This past weekend, a hike was done as an event for the Continental Divide Trail Coalition.
The hike changed over the course of the weeks. In the end, we ended up hiking a stretch of the CDT from Herman Gulch to Jones Pass and then a brief loop on the nearby Colorado Trail the following day.
Cam Honan of The Hiking Life and myself camped out the Friday evening before on Jones Pass road. The campsite was modest. But the views of the night sky, and the over half a dozen shooting stars, was incredible.
The following morning, we grabbed an early breakfast at the real (and much older) Hardrock Cafe in nearby Empire, CO and then met the rest of the crew at the Herman Gulch TH.
The day was beautiful. A classic Colorado fall morning with cool temps, changing leaves and ground cover. The sky above was a brilliant blue.
Besides Cam and myself, a few others joined the hike. Felicia (my fellow co-host of The Trail Show), Peter, Liz and the “guest of honor”: Greg.
Greg flew of out from Nashville and could be called the sponsor of the hike.
We headed up the trail and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather.
We soon made it to the beautiful Herman Lake.
After a very leisurely rest, we started our climb up on the CDT and on the divide proper.
A ridge walk par excellence…
The wind was blowing fierce at times, but was otherwise an excellent day weather wise.
We soon reached the high point of the day at about 13000′. Val and Teresa, from the CDTC, met us soon after. They would hike the ~2 miles or so to Jones Pass with us.
On the way, and through out the rest of the day, we’d meet up with some sobo CDT thru-hikers.
We soon reached the Jones Pass area and our waiting cars.
A little celebration was had for a friend of ours finishing the CDT that day..and to help get the word out and VOTE for the CDTC in the Michelob Ultra Superior Trails Challenge. You can still vote, until Oct 31st, and help raise $25k for the CDT. 🙂 Two trail orgs will get these critical funds.
I suspect the Florida Trail does not have people at over 12k ft on a Rocky Mountain Pass asking for votes! Vote for the CDTC. Our members can rock uni tights!
Some of us started to walk down the surprisingly pleasant Jones Pass road until a car picked us up. We then headed back to CDTC World HQ where a pleasant evening was had over homemade green chili and bread. Mmmm….
The following day, after a very leisurely morning, we did a short stroll on the nearby Colorado Trail. Another great day.
In the Buffalo Burn area, we could see the divide in the distance and where the CDT itself went.
The hike continued to a high point with more great views.
The short stroll was finished and we ended the day at nearby Zoka’s.
A nice little fall weekend that also happened to help out a trail I love.
Do you want to help the CDT? Don’t forget to vote daily!