Who is hiking the CT this summer, give dates.

[MuddyWaters]

You still cut it close. Should be interesting.
Will make for great pics in collegiate west, if not wet feet.

[10-K]

Flying into Denver July 20th, going to start at Waterton the morning of July 22nd. Don't have a finish date - I'm going to try and go a bit slower on this hike than I usually do since it's my "Big Hike of 2017".

[just dad]

Starting in Denver August 26. Planning to finish in Durango September 16.

[saltysack]

Looks like my Ct trip is over...between issues at home, dog injury and rolling my ankle im bagging it...I'll be back in the fall....two resupply boxes avail at twin and monarch crest store if anyone wants them....


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[Venchka]

Sorry to hear about that. The trail will be waiting. You'll be back.
Good luck.
Wayne


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[Dogwood]

Hope everything works out for ya Saltysack. You were looking hot and stressed in your last pic. It would have gotten cooler temps for ya after Ten Mile Range.

Some would say you didn't get anywhere the best of the CT. Definitely do go back in Sept into Oct. Look forward to the cooler temps, bugling elk, and golden Aspens.

[MuddyWaters]

Bummer.

Will those places return your packages?
You still have to pay for a return label for them. You can do it online and email it, then have ups pick up.

Although probably not anything worth it if just food.
Hope the pup is ok. And the ankle.

[map man]

Collegiate Peaks loop as well. Starting on August 6th at the Sheep Gulch Trailhead and going counter clock-wise. Probably finish August 16th.

Change of plan for me. I'll be starting the Collegiate Loop at the Twin Lakes Trailhead on August 7 and hiking clockwise. I'll be staying at the Leadville Hostel tomorrow night (August 6), the night before I start.

[MuddyWaters]

Youll love the collegiate west parts above treeline. Rest....meh

[map man]

Change of plan for me. I'll be starting the Collegiate Loop at the Twin Lakes Trailhead on August 7 and hiking clockwise. I'll be staying at the Leadville Hostel tomorrow night (August 6), the night before I start.

So I just completed the Collegiate Loop, starting on August 7 hiking down the east side, then coming back on the west side and finishing August 17. Some natives I met along the way said it has been a pretty rainy summer in the mountains, and I was indeed rained on every day but one -- and sleeted on, and hailed on more than once above tree line. I can now say that the part of the body that stings the most when struck by hail is the ears. On the positive side, every water source listed as iffy in the CT Databook was gushing.

East and west sides both had their charms, though the west side definitely had more "wows" per mile, having more trail above tree line. To give folks who haven't hiked it an idea of relative difficulty, a typical 15 mile day on the east side involved 8 hours on the trail for me, while it took me around 10 hours to cover the same distance on the west side. More steep ups and downs on stony trail beds on the west side than on the east side.

The Saturday morning I hiked north to Monarch Crest featured the most mountain bikers (over 100 before I lost count) I have ever seen, going the opposite direction as me. A biker I chatted with said that a 35 mile route that starts at Monarch and goes to Poncha Springs is very popular with bikers -- it has 6000 feet of down to just 2000 feet of up.

I also met quite a few southbound CT thru-hikers while I was walking north on the west side, and swapping trail stories with those folks was really enjoyable. Surprisingly, given the decent number of backpackers I was seeing, there was only one night out of my ten on the trail that I tented anywhere near any other hikers. There are enough good tent sites that people are able to disperse pretty well, if they choose.

Finally, I want to thank all the Colorado Trail crews who've been working so hard to build new trail in recent years on the west side. The recent relocation of the trail into the Mineral Basin area provided a real scenic highlight for me -- standing on the Sanford Saddle, the views were just stunning in all directions.

[MuddyWaters]

Congrats.
The bikers are really active between denver and breckenride too, especially on a Saturday.
All are polite though
Except once I was stopped at an overlook eating my lunch in solitude
next thing I know, there are two bikers stopped there with me
Then several more
pretty soon a dozen bikers that all know each other, from two different directions, are standing around talking and yapping, drove me away from my lunch spot
I longed for a telepathic way to slit their tires.

[Cookerhiker]

Blissful started a NOBO from Durango a few days ago.