Hitting the trail mid june?

[BensMusicHiker]

Hey guys,

So I've been pretty much MIA for about a year since my last attempt at tackling the CT fell through last spring. This year is a big GO and so i am nailing down the last little bit of planning. It looks like the time i have to head out is around the 18-21st of june. I was curious as to peoples thoughts on what i might expect when it comes to weather and snow. I wish i could push my start date back a bit but unfortunately i got till july 18th to knock this guy out. Thanks so much in advance...

Ben

[colorado_rob]

Great time to start. A buddy of mine is coming from the east and will be starting about then, no firm date yet, but right around mid-June. I'll be joining him for the first 10-14 days myself. Expect a bit of snow here and there though, but nothing too bad. By the time you get to Breckenridge (where the BIG snow is this year) it will be the very end of June. Starting in Breck (and maybe a bit before, like Georgia pass area) there will still be sections of the trail with leftover snow, though I would hope by then thoroughly tramped down by both feet and mountain bikes. The above-treeline trail should be snow free, it's just in the deep trees that will have snow. Warm days, cool nights of course, but gobs and gobs of daylight (the latest sunset occurs around July 2nd or so). What's nice about that time of year is that it is pre-monsoon, meaning less frequency of afternoon thunderstorms, but still expect some of those.

[colorado_rob]

I meant to say mid-late-June, meaning right around your 18-21 date.

[32ozgatorade]

I will be starting around June 29th... Due to some logistics problems, (July 4th as well as the races in Leadville the weekend of July 11th 12th and 13th) i will probably be hiking from Denver to Breckenridge (maybe Copper Mountain) then skipping ahead to Leadville and hiking north(east) back to Brackenridge, before continuing on toward Durango....