West side of twin lakes? Willis gulch?

[Malto]

Not a short cut just the more scenic approach trail to the CW......so happens to be 10 miles shorter.....


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I did the walk around the east side. Next go around, west side for me.

[garlic08]

I did the walk around the east side. Next go around, west side for me.

Yeah, me too. Probably this August.

[Malto]

Yeah, me too. Probably this August.

May see you out there. Still trying to nail down the dates.

[saltysack]

I could be wrong for some hikers, but the folks I saw/talked to doing the loop did hike around the west side, as I did. The Willis Gulch t/h works, though it is over a mile from town. Coming northbound on the west side, I cut through on what I think was the Leadville 100 routes, through established paths in the meadow just south of town. I did have to do a feet-wet creek crossing, but I walked pretty much right into town. Should be an easy hitch from/to Willis t/h though.

Edit: see attached pic... lower left, see waypoint 009 where willis gulch trail connects with main CT/CDT, I went straight there towards 008, then kept going to cross 1 to maybe about cross 4 or 5, then saw path directly to town.

Folks I had seen on the trail right while approaching 009 did the willis trail to the trailhead and got an immediate hitch to town, we got there simultaneously.

I would definitely not do the walk around the east side of the lake to catch the CT west! Huge relatively boring and open/hot miles for no reason.,

CR
From waypoint 59 heading sobo isn't there a trail that heads south directly into TL? If so have you traveled it? Condition?


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[colorado_rob]

CR
From waypoint 59 heading sobo isn't there a trail that heads south directly into TL? If so have you traveled it? Condition?


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I have "hiked" it, I'll respond in detail tomorrow, just got home from long day of climbing.

[colorado_rob]

CR
From waypoint 59 heading sobo isn't there a trail that heads south directly into TL? If so have you traveled it? Condition?

So, OK, yes the trail from that "K059XT" waypoint down into Twin Lakes is basically a part of the Leadville 100 trail race, and as such, I've "hiked" it twice, but alas, both times after dark and in the rain (I've paced a buddy twice in this race). Good trail, on USGS TOPO maps it's still labeled as the CDT. It's about 1.7 miles and drops 1100 vertical feet, not too steep. It turns into a road about half way, IIRC.

See attached pic, the thick blue line is the route. The town is where the blue, yellow and purple lines come together. It would definitely save a couple miles over the red line (CT, leading to C-east) followed by the yellow line road walk into town, though you could probably fairly easily hitch that road walk.

[saltysack]

So, OK, yes the trail from that "K059XT" waypoint down into Twin Lakes is basically a part of the Leadville 100 trail race, and as such, I've "hiked" it twice, but alas, both times after dark and in the rain (I've paced a buddy twice in this race). Good trail, on USGS TOPO maps it's still labeled as the CDT. It's about 1.7 miles and drops 1100 vertical feet, not too steep. It turns into a road about half way, IIRC.

See attached pic, the thick blue line is the route. The town is where the blue, yellow and purple lines come together. It would definitely save a couple miles over the red line (CT, leading to C-east) followed by the yellow line road walk into town, though you could probably fairly easily hitch that road walk.

Thx..I'm trying to avoid hitches as much as possible as it's an unknown.....as others said would be easy hitch from near Leadville airport to 82/24 intersections...took me several hours ended up walking part way....rather take a more direct hike into TL than hitch back to it.....thx for heads up


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[Spirit Walker]

We took the Willis Gulch trail on both thruhikes. We don't use GPS and had no problem following it. We did have some confusion heading north out of town, because the road we needed to follow that led to the Trail was marked "Private Property" so we ended up following the wrong road for a while. We should have followed the Leadville 100 signs, which were fairly frequent.

[saltysack]

We took the Willis Gulch trail on both thruhikes. We don't use GPS and had no problem following it. We did have some confusion heading north out of town, because the road we needed to follow that led to the Trail was marked "Private Property" so we ended up following the wrong road for a while. We should have followed the Leadville 100 signs, which were fairly frequent.

Thx...I'll definitely take Rob's off trail route or Willis gulch depending on conditions and timing.


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