I have section hiked most of the Colorado Trail the last two years, and hammocked almost all of it.
It wasn’t hard to find good hang sites most of the time, although there were a few stretches where we camped in areas where the beetle kill was pretty bad, and when the wind kicked up it made me a little nervous. Of course, the tent guys with me were a little nervous, too.
The exception for not being able to hang were segments 22-24 (MP 357.8 to 411.1) where we were above tree line (about 11,500 ft., although it varies) almost the entire time. A had planned on tent camping for this portion, and although it was necessary I certainly didn’t like it.
The segments I have yet to do are about 55 miles in Segments 18-21 (MP 302.8-357.8) in the San Juan Mountains. I wanted to do it last year, but the trail head-trail end logistics are very difficult (the trail head is 3 ½ hours from Denver, and Trail Head to Trail End is another 2 ¾ hours) so it takes a lot of planning to stage vehicles.
For this section (18-21) there is a lot of it above tree line, and a lot with beetle kill. I have a Tensa 4, and the Tensa solo conversion, so I plan to take the Tensa solo (and boom stakes) with me so I can just look for 1 reasonably good tree to hang from. I think the extra 3 lbs. or so are going to be worth it. The Solo wouldn’t have done me any good in Segs 22-24 where we camped (although that was somewhat dictated by the tent campers with me, and their hiking pace).
I am 63 years old (yikes!) weigh about 175 and reasonably fit. When we went as a group we were hiking 12-14 miles per day, and when I was solo I was doing 14-19 miles per day. One hot day I pushed it to 20 miles to finish, and didn’t drink enough water. Big mistake. I ended up losing 8 lbs. in two days of hiking and one overnight stay. I was pretty miserable at the end.
Southern Colorado is getting a lot of snow so far this year, so I imagine that the trail will open up pretty late for decent hiking (maybe mid-late July?). Currently the northern portion is less snowy, but that could change. We had fire bans all last year. It would probably be the same this year, because the beetle kill areas are such a tinder box. Plan on using a propane stove.
I would recommend a couple of things in your planning:
I would buy the Colorado Trail DATABOOK which is an excellent detailed resource for maps, mileages, elevations, and potential water sources. You can order from the
www.ColoradoTrail.org website.
I would keep a close eye on that website for trail conditions, as they will generally report when segments are open for passage (as the snow melts).
I would also recommend the Guthook App, as it gives a lot of good info on water sources along the trail, and there are segments where knowing if water is flowing or not is critical.
There is also a Colorado Trail Facebook group, which might be helpful.
Good luck… there is some really fantastic scenery (kind of hard to do it justice in photos) and beautiful wildflowers. I am looking forward to getting out and finishing the Trail, and then looking at some other extended hikes (like maybe the Collegiate West Loop segment).
I hope this helps!
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