The Colorado Trail

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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justiner
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by justiner »

I'd be curious to see what sort of cabins (private?) are near the CO Trail, as the CO Trail website doesn't list really any, and the only ones I remember seeing from spitting distance away was the yurt near Old Monarch Pass, and the 10th Mountain Division cabins on... dum, whatever that pass is near Copper, as well as the stretch near Tennessee Pass (Vance's?).

Looks like there's also Yurt near Lake City:

http://www.hinsdalehauteroute.org/Map_files/HHR06.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gotta remember that a lot of the CO Trail goes through Wilderness, so there's not gonna be a lot of roads/buildings in there (Weminuche being a huge one).

When I biked it in August, I brought a BD Twighlight Bivy and a sleeping bag liner, and utilized the, "put everything you brought, on when sleeping" technique. It was miserable, but... didn't die. Not sure if I'd ever do that again, except to do some sort of sub 5-day bike attempt.
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San Juan Ron
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by San Juan Ron »

The CT Yurt is at Segment 22 - mile 8.7 and is very comfortable with great views. You can reserve it for a fee. SJ Ron :)
"The mountains are calling and I must go" -- Muir
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ezabielski
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by ezabielski »

climbing_rob wrote:There is a CT "databook" (CMC press) that only 1.9 ounces and contains all the information you need to hike the trail, without any fluff (pics and stuff), and it is really all you need on the CT. Campsites, mileages, road crossings, water sources, elevations, all you need.
You mean the standard, Colorado Trail Foundation Databook? A bit pedantic, but it's 3.8oz even with a lot of pages ripped out. I wish there was a 1.9oz one! Maybe rip it in half an mail the second half to yourself. That would be overkill I think.
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SkaredShtles
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by SkaredShtles »

Just out of curiosity - what does the guidebook have that would be necessary when you're actually *on* the trail? I'm not even sure there *was* a guidebook when I thru-hiked, but I know I didn't take one with me.
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by climbing_rob »

ezabielski wrote:
climbing_rob wrote:There is a CT "databook" (CMC press) that only 1.9 ounces and contains all the information you need to hike the trail, without any fluff (pics and stuff), and it is really all you need on the CT. Campsites, mileages, road crossings, water sources, elevations, all you need.
You mean the standard, Colorado Trail Foundation Databook? A bit pedantic, but it's 3.8oz even with a lot of pages ripped out. I wish there was a 1.9oz one! Maybe rip it in half an mail the second half to yourself. That would be overkill I think.
Mine is exactly 1.9 ounces, I just rechecked. It would weigh less if I removed the glitzy front and back cover.

Here is the exact one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Trail-Da ... 097996637X" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is the 4th edition and has 64 pages and no fluff (except front and back covers). There is a 5th edition out there and on the CMC web site that has 83 pages and it does say 3.8 ounces on the weight spec, but who knows if that is accurate. My scale is accurate, as I have a standard 100 gram weight I check it with now and then.

What you get with this book is again, mileages, camp sites, water sources, resupply and lodging info, really all you need.
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climbing_rob
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by climbing_rob »

By the way, on the Amazon site I just quoted for the book, it says shipping weight is 1.6 ounces. Again, my actual weighed copy is 1.9 ounces +/- 0.1 ounces.
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SkaredShtles
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by SkaredShtles »

climbing_rob wrote:<snip>
What you get with this book is again, mileages, camp sites, water sources, resupply and lodging info, really all you need.
So probably good for *planning* a trip... but if you have maps it sounds like it might be not particularly useful as an additional item?
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climbing_rob
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by climbing_rob »

SkaredShtles wrote:
climbing_rob wrote:<snip>
What you get with this book is again, mileages, camp sites, water sources, resupply and lodging info, really all you need.
So probably good for *planning* a trip... but if you have maps it sounds like it might be not particularly useful as an additional item?
I guess I have to ask: have you ever done a thru hike? If so, I think you'd understand the usefulness of this 1.9 ounce guide. It describes reliability of water sources and good campsites. Maps don't always show such things. Plus mileages. Hard to accurately estimate that on a map. Hike a thru sometime and you'd understand.
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justiner
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by justiner »

