May 1st CT start date

imported
#1

Im new to Colorado and im planning on doing the CT on May 1st. With the lack of snow that weve had this season, would it be possible to start on that date and get thru the little snow thats left.

Matt

#2

Unless you wanna posthole your way up every high pass I’d bring me some snowshoes… Best to wait till mid june unless your are comfortable with travle over snow at high elevations. IMO

CTHG

#3

I day-hiked the first 5 segments of the CT on Saturdays in May 2009, so May 2, 9 , 16, 23, and 30. I encountered some snow, but no postholing. I did wait until June 20 to attempt Georgia Pass in Segment 6, and had about 2 miles of postholing on the west side of the pass during a year of normal snowpack.

Given that the snowpack this year is below average, I believe it would be possible to get over Georgia pass with minimal postholing either mid June or the fourth weekend of June (23rd/24th).

Have fun on the trail!

Bernard

#4

thanks so much for the advice. i believe im gonna set forth on the trip on may 1st. This will be my first time doing a trail like this and im super excited

Matt

#5

You are making a big mistake. I don’t care how much snow we have this winter, you will experience great difficulties attempting to hike in the high country in early May. It is 72 miles to Kenosha Pass from Denver. A four or five day hike. That means that you will be climbing over Georgia Pass around May 6th or 7th. (If you make it through Lost Creek that early, which is also unlikely.) There will be mountains of deep snow up there at that time. Then you have the 10-mile range, Searle and Kokymo, Holy Cross Wilderness, etc.

June 1st is usually too early to start from Denver. I think June 15th this year would be a really good bet.

bearcreek

#6

I must totally agree with Bearcreek. I tried hiking in May and it was agony. No fun at all. The only way might be with snowshoes.

Apple

#7

The upper reaches of that climb to the top of the Ten Mile Range in segment 7 reportedly holds snow longer than any other place on the CT. It was still there in August of last year and made route-finding “interesting” but not extremely difficult, but that trail goes places you’d never believe it would go.

It matters not what shape you’re in. The bottom line on what everyone is telling you is this:

DON’T LET YOUR EGO WRITE CHECKS YOUR BODY CAN’T CASH :eek:

And don’t forget, it is unlikely that there will be anyone else out there to help you when you get in trouble. The CT is not a good trail for a newbie’s first long hike.

wandering bob

#8

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have a friend that has experience hiking long distance that has decided to go with me. Weve been looking at some of the pictures that people have posted online and looking at images of the mountains and i believe we can handle it. I have no certain end point time, i plan on taking it nice and slow along the way. Thanks for the info and advice guys

Matt

#9

My post is not for Matt, he has decided on his schedule. My post if for the other people planning their hike.

The layer of snow nearest the ground is depth hoar or sugar snow. It will not pack down and is very wet and heavy. Sometimes in the spring the entire snow pack is sugar snow. Breaking trail through deep powder consumes a lot energy, but sugar snow consumes even more. If it freezes overnight, and that is likely early in the season, then there will be several hours of crust in the morning that will make travel easier.

The Colorado Trail is well marked, but it is not marked for snow travel. Only parts of the Trail are popular snowshoe trails that are packed and tracked.

2011 was a year of heavy snow pack. The weekend before Memorial Day the road to Lost Park Campground near Segment 4 was closed due to heavy snow. There was another heavy spring snow on June 20th that ran all the campers out of the Lost Park Campground. June 11th and 12th I did a hike west starting at mile 6 of Segment 6. We did not make it all the way to Georgia pass because we were having trouble staying on the trail in the deep snow. Putting on and taking off snowshoes a half dozen times slowed travel.

Segment 6 is a popular mountain bike route and there are bragging rights for the first crossing of the
Divide each spring. On a normal year the first crossing is about the third week of June. 2012 looks like the snow pack will be light, but the first crossing will probably not be before the 1st week of June.

If you can, you should wait until April 1st to schedule your hike. If you need to schedule your hike by the 1st of the year, then you should not start before the first week of July.

ringtail

#10

So let me see if I got this right… You’ve been looking at some pictures of mountains on Google Earth and now you know you can hike on May 1st.

