First time on the CT, but familiar with Colorado hiking. I’m looking at a mid August start and have 9 trail days solo. I’m looking at…
Denver to Copper Mountain (Seg. 1 through 7)
Kenosha Pass to Clear Creek Road (Seg. 6 through 11)
Tennessee Pass to US-50 (Seg. 9 through 14)
Any reccomendations on wich one is the most rewarding?
e1harris
I’m actually open to all segment suggestions. I have 9 trail days, and I average about 14 miles/day. So about 126 miles. I have an old college roomate in Denver that can drop me off and pick me up, so they need to be easy access points.
Thanks a bunch in advance.
e1harris
I’d go with the segment 6-11 option. Georgia Pass, the 10-mile range, and Kokomo Pass are absolutely stunning.
Segments 1-5 are okay, but they’re nothing like 6-11.
My memory of segments 9-14 is that they were nice, but there seemed to be a ridiculous about of climbing for the views that you get(both long climbs of 1000-3000 feet, and also the continuous cycle of dropping 200 feet into a drainage and popping back out).
Loup
Without a doubt, the best segments are from Spring Creek Pass to Durango. The total distance is around 126m and you will hike thru the best (in my opinion and many others) part of the CT. The trip from Denver is around 5 hours from Denver to Spring Creek Pass. SJ Ron
San Juan Ron
If someday you might wanna complete, consider Denver to Copper. Ending overtop the Tenmile Range is nice, and next year you can start at Copper and continue SOuthBOund toward your completion.
On Track
Segment 7 from Breckenridge to Copper Mountain is only 12 miles but it has a huge climb up to the top of the Ten Mile Range (view is worth the trip). Fortunately, you can easily slack pack that baby.
When you finish segment 6, take the free bus into Breck and stay at the Fireside Inn B&B. Incidentally, they are very familiar with, and highly recommend, this slack pack. Next morning, leave your gear at Fireside (you’ll be back tonight), grab a daypack, lunch, water, and minimal gear, take the free bus back to end of seg 6, walk 0.5 mile west along the bike trail to the Gold Hill trailhead (start of seg 7) and hike over to Copper Mtn Resort.
Cross the highway at the end of seg 7 and take the CT to Center Village at Copper Mtn Resort. Leave the trail just before American Eagle ski lift and walk through the resort stores out to the free bus stop at Passage Point. The bus takes you to Frisco where you transfer to the free bus back to Breck and the Fireside Inn. Stay overnight.
CO Mountain Express shuttle van will pick you up at the Fireside Inn and take you to Denver airport the next morning. Make your reservation using the B&B’s computer before you leave for the slackpack.
If you’re interested, send me an email (include your email address) and I’ll forward a map of the resort to you that shows the route from the trail to the Passage Point bus stop.
Wandering Bob
I’m planning to do just Segment 7 and was going to go east to west, staying at Copper, catching the Summit Stage for the start and walking back to Copper. Do you recommend that I go west-to-east? Trying to pick up some segments I missed before.
Bev