Thanks. Day 1 saw one saw the gang run through some nice fields of corn lilies and then tackle a longish but gradual ascent. The mountains slowly get taller and the aspens get nearer as the road gets windier. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Steve Hume and friends head out for a multi-day adventure on the Colorado Trail. The top of Kennebec Pass rises above tree line, providing incredible views of the San Juan mountains in all direction. Longest day was around 16. I rode this section as part of a longer ride from Lizard Head Pass to Durango. Distance (one-way): 12 miles Northern trailhead/minimum elevation: 10,700 feet (FR 585) Southern trailhead elevation: 11,100 feet (FR 578) Maximum elevation: 12,500 feet At a Glance General Information Directions: From Durango, CO : Take U.S. 550 30 miles north of Durango to FDR #578 and go 16 miles on this road until you reach the trailhead. At 6,523 feet above sea level, it's just a few hundred feet lower than our home town of Flagstaff, and the downtown area is just about as nice as we think ours is. The CT often takes its hikers well above treeline and far from roads, so go prepared for any kind of weather at any time of year. Browse our Colorado land for sale listings, view photos and contact an agent today! And, to some extent, we're using old gear, because it ain't broke, basically. The pretty view from Gudys Rest was a bit restricted due to rain. No lockers at the train station. Filters. I emailed the Town of Silverton at info@silvertoncolorado.com with this question and got a same-day response. The ticket office for the Silverton train opened at 7am. For some challenging . Excellent, the lens is so well done, I can walk on your steps. 736 Goeglein Gulch RoadDurango, CO 81301970-385-4115email: info@durangohometownhostel.com. You achieve moments of joy that are impossible to duplicate at home. I'd like to get back there and hike some of this trail. Our remaining miles descended at a easy grade while we reminisced over the past month of hiking. Drops, roots, boulders--as the singletrack transitions down into drier climate zones, the technical challenges just keep coming, all the way until the final relatively-smooth stretch before the trail's terminus. About 10 miles into the trail, you reach a junction with the Engineer Mountain Trail. After the fact: On that last point uh-huh! The average elevation is over 10,000 feet and the highest elevation is over 13,000 feet. About two miles down 503 is the Equity Mine. Site Map; Advertising; Licensing; NEWSLETTER SIGN UP. The trail is open to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders, and includes parts of six national forests, six wilderness areas, and eight mountain ranges. Update of 5/23/09: Well, there's no room at the hostel for that night. 50M trail run More Information . Some scam was in the works, I suspected. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Blessed. We met one of the trail volunteers later. Nancy Tate Hellams from Pendleton, SC on September 01, 2012: I was looking for a great Trail lens for the quest and I sure found one. Section-hiking usually requires shuttling. This segment is renowned for high alpine tundra and fields filled with wildflowers in the early summer. They rode for three days, making day 2 kind of a grind. It stretches from Denver to Durango across the Southern Rockies and can be hiked in 25-35 days. Thanks for all of the useful info as well as the stunning photos! Our present itinerary brings us to Durango for the railroad trip on Saturday. This video documents our journey through this majestic landscape. Since it's the same price to take the Durango-Silverton train one way as it is round-trip, and since we've reserved $79 seats for the ride from Durango back to Silverton at the end of the hike on June 20th, I'm going to inquire whether we could take the train from Silverton to Elk Park as part of a round trip at the start on June 13th. A spectacular adventure. After the fact: I think this average mileage might feel rushed to some folks, especially if weather becomes a factor and you want the option to wait it out for a while. Since then, the trail has welcomed hikers of all skill levels and interests, from experienced thru-hikers to day hikers. Kiwisoutback from Massachusetts on September 13, 2010: I would love to hike the Colorado Trail someday. Its always a good feeling to get here and for there to not be thunderstorms, Steve said. Contents include splinter grabber forceps, iodine ointment, antibiotic ointment, 2 sterile butterfly wound closures, sting relief pad, tincture of benzoin, adhesive tape, conforming gauze, 5 adhesive strips, 4 sterile gauze pads, 2 telfa non-adherent pads, Acetaminophen tablets, Antihistamine tablets, Ibuprofen tablets. You can also arrange for food drops here and there, wherever you see the trail cross one of the mountain roads, and at each section point. For the day, the group logged 28 miles and more than 3500 of climbing in 11 hours, including an arduousand soul destroying stretch at Kennebec Pass right before they ended the day at dusk. Long, steep ascents and descents, particularly around the San Juans. Enjoy it as a BIG day ride or a more relaxed bikepack over a few days. Once we do the hike, I'll come back and add information (in bold), including anything that maybe didn't go as planned. I had planned on taking the 9:30am train. Update of 5/2709: Okay, I found a hotel for us, and it's a 1/2-mile from the train station, which will make getting there in the morning very easy. Gudy attended the first focus meeting about a trail from Denver to Durango in 1974 and never missed a meeting in those early days of the CT. At the time of year we'll be hiking, the hostel runs $22 to $28 per person per night, including tax. 7) Silverton to Durango(485m) - Segment 25-28. The hostel is also serviced by the Durango "T" public transportation. We planned, mapped, prepped, and loaded up to start the journey. I grew up in Durango, left for college and now live in Montana. I'm impressed with the train track too! What may be t-shirt temps in the valleys can turn into numbing wind and a whiteout at the passes. It was her vision that with volunteer help, the CT could be constructed for approximately $500 per mile. You might choose to hike during peak wildflower season or when you know there will be fewer hikers if solitude is your preference. See