Woohoo! Back on trail and it feels so good! This section took us from Monarch Pass to Frisco. To avoid the snow, we took the Collegiate East route along the Colorado Trail from Monarch Pass to Twin Lakes. Those were some pretty, blissful, snow-free miles! From Twin Lakes to Copper Mountain, we hit the CDT again, which stayed pretty snow free until we climbed up to 12,000ft. We had so many friends supporting us this section, from rides and showers to camping and hiking with us! I say it over and over again in the post, but we feel incredibly lucky!
Monarch Pass to Twin Lakes
Day 39: 19.9 miles/ 3,500 ft gain
At about 9:45am, we pulled off of highway 50 to the trail junction. This time around, I wasn’t filled with dread and anxiety, but rather anticipation and excitement to be back on trail! Already off to a much better start than leaving Cumbres Pass. This feeling was partially manufactured as we decided to take the lower Collegiate East route (off the official CDT and onto the official Colorado Trail/ CT). It was such a relief to know our days wouldn’t be filled with crawling out of post-holes, shin scrapes and wet shoes. Instead, we had a cruisy, dirt single track!
Our day started with a steep 500ft climb out of the valley. This transformed into rolling up and over soft hills as we made our way north. We wound through Aspen and Pine forests, across creeks from the runoff and through meadows bursting with colorful wildflowers and sweeping views of the towering 14ers. The trail was magic! Though we felt some fatigue around mile 6, our trail legs were still firing at 3 miles per hour. I’m glad those didn’t disappear over our hiatus!
We cruised through 16 miles to our intended stopping point only to find that the creek we planned to fill up at did not exist. The same thing happened at the next creek, and the next, and the next. Everything was dry, even in early June- not a great sign for Colorado’s fire season. We had to keep trekking until we found a water source so we had enough to cook dinner. Plus, both Devin and I were out and getting thirsty. We ended up walking an additional 3.3 miles and 500 ft of gain and loss before finding a small creek and a beautiful campsite with a view of Mount Princeton. Lesson learned: always bring more water than you think you need, and fill up early!
Day 40: 10 miles/ 2,000 ft gain
We woke up to the bird song and light breeze of the morning. The mountain air was cool and smelled of pine. I made coffee and oatmeal while Devin slowly woke up. Our bodies are sore, but the routine of waking up on the ground feels familiar. We packed up camp leisurely and hiked the half mile down to the trailhead around 8:00am. A van, driven by my friend Maritza, pulled up and we hopped in! She graciously drove us 5 road miles to the Mount Princeton trailhead. No road walk for us- thank you!
We said our see-you-laters and started up the trail. The first 500 feet were gradual, much like the rest of the day. We meandered through the pine and aspen forests and traversed around the base of Mount Princeton. I stopped around mile 4 for a break and to wait for Devin to catch up near the top of one of the climbs when a familiar face popped up around the corner. Maritza had chased us down to come a hike a few miles with us! It was the BEST surprise and boost to keep on trekking. The next few miles flew by as we chatted. We split ways before the trail dropped in the valley and made a plan to camp together at the Silver Creek Trailhead.
With the promise of some beers at camp, Devin and I pressed on down into Cottonwood Canyon. As we reached the bottom, we followed South Cottonwood Creek up the valley floor for a few miles. In between us and Silver Creek was a large climb up the base of Mount Yale. Since we had already done this section of trail, Devin suggested we text Maritza on the Garmin and head to Cottonwood Hot Springs with her instead of doing the climb. Music to my ears!
Maritza picked us up at the outlet of Rainbow Lake and we spent the afternoon soaking in the hot springs! This was the perfect remedy for my sore hips. We made our way to Silver Creek Trailhead and stopped about 1.5 miles short as the road got a little rough for Maritza’s van. Though, the spot we made it to had a fabulous view of Mount Princeton so no one was complaining! We drank a few beers, ate some chips and enjoyed each others company before heading off to bed under the sunset. What a fantastic day!
