So What Is the Colorado Trail and Why Hike It?

We find ourselves once again longing for the wilderness...our hunger has been lingering for sometime, as our last backpacking trip together was the Superior Hiking Trail in 2009.  Our lives have simply become busy and practical, which is not always bad, but we understand the need to satiate our desire to connect to God and one another through our escape into the mountains.

And so was born the idea of the Colorado Trail, which has been brewing since 2011, but is only now finally being realized.  It is this deprivation of solitude and untouched beauty that drives us to seek out the mountains of Colorado.  Having ourselves met on the Appalachian Trail, the trail life has a special place in our hearts and we both seem to have an understanding of our need for fresh air and adventure.  We hope our trip to also be a time of reflection and reconnection to our spiritual roots in the Lord...If even Jesus needed time away in solitude, then I suppose we probably do as well, and what better place than the mountains.

Trail life is simple--everything one needs in a single pack on the back.  There's no fluff, and everyone is equal with a common goal: survival.  It's so easy to fall in love with the simplicity and lack of competition; the trail life often breeds a certain togetherness that I wish our society could experience daily.  Hopefully we can be reminded of the common bond of humanity and bring that back with us to our daily grind here in Oxford.

So, what is the Colorado Trail?  A little blurb from ColoradoTrail.org says, "The Colorado Trail is Colorado’s premier long distance trail. Stretching 486 miles from Denver to Durango, it travels through the spectacular Colorado Rocky Mountains amongst peaks with lakes, creeks and diverse ecosystems. Trail users experience six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges topping out at 13,271 feet, just below Coney Summit at 13,334 feet. The average elevation is over 10,000 feet and it rises and falls dramatically. Users traveling from Denver to Durango will climb 89,354 feet." The trail will also present many chances to encounter the unique history of Colorado, including many old mining towns and sites.

As far as weather, there is potential to face sections of leftover snow from a hard winter, and the Rockys are known for their sudden afternoon thunderstorms, which poses a serious threat of lightening strikes for hikers who have planned poorly and find themselves on the tops of ridges during such activity.  The air is generally dry and temperatures a bit cooler with the high altitudes, but we anticipate facing a wide range of temperatures.  

Our anticipated start date is July 15th, but may need to be pushed back due to snow.  We'll keep updating as we use the next 3 months to continue our preparations.