Flat ground. No mosquitoes. Warm temps. No threat that each and every one of our worldly belongings will be blown off the divide and into Saguache County.
Where’s the challenge?
This camp is going to be oh so nice!
It’s great to be back on the Colorado Trail after a good long CDT beatdown. The trail from Monarch Pass to, well, Hancock Lakes, is supremely beautiful. We enjoyed it from that perspective. But it’s just not good mountain biking.
We’re well versed in hike-a-bike and fully expecting it, but this was a good solid dose. Probably one of the biggest yet. Uphill hiking is one thing, but there isn’t much downhill that is rideable either.
So, once again, we appreciated the surroundings we were in, the slow pace that let us linger longer, and especially the storm-free weather. The Monsoonal plume is not quite in effect yet, and we took big advantage of these two dry days to spend a lot of time above treeline.
We saw Greyhound, one of the warrior hikers, on the way up to Chalk Creek Pass. We like his approach and noted that he is one of few thru-hikers to remark about the beauty of the trail (it almost seems like many view it simply as a challenge or obstacle, not a thing to be admired).
We thought for sure he was going to pass us somewhere over the pass, but he’s taking a relaxed day. After hiking down most of the other side of the pass, we ran into a number of motos. Even the descent was tiring us out. We sat at the base of the Alpine Tunnel trail and debated our options.
It would be new CDT for Eszter over to Tincup, but not for me.
The weather and Salida creed won out in the end. We took the trail. And it was a good call. It’s probably the first piece of CDT that really opened my eyes and had me dreaming of one day riding the whole dang thing. Now here we are!
Snow fields lingered, we pushed bikes and negotiated bogs. The clouds swirled and combined, but no rain fell and no thunder. We finished up on the smoothest and most well made descent of the trail so far — newly rebuilt CDT.
On the other side of the tincup road we found a fancy new bridge and a makeshift sign informing trail users that the trail was not yet done and also not open to mechanized travel. The rumors were true. 17 miles of new CDT, outside Wilderness and closed to bikes. I still haven’t heard a good reason why.
So we pointed it downhill and began the long coast back to the Arkansas valley and the Colorado Trail. It meant we got ice cream and burritos from the Princeton store. Not a total loss.
And here we are, camping just off the CT. It’s such a great trail. .. but it is so known, so we’ll ridden and with bike access so solid. We’ll enjoy our time on it but continue to dream bigger.
Now I know you’ve lost it when the CT is too tame for your liking!
That CDT between Alpine Tunnel and the Tincup road is sweet. New CDT across not open to bikes? There be evil forces at work somewhere.
I was hoping the newly built sections between Monarch Pass/Hwy 50 and Collegiate Peaks Wildnerness would be open to bikes. Based on your route it seems you rode the CDT north of Monarch Pass/Hwy 50 up toward Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. I am trying to determine whether I can follow the CDT and/or other trails (such as Tunnel Lake Trail and Timberline Trail) in a continuous manner between Hwy 50 and the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. This is the stretch that seems to be referred to as “Collegiate Peaks West”, which was just completed in 2014. Your report from Day 44 seems to suggest there is not a way to ride this continuously.
Thank you. I am planning a trip in this area for July 2015. Any info you can provide on this stretch would be much appreciated.
Thanks again for your posts.
Jon Dicus
Minneapolis, MN
Hey Jon,
The Tunnel Lake and Timberline sections are the ‘old CDT’ and are still open to bikes. Most of Timberline is actually open to motos. That will get you to Cottonwood Pass road and actually all the way to Texas Creek. Then you’re hemmed in and a thru-route doesn’t exist.
The new section from Tincup Pass to Cottonwood Pass is still mysteriously closed to bikes. From what I can tell, no one spoke up about it and it slipped in. This trail stays on the east side of the divide, where as the old CDT route crossed at Tincup Pass and then took Timberline on the west side.
The Collegiate Peaks West route includes this new section.
I’d contact Salida ranger district and tell them you’re going to visit this summer and disappointed the new trail, outside wilderness, is not open.
Thanks for the comment. Hope you have a good time up there!
Scott