monarch Pass, you get more remote and there was very little service along the way. Molas pass had 1 or 2 bars, it would come and go but we were able to make calls - I would avoid the hiker hostel in Silverton, it was pretty ratty, though the owner is nice enough and gave us a ride (for a price) back tot he trail early in the morning. (we did the Western Collegiates)

[Coffee]

We were both on ATT. Spring Creek Trail head (Lake city / Creede) there was NO service. BUT, up on Snow Mesa - several miles before the pass there was ATT service. Tennessee Pass - going into Leadville - go across the street from the trail head , behind the war memorial, - I had full service on my phone. We actually camped out overnight in the woods behind the memorial, there is even an outhouse there! Wild Bill of the Leadville hostel was surprised when I called him, -that I had service- when you go back across the street to the trail head, no service! Monarch Pass - great service, Pretty much from the start of the trail to Monarch Pass we had cell service when ever we were on top of a mountain. After Monarch Pass, you get more remote and there was very little service along the way. Molas pass had 1 or 2 bars, it would come and go but we were able to make calls - I would avoid the hiker hostel in Silverton, it was pretty ratty, though the owner is nice enough and gave us a ride (for a price) back tot he trail early in the morning. (we did the Western Collegiates)

Thanks, very helpful to have this information! I currently have a cheapo plan on a "dumb phone" via Virgin Mobile which uses the Sprint network and I almost never get service anywhere outside major metro areas. Because of that I usually don't even carry the phone on hikes. A smart phone on a decent network could be very useful on this trip.

[Cookerhiker]

I don't think Princeton Hot Springs has a store for resupplying 100+ miles worth of food. Are you sending a maildrop and have you confirmed that they accept maildrops?

Princeton Hot Springs to Spring Creek Pass is 127 miles - that's a long way between resupply stops. If you want to resupply in Salida which is a great trail town, you can phone the Simple Lodge & Hostel and arrange for shuttles both ways.

[Coffee]

I don't think Princeton Hot Springs has a store for resupplying 100+ miles worth of food. Are you sending a maildrop and have you confirmed that they accept maildrops?

Princeton Hot Springs to Spring Creek Pass is 127 miles - that's a long way between resupply stops. If you want to resupply in Salida which is a great trail town, you can phone the Simple Lodge & Hostel and arrange for shuttles both ways.

According to Yogi's guide they accept mail drops at Princeton Hot Springs so that's what I was planning. However, your idea of calling into Salida is a good one.

[Cookerhiker]

We know that cell phone service can be spotty but we were able to call the Salida hostel twice from the trail somewhere in Segments 13 & 14. I'm pretty sure we were atop ridges. The hostel owner is very hiker-friendly. We hitched into Salida but he shuttled us back to the trail.

[Dogwood]

Thu-hiking WITHOUT hitchhiking - feasible? Of course it's feasible but it will cost you in ways like time and money, possibly requiring longer hauls between resupplying, paying to cache, paying and waiting on shuttlers/taxis, doing extra walking to resupply, etc. BTW, I totally disagree with Mcpick in that I don't see hitchhiking particularly more dangerous now than it was 30-50 yrs ago but I know that's the perception. That perception I think arises because of the constant bombardment of fear in American society and elsewhere. I respect your decision not to hitchhike though Moongoddess.

[Paddlefoot]

Thu-hiking WITHOUT hitchhiking - feasible? Of course it's feasible but it will cost you in ways like time and money, possibly requiring longer hauls between resupplying, paying to cache, paying and waiting on shuttlers/taxis, doing extra walking to resupply, etc. BTW, I totally disagree with Mcpick in that I don't see hitchhiking particularly more dangerous now than it was 30-50 yrs ago but I know that's the perception. That perception I think arises because of the constant bombardment of fear in American society and elsewhere. I respect your decision not to hitchhike though Moongoddess.

I also wonder if the dangers of hitchhiking have been somewhat overblown.

But as a 6'8" 235 lb. male, I guess I've had the luxury (or ignorance) not to think about it much. It's too bad we live in a society where violence against women is far too common.

A bit off-topic, but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to hitch along the CT. I waited 20 minutes for a ride from Salida back towards Monarch Pass and 30 minutes to hitch from Lake City to Spring Creek Pass (and it was 6 a.m. !). Otherwise, it was common to wait for 5-10 minutes.

Give my size, I thought it would me much more difficult to get rides, but I just stuck out my thumb, pack, and trekking poles and had some great conversations with friendly folks. I actually enjoy hitchhiking - and on the CT I know I didn't stink nearly as much as the AT and felt better about getting into a vehicle.