SkaredShtles wrote:Just out of curiosity - what does the guidebook have that would be necessary when you're actually *on* the trail? I'm not even sure there *was* a guidebook when I thru-hiked, but I know I didn't take one with me.
GPS coordinates to water is probably the biggest one. That, an actual GPS with or without those coords saved as waypoints (and if you really want the entire track saved!) and you can enjoy yourself without thinking you're going to get lost. You can adjust to your taste - maybe you wanna get lost, or you want to do the trail in a bit more of an orienteering mode. It's not impossible to get lost, but you gotta try, man ;) There was still some turns I missed with the entire track saved, but I was doing it with little sleep. Ahh, fun times.
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SkaredShtles
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by SkaredShtles »

climbing_rob wrote:
SkaredShtles wrote:
climbing_rob wrote:<snip>
What you get with this book is again, mileages, camp sites, water sources, resupply and lodging info, really all you need.
So probably good for *planning* a trip... but if you have maps it sounds like it might be not particularly useful as an additional item?
I guess I have to ask: have you ever done a thru hike? If so, I think you'd understand the usefulness of this 1.9 ounce guide. It describes reliability of water sources and good campsites. Maps don't always show such things. Plus mileages. Hard to accurately estimate that on a map. Hike a thru sometime and you'd understand.
Why yes... in fact I have. I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail in 1994. I used nothing but maps for my planning. The USGS maps were actually really good for planning - little blue lines where to get water, scale on the legend for how far things were apart, etc. Those USGS maps have all sorts of useful information on them...

So you can take your smugness and put it wherever you deem it most useful. :mrgreen:
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SkaredShtles
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by SkaredShtles »

justiner wrote:
SkaredShtles wrote:Just out of curiosity - what does the guidebook have that would be necessary when you're actually *on* the trail? I'm not even sure there *was* a guidebook when I thru-hiked, but I know I didn't take one with me.
GPS coordinates to water is probably the biggest one. That, an actual GPS with or without those coords saved as waypoints (and if you really want the entire track saved!) and you can enjoy yourself without thinking you're going to get lost. You can adjust to your taste - maybe you wanna get lost, or you want to do the trail in a bit more of an orienteering mode. It's not impossible to get lost, but you gotta try, man ;) There was still some turns I missed with the entire track saved, but I was doing it with little sleep. Ahh, fun times.
You would have to *really* try to get lost on the CT, IMO. The only place I even got slightly turned around was around Galena Lake near Leadville. And I have to believe that the trail isn't *less* well marked now...

How do you keep a GPS charged up on a long hike like this? Solar charger? Heavy "spare" charging battery?
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climbing_rob
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Re: The Colorado Trail

Post by climbing_rob »

SkaredShtles wrote:Why yes... in fact I have. I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail in 1994. I used nothing but maps for my planning. The USGS maps were actually really good for planning - little blue lines where to get water, scale on the legend for how far things were apart, etc. Those USGS maps have all sorts of useful information on them...

So you can take your smugness and put it wherever you deem it most useful. :mrgreen:
Well sorry if I sounded smug, I was in a hurry and didn't "speak" well; my point is (and I'm sure you know this) on thru hikes, many of us prefer not to pre-plan too much and just go with the flow. Maps are great, but a full set would be heavier than a single little 1.9 ounce book, would it not? In any case, not to sound smug again, but "little blue lines on a map" do not always signify useable water, the dotted lines for trail sometimes completely miss tons of switchbacks and such and are harder to estimate miles, and most importantly to me on these hikes is that good campsites are typically not at all obvious on TOPO maps.

I'm not knocking the map approach, I love maps, but the little 1.9 ounce guide is a fantastic resource. I "fell in love" with the AWOL guide to the Appalachian Trail, a 2180 mile hike, but that book weighs 9 ounces or so. Same info that is in the CT guide I'm talking about. I'd estimate 80% of the AT hikers all use this same guide. Thankfully, the book is easily torn into fourths so as to not need to carry the whole thing at once.

Again, sorry to sound smug, but this ain't 1994 anymore either, ya know? (more smugness)
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