Day 41: 15.5 miles/ 4,700 ft gain
We packed up camp and headed out around 7:00am as Maritza drove away to work. We walked to the trailhead which added about 500 feet of gain and 1.5 miles to our day. The road was gentle and the air was cool, making it a pleasant warm up. Breakfast was eaten at the trailhead (a Gatorade bar- Devin’s favorite) and we began our long ascent. To reach the top of the first ridge, we had about 9.5 miles and 3,000ft to climb.
We split it up into three 3ish mile and 1,000ft sections which made the trail seem very doable. The first break spot was at Harvard Lakes. Sitting in the shadow of Mount Columbia, the lakes were picturesque with fish jumping and wildflowers surround the shore. What a perfect spot to enjoy a candy bar! Since we ate less than expected yesterday, we had a ton of extra snacks to help us through the climb. We cruised up to Frenchmen Creek and filtered some water for the last part of the climb.
With only 2.8 miles left to the top of the first ridge, we cut our break short and started up the trail. We climbed up to treeline where the surrounding mountain peaks and large blue sky opened up to us. Mount Columbia and Mount Harvard stood over open fields of wildflowers and sparse pine trees- gorgeous! We took a short break to soak it all in before dropping down 1,500ft to Pine Creek. It was views after views and the river valley gave us sweeping views of even more of the Collegiate peaks. Waverly Peak, Mount Oxford, Mount Belford and Missouri Mountain towered over the valley to the North while Mount Harvard the south. The sound of the creek flowing, the blue sky and the snow capped mountains made this place feel like magic.
We filtered water and sat with the views around us for about half an hour. With a 1,200ft climb looming, we decidedly couldn’t stay too long. It was a tough 1.5 miles to the top of the second ridge, though Devin and I cruised up it. Even with 6 pounds of extra water for dinner and breakfast, we still hiked at 2.5 miles per hour up the steep ridge. Impressed with our stamina, we patted ourselves on the back and chose a campsite with great views of Mount Harvard to the south (we worked for it after all)! It was all of 2:00pm so we read, wrote and rested all afternoon. 
Day 42: 14.5 miles/ 1,700 ft gain
Sipping coffee and reading in the tent made for a slow start to the morning, though very enjoyable. We started our descent down the ridge we camped on top of around 8:00am. About 4.5 miles later, we crossed Clear Creek at the base of the valley. One thing we have noticed about the trail in Colorado is how maintained it is. We feel so spoiled to get to cross rivers on bridges and only have to crawl over a few downed trees!
We filtered water at the creek and took a little break before our next climb. The ridge was barren so we thought we might as well get it over with before it got too hot. 900ft of switchbacks later and we made it to the forested top. The legs didn’t feel too bad considering how much elevation gain we had yesterday! The ridge marked the halfway point to Twin Lakes, where we would be getting picked up to do town chores.
Though we did not feel rushed, we cruised quickly along the trail. More aspen and pine forests met us along the way, including a very recent burn scar on our descent down to the lakes. We made it down to the trailhead in what felt like record time, but with little mental effort. I love days on the trail when my mind is disconnected from my legs!
Wes, Maritza’s husband, snagged us from Twin Lakes and so kindly drove us down to Buena Vista to do some town chores. We did laundry, showered (thank you BV Community Center for the cheap and accessible showers!), got snacks and then headed up to find a campsite. Maritza met us up at our site after work and they treated Devin and I to a homemade meal. We are so lucky to have such great friends!
Twin Lakes to Tennessee Pass
Day 43: 20.8 miles/ 4,400 ft gain
With maybe the best night sleep we’ve had on trail so far, we rolled out of bed and packed up slowly. Wes and Maritza lent us their kitchen to make breakfast and it was so easy to make oatmeal on a flat surface rather than the uneven ground! Once full, we headed back on our way to Twin Lakes, but this time with a plus one. Wes joined us for the first hour and a half of the day and those 4.5 miles flew by! While Devin is a good conversationalist, we sometimes run out of things to talk about since we are very up-to-date with each other’s lives. So, it’s really nice to mix it up!