the most recent reviews. This is now on my list of bucket list hikes (perhaps in prep to thru-hike the whole CT in the next 5 years or so). Thanks again! Starting at the Little Molas Lake Trailhead, this segment of the Colorado Trail can be anything from a 2-mile out-and-back to a 22-mile trek. Hi, My name is Debbie. We had planned on 10. This is an easy answer, since we're just one state over in Arizona: We'll drive. Weather UV Index Tuesday 29 / 8 F Wednesday 26 / 14 F Thursday 20 / 12 F Created in the 1970s and 1980s, the trail consists of a variety of landscapes but is mostly rugged and mountainous alpine terrain. At a top speed of 18 miles an hour, the train takes about 3.5 hours to travel from Durango to Silverton. A moderate climb about halfway through the descent will keep you honest, and then the shredding continues! The metadata also shows the period of record and variables for which a station has reported. Sierra Designs Sirius III: We're two people but prefer the extra space in a 3-man tent. States: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa . I wish we had your stamina to be able to do all the backpacking you do. We're now planning to do this hike with a third person, so we could use two cars and leave one in Durango at the trailhead. That must have taken a long time to build. As we get closer to the time of our hike, we'll check on snow conditions at the higher elevations. The elevation of the Colorado Trail ranges from 5,280 feet at the eastern end near Denver to 13,000 feet at Silver Mesa near Durango to the west, passing through three "life zones" along the way. For trail conditions and other information, I've been contacting the San Juan National Forest Public Information Center at 970-247-4874. I've been wanting to go back and hike the trail from the time they started talking about building it. Oddly, he got a 7 mile ride with this truck driver. This is an amazing lens and I would love to go on a trail like this. Plenty of hike-a-bike, so they earned their rest that day! Also, any additional. For lunch I hit the southern Barbecue joint Thee Pits Again.Pork ribs, baked beans, cornbread and very British bread pudding for desert. I found myself saying goodbye to the silly marmots, the colorful fields of wildflowers, the endless mountain views. No stamina. Youve got all that weight behind you and its easy to go right over the bars, he said. The segment pages in the guidebook contain lots of detailed information that the Data Book does not. We're planning to leave our house on Friday, June 12th after Steve gets off work and drive all the way to Molas Lake Campground, which is just off Highway 550 about seven miles before the town of Silverton. I have another trip planned with some friends in late June, so Steve and I have decided to do this hike mid-month. Hidden in plain sight in the Albertsons parking lot. Is it anywhere near downtown Durango? Box 856, Silverton, CO 81433 6226 State Hwy 110, Silverton, CO 81433 Phone: (970) 387-5706 office@silvertonmountain.com Employmentoffice@silvertonmountain.com Employment 45 Hermosa View Dr, Durango, CO 81301 is a lot/land. Overall, this is a pretty inexpensive way to spend a vacation. Favorite place to camp and backpack.Picture # 8,10 is where I camped . It is equally as challenging as it is rewarding with mountain views as far as the eye can see, intricate cliff walls, waterfalls, caves, and fields of wildflowers in every shade. 11. The Colorado Trail near Silverton has popular high elevation routes for mountain biking and hiking. Question: Are there level areas to camp along section 25? Interactively explore all 500 miles of The Colorado Trail between Denver and Durango using topographic maps and satellite imagery. Wildflowers are out! We had completed the entire Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango. BLM Colorado Seasonal Closure Map 549.3 Miles 884.0 KM 70% . Once the trail enter the trees the technical, rocky nature--now mixed with roots--continues, demanding complete attention. Steve Hume from the Hardtail Party YouTube channel joined two friends on a bikepacking trip on the Colorado Trail, riding 75 miles from Silverton to Durango. Running for 535 miles between Denver and Durango, the trail crosses high alpine mountain passes and drops into beautiful valleys as it traverses the most beautiful portions of the state of Colorado. Where will we leave our car while we're hiking? Not as popular as Needleton for hikers, Elk Park is where the railroad crosses the Colorado Trail . Still a day out on the trail so I cannot complain! Thanks for doing all this planning for us. There are 11 units available for rent starting at $1,522/month. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Yes, he did. How many miles per day will we need to average to finish within our timeframe? We'll still carry what we need and then some back-up gear "just in case. For 200 miles (or 320 km), the "C.T." is one and the same with the Continental Divide Trail. About 13 mi from Little Molas, a waterfall is passed, in another half miles a constructed bridge crosses another one, with a site for 2-4 tents at the bridge, and 1-2 tents at a flat spot at the base of the falls, bit of a scramble to get to but worth it. Met Brett and Ann working hard on Segment 26 of the Colorado Trail which is always appreciated! Right off the top, the trail drops fast and furious, hugging the mountainside as it traverses a technical scree field. Rather than arrange for a shuttle from Durango back to our vehicle in Silverton, we decided to treat ourselves to a scenic train ride on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which has been in continuous operation for 127 years. In 1986, Gudy began the Colorado Trail Foundation, whose mission was to complete and maintain the trail, and educate the public about the project. On our last trip, we rode the cog railway to the summit of Pikes Peak and had lunch at the restaurant at the top. Steve will carry the tent, while I'll carry a lightweight "all weather" space blanket, which has grommets so I can rig it as a tarp using my nylon cord and hiking poles. Through hikers intending to stop at Molas Lake should be aware that they will hike 2.5 miles from there to the "start" of CT-25. Clear skies. Youll need warm clothing and rain gear, even if youre just out for the day. 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