Colorado Trail Days 1-6: Denver to Frisco

Hi from an Airbnb in downtown Frisco, a couple of miles off of mile marker 104.3. The last 5 days have been mainly super exciting, but of course with challenge and difficulty mixed in. We have hiked through a range of ecosystems and a range of temperatures, but it’s all been fun!

It’s a small world

Starting out the trail, I expected to meet many people for whom the CT was their first trail. Instead, almost everyone I’ve met has hiked another trail before. I’m sure it’s partly to do with COVID—many people I have met have told me that they were planning on hiking the PCT or the CDT or even the AT(!!) this year, but switched to the CT as a shorter, more reasonable option when plans got derailed. As a result, the trail so far has been an amalgam of thru hikers! It was especially exciting to see one of these hikers. When we walked into camp our first night, we saw a familiar face. We had met Safety Chute in Virginia on the AT and had hiked with her for a couple of days. It was so fun getting to hear about the rest of her AT hike (she summited Katahdin about a week after we did) and her life since!

It was hot.

Colorado has been hot. For some reason, I thought that entering the mountains would immediately reduce the heat. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The strong sun has made the middle of the day sweltering even up above 10,000 feet! The first two days were especially sweltering. We walked through the exposed Waterton canyon and through a desert burn zone with no shade and little water. The heat is a challenge unlike those I’ve experienced on the AT—while it did get hot especially toward the end of the hike, it was humid and there was always plenty of water. For my nervous relatives, don’t worry, I’ve been lathering up with sunscreen and hiking in long sleeves to protect myself. The scenery has been beautiful though! Plenty of desert flowers and shrubs. Weirdly, I’ve noticed a distinct smell of the plants when they’re hot—it’s quite soothing actually!

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Highlight of the week: Georgia Pass

Yesterday we crossed the continental divide for the first time so far on the trip, at the 11,500+ foot Georgia Pass. Since we had been mainly hiking through trees up until this point, breaking out into the high alpine was so exciting! We hit the pass early enough to catch the morning light, and Blackbeard and I delighted in the flowers that filled the fields and the waves of snow capped mountains beyond the pass. Blackbeard couldn’t stop taking photos!

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Dirt

We’ve been covered in it. The dry climate makes for powdery dirt that cakes my legs and arms. I’ve had to rinse in rivers at night to feel slightly clean!

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Next up…

We say goodbye to hiking with Blackbeard and committee. I’m sad to say goodbye to the trail family dynamic and will really miss hiking with Blackbeard as a partner—it’s so nice to have someone to support me and who I can support in return, but I’m ready to embrace hiking independently. And of course, I’ll be with welcome! I’m ready for some badass women in the woods time! We’re heading to Buena Vista and our first zero day next!