Faces of the Colorado Trail

I have been dreaming of hiking the Colorado Trail (a 486-mile trail through the mountains connecting Denver and Durango) for a while now. I did not build time into my summer to hike the whole thing, which takes about a month, but I had no plans for last week, so I set out to hike as much as I could in six days. My purpose was twofold. First, to see beautiful scenery. Second, to seek transformation, to exit the experience with something I didn't have before. This kind of takeaway is not something that can be forced though. These moments usually only come when the journey is embraced as an end in itself and each moment is taken in stride.

The journey is not as glorious as we make it out to be afterwards through our poetry, pictures, and self-glorifying Facebook pictures (of which I am guilty). Each day was filled with long boring miles that left my feet hurting. It was hard not to wander why I was out there. It didn't seem like any momentous transformation was going to occur. But, I forced myself to embrace the journey as a valid goal in itself. In hindsight, I can see how the experience was valuable.

Pine trees were dense among much of the first hundred miles of the trail

As, I sat in my sleeping bag the last night on the trail, I wrote...

This trip went by pretty fast. It seems like this trip was short when compared to the trip length of most of the other hikers I met. (There were dozens of people hiking all 486 miles of the Colorado Trail, as well as a number of people hiking the Continental Divide Trail, which is over 2,000 miles long.) In reality though, this is the longest hike that I have ever done. I am ready to get back to Denver, but at the same time, I am going to miss the trail. It wasn’t the scenery so much that was captivating. It certainly was beautiful, (I am in Colorado for crying out loud!) but most of what I saw cat cannot be compared to the views of seen from the top of 14ers. When it comes down to it, I am going to miss the people the most. The folks out on the trail are so real, genuine, friendly and supportive. Everyone is kind to one another and all respect the fact that everyone on the trail is in the midst of their own unique journey, whether it is physical or spiritual. There is no hierarchy out on the trail. Some are more experienced and faster hikers than others, but that does not make them any better than others. Instead, everyone shares a mutual respect and love for one another. People love to help one another when possible, share hiking advice and stories from past trips. I learned a lot on this trip and have been blessed to meet new people that I would now call friends. This trip has made me see the beauty of Coloradans and those that visit this state. I have enjoyed meeting people on the trail from all walks of life…

View of Valley from above Kenosha Pass

Here is a look at the people I met on the trail...

Doug – a native of Colorado Springs in his sixties, who has been dreaming of traveling the Colorado Trail for forty years. He just retired last month, and is now fulfilling his dream. He is enjoying the journey, and shooting to walk around ten miles every day.

Tim, Peter and Megan – a dad, his eighteen year old daughter, and sixteen year old son from Massachusetts are hiking the entire trail.

Sarah and Bethany – two women in their mid-twenties from Denver, who attended college together. Sarah is about to move to New York to attend graduate school at Columbia University in seismology; she is using this hike as her farewell to the state. Bethany just quit her job with Denver Public Schools in order to hit the trail; her future remains unwritten.

Bill and Kelly – a couple from Durango in their fifties that are hiking the trail with their dog.

Tyler and Nathan – two friends from Texas that are in their early twenties and are hiking the trail during their summer breaks (as well as enjoying easy access to marijuana while in the state).

Sam and Emily – a couple from boulder in their thirties that are hiking the trail

Joey – a twenty-something year old from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida that realized he didn’t want to be stuck in the city of his birth for the rest of his life, and thus left everything behind to fly to Denver in order to trek the CT. He is taking the journey easy, hiking about eight miles a day, and is hoping to adjust to the altitude soon (he has never been to Colorado before). He has no idea what he will do after he finishes the trail, but he thinks that he might move to California; his future is unwritten.

Clyde and Jimmy – a dad and his thirteen year old son from Boulder that just finished the CT, but were returning to complete a hundred mile section that they skipped due to too much snow earlier in the summer. Upon their return, they realized they were feeling too sick and crummy to continue the trail, but that didn’t keep them from being great campmates. They shared advice with me, as well as their trail food! I ended up acquiring from them three snicker bars, a bag of Brookstone Dark Chocolate, two tuna fish packets, two slices of pizza, and some fudge! They will return later this summer to finish up the trail.

Aspen Trees near Kenosha Pass

Fred and Steve – a gay couple from Denver that were hiking from Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge as a part of their goal to hike all of Colorado Trail one segment at a time.

Nancy and Madi – two women that work together in Denver and headed out on the trail for the 4^th of July weekend, hiking from Kenosha to Breck.

Tim – a forty-six year old from Arkansas, who has worked for various online businesses, but is currently unemployed and taking advantage of his passion for hiking while his wife is at home working. He is covering 17 or so miles a day, while pondering his entrepreneurial ideas and kindly welcoming everyone he meets.

John and Beth – a retired couple from Ohio that are hiking the CT together. John hiked the Appalachian Trail after retiring in 2011, and the two hiked the John Muir Trail in California together last summer.

Ethan – a twenty-one year old from Chicago that just graduated from college in Ohio, and is now searching for a career in outdoor recreation. He is blazing through the trail at a blistering 27 miles a day.

Jerry – a forty-something year old that grew up in Boulder, ran Cross Country for CU, and is now living in North Carolina because of his wife’s job. Jerry ran professionally after college, specializing in the marathon. He won the U.S. Marathon Championships one year, was one spot out of making it to the Olympics in the marathon, and represented team USA at the World Cross Country Championships. (I only know all of these facts because he looked him up later; he was very humble and nonchalant about his running past.) He is now a freelance writer and artist, as well as the father of an eleven year old. His work does not bring in much income, but is a great expression of a deep-thinking mind. Jerry grows restless when he feels like he isn’t being productive, thus he was driven out on to the trail. I think that he is seeking something beyond himself that is meaningful, as well as the fulfillment of his appetite for the Colorado outdoors. Who knows, maybe Jerry will produce some literature on his journey.

*All the names listed have been changed