Have a nice hike, Matt. Don’t forget to leave your will where someone can find it.

grumpy

#11

Low snow year does not mean “No Snow Year”.

Matt, what experience does your friend have? Hiking the Appalachian Trail (for example) does not mean your friend has the skills needed to navigate a trail buried under snow. Throw in rotten snow that is just plain exhausting to hike even with snowshoes, that will invariably come on and off repeatedly, and it does not seem like a good time.

The trek may be a bit more than you bargained for.

If you have no time, why not wait until about June 20th (+/-) and then start?

In the mean time, go on lower elevation hikes, mountain bike rides etc and enjoy yourself and get ready for the CT hike.

Or if you are gung-ho for backpacking, go spend a couple of weeks in early May in the desert southwest.

:cheers

Low Snow

#12

I would suggest that you choose cremation. Your friends can go back to the spot and leave your ashes there. Very touching.

Hardwire

#13

The San Juans are close to average (not a ‘low snow’ year) this year and beginning May 1 is a mistake. Just echoing the others comments. Check SNOTEL data (Slumgullion, etc.). SJ Ron

Ron

#14

Snowpack data links on the following page are for sites near the CT:

On Track

#15

Here is the Colorado SNOTEL Snow/Precipitation Update Report for Colorado:

Colorado SNOTEL Snow/Precipitation Update Report for Colorado:
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=Colorado

San Juan Ron is correct, reporting that the weather station at Slumgullion is showing typical snow totals for that area.

I want to re-iterate the I day-hiked these CT segments on the following dates in 2009:

Seg. 1 - May 2
Seg. 2 - May 9
Seg. 3 - May 16
Seg. 4 - May 23
Seg. 5 - May 30
Seg. 6 - June 6 from

Bernard

#16

My fat fingers must have hit the wrong key before I was done typing.

Seg. 6 - June 6 from Kenosha Pass to Jefferson Lake Road. I waited until June 20 to attempt Georgia Pass, and still postholed through 2 miles of snow, which was still fairly deep in areas.

I would think you wouldn’t have any problems day-hiking Segments 1 -5 during May, but Georgia Pass will still have a lot of snow.

Bernard

#17

Bernard…So your thinking that i wouldnt have a problem hiking the first 6 segments. I would be willing to wait to finish the rest of it

Matt

#18

Hey Bernard. When you hiked segment 4 did you meet a guy east bound right after you leave the old road bed at about mile 5.6?

I generally spend Memorial Day weekend somewhere around Kenosha Ridge.

ringtail

#19

Matt, Given the current weather pattern, I think you should have no troubles at all hiking the first 5 segments of the CT from Denver to Kenosha Pass, doing one segment as a day-hike per each week in May. You can probably even hike from Kenosha Pass to Jefferson Lake Road. From Jefferson Lake Road, the trail ascends to Georgia Pass. The pass itself wasn’t that bad in June. It was the snow drifts in the trees on the west side of the pass that proved to be problematic. I figured between my weight and that of the pack, I was around 260 lbs. Once I started pushing existing postholes up to my hip, I realized I would be in a world of hurt if I sunk any deeper. As the drifts got higher (8-12 ft deep), I took off my pack, crawled on all fours over the snow while dragging the pack along side me to not posthole any deeper.

Bernard Wolf

#20

Ringtail, I did hike Segment 4 over the Memorial Day Weekend in 2009, so we may have met on the trail. I remember seeing a camp shortly after crossing the small stream around the 4.5 mile mark. The people camping there were cooking a very nice smelling breakfast at the time. We all waved at each other and said “HI”, but I kept hiking. Didn’t see another person until I was close to rejoining the old road toward the top of the ridge. That gentleman was hiking eastbound, and we exchanged greetings, and he may have asked me if I encountered any snow. Once I rejoined the old road, I stopped to put on my rain jacket and gloves. I didn’t realize my hands had swollen so much, and it took about 15 minutes to put one of the gloves on. Within a minute of having my pack back on and hiking again, I ran into a group of eastbound trail runners. Here is my journal entry for that day: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=274430

Bernard Wolf