We continued down the trail and crossed paths with another CDT hiker, Moving Target, we met near Pie Town. That was almost 750 miles south! We chatted for a few miles before splitting ways at Mt. Massive Trailhead. Again, it was so nice to chat with other people while we walked! The day had felt very easy up until this point. We had a 1,000ft climb out of the valley which didn’t look too steep on the map, but really surprised us (in a bad way). Huffing and puffing with cramping calves, we made our way up and over the forested slope.
We took a break at North Willow Creek to filter water, but it was cut short due to a mosquito invasion. With only 8 miles left in our day, we put our headphones on (the equivalent of putting my car in “sport mode”) and grinded up the last 1,000 ft climb. We had a steep descent back down into the valley that held Turquoise Lake. There were some stubborn snow patches trying to hold on, but the summer sun was melting them rapidly- a good sign for what’s ahead.
We filtered water at Glacier Creek (more like a raging river) and looked for a flat spot to camp before the trailhead. A spot under the pines by a trickling stream called our name and we set up just in time for the rain to start pattering on our tent. Our luck with the rain has been spectacular so far. 
Day 44: 16.8 miles/ 2,900 ft gain
The excitement of town day pulled us out of bed nice and early. With coffee and breakfast down the hatch and camp packed up, we set off around 7:00am. We had a long climb into the Holy Cross Wilderness of about 2,000ft over 4.5 miles right off the bat. The trail zigzaged across the south slope, through the pine forest and over the meadow to about 11,600ft. There were sweeping views of snowy peaks and Leadville in the distance.
Once the climb was out of the way, the next challenge was snow and I can’t say that I have missed it. The next 2 miles of trail was buried under consistent piles of snow, though there were many footprints to follow and, while slow, the hiking wasn’t miserable as we were not post-holing. A win is a win! The snow stopped at the north boundary of the Holy Cross Wilderness, and the rest of the day was spent below treeline.
The trail was bouncy and forgiving as we cruised along. So much so that it gave us a speed boost all the way to Tennessee Pass. We were moving above 3.5 miles per hour which is about as fast as we could go without running. Phew! Once at the top of the pass, our plan was to hitch into Leadville. About 10 minutes with our thumbs out resulted in a bus pulling over for us! Mark, our friendly driver, kindly picked us up and dropped us right across the street from our first town chore: the Melly store! We exchanged our sweatshirts, charged devices and ate a huge pizza before getting snagged by Wes and Maritza to camp together. A great day on trail! 
Tennessee Pass to Frisco
Day 45: 16.7 miles/ 3,400 ft gain
A drop of water hitting my cheek from the condensation on our tent woke me up quickly. We tore off the rain fly and hung it up over a sign to dry it off a bit before having to pack it away. That’s the risk of camping in beautiful river valleys, and it is usually worth it, for us anyway. Once Wes and Maritza emerged from their van, we set off on our journey to Copper Mountain. The first mile was flat and followed the road in the valley before shooting up the south side of North Sheep Mountain.
The miles with friends feel quick, even when the trail is steep and the climb is long. We zigzagged through the pine forests, forded a few streams and climbed up and out of the valley into the high alpine. Wildflowers were beginning to bloom amongst the lingering snowfields as we crossed up and over Kokomo Pass (queue The Beach Boys)! We said our final goodbyes to Wes and Maritza as they headed back down to their van, and the miles that followed were much less fun after their departure.
Once near the top of Elk Ridge, we made a plan for how we would tackle the snowfields in the valley. Since there have been hikers through the area, there were plenty of footprints to follow (thank you to those who broke the path for us)! The snow was slow-moving, but much faster than what we saw in the South San Juans. We can only hope this is the type of snow travel we will see in our future! Up and over Searle Pass and down past Janet’s Cabin we went. As we descended, the snow dwindled and the dirt trail reemerged.
The last 6ish miles included a gentle decline down the river valley and through Copper Mountain Resort. As we neared the bottom, we even saw some skiers and snowboarders jibbing at the summer terrain park- how fun! We even thought about joining them and sliding across the rails on our trekking poles. The bus to Frisco left at 2:00pm, so we hustled to the station in order to make it. Our plan was to meet a friend who lives in Breckenridge for the night so we wanted to get our town chores out of the way before she got done with work. How lucky are we to be so supported through this section! 
