10) Awesome Wildlife
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| Look who was waiting to welcome me to the CT |
9) Dry but not too Dry
I got to hand it to the climate out here in Colorado; it is simple perfect for backpacking! The temperatures certainly do warm you up during the day but it always cools off in the evening for a relaxing night. Best of all is the very low humidity so you are not contently sweating out of every pore yet still get no relief. Also things dry out so quickly out here. One of the days I had completely soaked my shoes and socks in the snow and by the next morning they would comfortably dry. That would have never happened on the East coast.
However its not overly dry like hiking in the desert where your are constantly vigilant about where the next water source is, which tends to be much further than you hoped. Water sources are quick abundant out here from all the snow melt from the peaks. There are some stretches where you should carry extra though and I'm sure it help that its June not August after the snow melt is dried up. I also don't have to deal with that dry dirtiness of the desert. I was shocked how clean my socks remained after a few day of hiking. My feet haven't been caked in dirt and I haven't had to swallow clouds of dust that get kicked up. I absolutely love this climate and am hoping it stays like the for the remained of my trek.
8) Wildflowers Galore
Right from my first day on the trail I was so impressed by the amazing variety of colors I have seen across the forest floor, plains and mountaintops. There have been simply so many different types of wildflowers I can hardly keep track. Starting at lower elevations was great too because you got to appreciate the flowers that live at different elevation and keep getting surprised by new varieties as you climb higher and higher into the peaks. Some of my favorites thus far have been the Columbine Colorado's state flower with such an amazing design on top of its colors. On the peaks I really like the blue with a dab of yellow Forget-me-nots that tend to only live up in the highest alpine peaks. There are so many more that I have yet to learn the names of and that have yet to bloom so I am so excited to learn more and will be studying up in the library when I'm in town on my rest days.
7) Safe Snow (so far...)
As you may have told from some of my earlier posts and conversations one of my biggest fears about this hike is I was starting too early and I would face some very dangerous snow. While I am certainly not out of the snow each day brings me closer and closer to July when much of the snow will melt by. My first experience was coming up into Georgia Pass where I did have to get around a few snow drifts but much of it was just snow drifts on relatively gradual slopes, not massive snow fields along a steep hike I had to hike across. However that no snow doesn't come without its fair share of frustrations (see #6). I am still slightly concerned for these next sections in the 10 Mile Range and the Collegiate Peaks where there may be such steep sections it seems most of the snow should be manageable. By the time I get down to the San Juans most of it should be gone. Therefore I keep my fingers crossed that this shouldn't be any worries and if I do find it is too much I do know that turning back and attempting to get through that section at a later date is always an option.
6) Becoming an Official Thru Hiker
Speaking of snow I can proudly say I know what it is like to spend all too much of your afternoon postholing your way up the trail. For those of you who may not know postholing is where you are stuck hiking over partially melted snow that cannot support your weight so you take a step then sink in, then another and sink in again until you are utterly exhausted. While on a number of other trips I have postholed through the snow a little it was never too long of stretches. However in this last section I had a full 2 miles worth of postholing coming out of Georgia Pass at the Continental Divide, which I though was going to be a simple hike down from the pass.
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| Me loving a long patch of postholing |
5) Colorado's Unoffical State Sport
Nobody ever told me how many mountain bikers there are out here in Colorado. I knew it was a popular sport in the summer but I feel like the ration of mountain bikers to hikers is around 100:1 (although to be fair they do tend to go a bit faster than hikers). People absolutely love mountain biking and to be honest I may end up catching the bug as well. I have been so impressed by some of the steep rocky slopes I see bikers battling up each day. While many of these bikers are clearly well conditioned athletes who probably run marathons to train for ultra-marathons, there are many average built people biking up just as extreme of trails. In general they are very friendly as well slowing down as they approach you and politely asking you to step out of the way. As some of you may know I have a slight disdain for horseback riders and for some reason I get so frustrated when they come trudging through and demand for me to get out of their way. However mountain bikers don't rub me the same way maybe because I know they are also working hard to make it up these mountains. Its been fun chatting with a number of the mountain bikers out here and you can tell they love these trails as much as I do and aren't just tearing it up and trying to wear them down with no regard. The whole length of the Colorado Trail is open to mountain bikers (except for the wilderness areas) and I look forward to meeting many more on my trek.
4) Crazy Weather Patterns
Born in the Midwest and having lived on the East Coast for the past couple of years I have become quite used to fairly unchanging weather patterns. When its sunny it will stay sunny for a couple of hours. When its rainy it will rain for the whole day. When its cloudy it will stay cloudy for weeks. Not in Colorado though.
Colorado, especially in the high country, has some of the craziest weather patterns I have ever experienced. Most days I can count on waking up to a bright blue often cloudless sky with warm sun to wake me up from the surprisingly chilly June nights up here (although I guess when you are sleeping at 10,000 ft you should expect it to get a bit cold). Most of the morning it will remain quite sunny but not all days. Everyone says that you can almost always count on a thunderstorm sometime around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I could always tell when it was getting further into the afternoon seeing all the clouds rolling in. Once that storm hits it a complete grab bag. Depending on where you are you could get no precipitation, just a light sprinkle, a quick hard downpour, hail (which seems to be Colorado's favorite flavor of precipitation) or maybe even a flurry. I have learned to just keep my rain cover on my pack in the afternoon but not put on my rain gear until I know what I'm getting into. One of the days when I was up high in the mountains you could see how one direction was getting bright sun, another had dark fingers of rain pouring down, another was misted in fog and another was shaded with clouds all within my sight. This does make for interesting days out on the trail and I very much enjoy seeing what each day will surprise me with next.
3) Amazing Sunsets
One of the clear benefits of the fast moving and varied weather pattern is that it add the secret ingredient for the most beautiful sunsets. Colorado is great at making big beautiful puffy cumulus clouds which can add so much to a good sunset. Add the majestic purple colored mountains on the horizon and you have the perfect combination for a great sunset. Luckily, at least the past few days, the sky has started to clear up a bit by the time the sun is setting so there are only a few of the clouds left to intensify the beautiful colors produced by the setting sun. The only problem I have found is staying up long enough to watch the sunset. After a tiring day on the trail I have the bedtime of a toddler and often have to struggle not to cozy up in my hammock before the sunset. However I can always well guarantee that the view will be well worth it.
2) Plenty of Solitude
The one thing I found quite surprising on the Colorado Trail was the lack of people out here. I knew Colorado was known for outdoorsy people you know the crunchy type who spend all their time hiking, biking, camping, kayaking, etc. and I would have though the trails, especially around Denver, would be teaming with other folks. However the trail was not much more crowded than most others I had been on. Surprisingly there have been some days where I have hardly run into anyone at all. Perhaps other people actually have jobs so they cannot be out on the weekdays or its still early and everyone is waiting for all the snow to melt but there weren't too many fellow backpackers. When I did approach some of the major highways though the crowds did quickly come and it was nice to see all the smiling faces with the kids, dogs even babies coming out with them. While it is nice to have a bit of space and room to think I always enjoy the company of others out on the trail and meeting people along the way. I have run into a few fellow Colorado Trail hikers so far however I imagine that this trip might be a bit more solo of a solo hike than some of my previous trips.
1) Magnificent Views
The one thing that cannot be denied about the Colorado Trail are the amazing panoramas surrounding you at all times. I have only complete the first leg of the trip and didn't even get to the Continental Divide until around mile 80 yet still the views have nothing but impressed me. Even down in the pine forests or deep within some of the canyons you are surrounded by surging rivers or the snowcapped peaks behind you. Then as you approach the big mountains you find yourself surrounded by mountains.
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