[Cookerhiker]

.... bit off-topic, but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to hitch along the CT. I waited 20 minutes for a ride from Salida back towards Monarch Pass and 30 minutes to hitch from Lake City to Spring Creek Pass (and it was 6 a.m. !). Otherwise, it was common to wait for 5-10 minutes....

Mags' guide describes Spring Creek Pass as a "tough hitch" but I successfully hitched 33 miles to Creede. There were 3 of us plus a dog and we had slackpacked Segment 21 from the Creede turnoff (San Luis Pass) to Spring Creek Pass. Took us 3 rides but we made it.

We hitched to all 8 of our resupply stops. Only on the first one - Buffalo Creek - did we fail to get a ride and there, we managed to get a return right.

[Dogwood]

Thank you all! I am comfortable asking for rides at a trailhead, as that gives me the chance to size up the person before I ask. It's the "standing on the roadside sticking my thumb out" scenario I want to avoid....

Hope you're still around Moongoddess, but even if you aren't I'll post this for others. I think this is smart. ABSOLUTELY! Having the ability with a bit of time to break the ice(reduce the unfamiliarities between potential rides and yourself) and allowing the time for you to size up a potential ride, and allowing the potential ride to size you up as a hitchhiker, IN PERSON FACE TO FACE, is the way I get probably 80% of my rides. I also get rides more easily and in a shorter amt of time when meeting potential rides face to face. I hitchhike a lot and I like accomplishing the hitches that are supposedly too hard. Sticking a finger out on a busy highway that is sometimes narrow to motorists speeding along at 65+ mph is not my preferred way to hitchhike. Too impersonal and requires a snap decision by the driver to size me up and likewise, if someone does stop, requiring me to size up the potential ride in a snap decision fashion. I don't think that's the BEST way to hitchhike and certainly not for a lone female with a lone male driver! You mileage may vary!

[Spirit Walker]

When we hiked a long section of the CDT in '97, Jim got a ride at Spring Creek Pass to Lake City in seconds - just sticking out his thumb to the first car that passed. I hadn't even gotten down to the road yet. The owner of the B&B we stayed at took us back. On our '99 CDT thruhike, we walked the Creede Cut-off to town and out the other side. Not a bad walk, though there were some bad blowdowns on one of the trails. On our 2006 thruhike, we got a ride with the second car that passed us, heading toward Creede. Someone from the really good outdoor shop gave us a ride back to Spring Creek Pass.

IOW - while it can be a hard hitch, because of the distance, a lot of the people passing are hikers, so they may be a little more open to giving rides to backpackers than in many other parts of Colorado.

As to Leadville vs. Twin Lakes - on our first thruhike we did a maildrop at Twin Lakes and stayed at the Nordic Inn; on our second we got a ride from Turquoise Lake to Leadville with the first car that passed. That said, I think Tennessee Pass is a better option for most. I highly recommend the hostel at Leadville. The town is one of the prettiest in the country, I think.

[Wuff]

One of my hiking buddies was nursing an injury so I ended up using both resupply points into Creede - first the jeep trailhead on a Tuesday morning, and then slackpacked the next day from there to Spring Creek Pass. Neither spot was an easy hitch. The stories are true. Here are my notes for what its worth:

Jeep trailhead: Walked the 2ish miles down to the trailhead, no traffic, shocker, its Tuesday morning. Ended up walking about 1 1/2 miles before a truck pulled over and got a hitch into town. Lucky, the road seemed quite steep and rough in spots.

Spring Creek Pass: Literally thought we'd be sleeping at the trailhead in the rain with nothing but a rain jacket and some snacks (I was slackpacking and so had minimal gear). Took 3+ hours to get a hitch back (no verizon coverage anywhere on snow mesa or at the trailhead), and even then I had to yogi a man returning to his truck at the trailhead. He went 20 miles out of his way to get me back into Creede. Bless him, b/c at the rate we were going I'd still be waiting by that wet and windy road. Snow Mesa was stunningly gorgeous (and sort of terrifying) in the stormy weather though, so I still look fondly on that day.

[colorado_rob]

. BTW, I totally disagree with Mcpick in that I don't see hitchhiking particularly more dangerous now than it was 30-50 yrs ago but I know that's the perception. That perception I think arises because of the constant bombardment of fear in American society and elsewhere. I respect your decision not to hitchhike though Moongoddess.

Yep, quite the modern media-fueled phenom! But not to thread drift.... BTW, I live about 40 minutes from Kenosha pass, and if you arrange in advance with me, I'd be glad to help you resupply there, no charge of course, allowing you to avoid a Jefferson hitch/resupply. I'm free most weekdays Monday-Thursday, generally in the mountains myself Friday-Sunday.