Hammocks on the CT

imported
#1

Hello, Has anyone reading this done the CT with a hammock? Will I spend many nights on the rocks if I bring one or will I be mostly OK? What has your experience been?

Thanks,
Nate

Nate

#2

I used a tent on my 08 hike and every night but one we camped in places where a hammock would have been very easy to hang. The one night on Snow Mesa there were of course no trees but a few miles before, a few miles after or several hundred feet below there were trees. We should have gone to one of those three as we had a very disturbing night due to abundant lightning.
we hiked the Pole Creek route and not the new Cataract Ridge route. The Cataract Ridge route is all above the trees so you would likely have to go to ground there. We avoided it since at the time one needed GPS to navigate it and we were shell shocked by too many ligtning close calls.
The section from Molas lake to Durango I hiked last Summer with my hammock and I had far more options than my tent bound hiking friends.

RichardD

#3

The hammock will work most of the time. Spring Creek Pass to where trees grow large enough in Elk Creek is about 40 miles so the hammock isn’t going to work there.

The old route via the Pole Creek motorcycle trail and Beartown jeep road has been officially abandoned and is no longer part of the CT. The Cataract Ridge portion is well marked and easy to follow. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful piece of The Colorado Trail. This is also the official route of the CDT. The route has ample protected spots that are good for camping in bad weather. I camped all over it for weeks with field crews during construction with no serious issues.

bearcreek

#4

After Spring Creek Pass is Big Buck Creek and it has good trees. I have not hiked the Cataract Ridge route yet, but plan to this summer. You might NEED one night on the ground for the entire Trail. You might want other nights on the ground above timberline. I used to carry a Big Agnes Insulated Air Core for bottom insulation in my hammock - now replaced with a small NeoAir.

food

#5

I hadn’t considered Buck Creek since it’s only 8 miles or so from Spring Creek. I guess it might make a good destination if you hitched back from a re-supply in Creede and got a late start. It’s still a long ways to the next trees unless you hike a couple miles down off the trail somewhere. If I were you I’d just take a tarp for shelter and use the hammock for a pad then break the hike into three days. Nice campsites are at a small lake on the trail near Cataract Lake (Mile 5.5 of Seg 23), in Cuba Gulch (mile 9.9 of Seg 23), and at some small lakes along the trail a mile before the Elk Creek turnoff.(Mile 5.3 of Seg 24.) These are all above treeline.

In the fall the Cuba Gulch area is home to one of the largest Elk herds in Colorado and it’s not uncommon to see several hundred gathered at a time.

bearcreek

#6

Thank you all for your input. It looks like chancing it and a little ground camping will be great. I am very excited about this trip and it is great to build on your experience rather than making it up as I go along.

Nate F