This is the second part of my Colorado Trail trip in August covering miles 117 to 263 between Copper Mountain and Monarch Pass. To read about the first part covering the first 117 miles of the trail, visit
Colorado Trail Thru Hike Part 1.
I happily left the weekend bustle of Copper Mountain. After leaving the ski trails and resort infrastructure, the trail moved into a high meadow. While the day was fairly nice, the daily cloud cover started to move in the afternoon. Not long after the clouds started to build, the thunder and lightning moved in.
At this point, I was still relatively low in elevation with plenty of tree cover along the meadow. When it started to rain, I took refuge under large trees, staying mostly dry. Like many storms in the mountains, small hail also fell. I ran into a dilemma. It was only early afternoon with plenty of light left. However, I had a lengthy stretch ahead that traversed a four mile stretch above treeline. If I kept hiking for the day, there was a good chance of catching a storm above treeline, exposed to lightning.
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| Meadow south of Copper Mountain |
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| Reaching treeline |
After an hour or so, the storm seemed to let up and the clouds began to break. I decided to take my chances and hope for no more storms. Clouds began to move in as I approached treeline. I made my way above treeline and started to hear thunder. At this point, I hoped it stayed in the distance. Unfortunately, the higher I climbed, the closer the storm approached. I hoped that I could crest Searle Pass and possibly lose elevation beyond the pass.
While I was getting more nervous as I climbed higher with an approaching storm, I passed another hiker that didn't seemed to fazed. He was more interested in the photogenic marmots that lingered near the trail. I joked with the hiker that the marmots were waiting for us to get struck by lightning so they could chew the salt off of our gear.
I made it a few hundred feet past the 12,000' crest of Searle Pass when the rain moved in. I quickly put on my rain gear. At 12,000', the air was chilly enough before the rain fell. I soon realized the trail wasn't going to lose any elevation. The visibility decreased as I hiked through the dropping cloud ceiling. With no cover for miles, I dug in and picked up the pace to get through the terrible conditions and to stay warm. A few times, the rain mixed in with sleet. It was cold, wet, and windy.
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| Clouds moved in |
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| A break in the rain |
I didn't stop for the next several miles. I ate and drank on the move to stay warm. The rain never entirely stopped, but occasionally slowed to a drizzle. The wind remained constant. At places the trail became a stream. The trail stayed above 12,000' for more than three miles. I crested the high point at Elk Ridge after three miles when the rain stopped and the clouds lifted as I descended to Kokomo Pass.
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| The clouds blowing off the ridge |
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| Kokomo Pass |
I was happy to drop off of Kokomo Pass. The trail lost elevation fairly quickly and I planned on descending nearly 2,000' to camp for the night. My goal was to camp near Cataract Creek about four miles below Kokomo Pass. I made it about a mile before my planned stop for the night when the rain started back up. No thunderstorm at least, but it was a steady rain. I ended up hiking my longest day so far on the trail at 25.0 miles. I felt drained after dodging lightning above treeline and struggling to stay warm in the afternoon.
I camped alone along Cataract Creek. I set up camp quickly in the rain. I changed into dry clothes and crawled in my sleeping bag soon after eating. It ended up raining most of the night.
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| Enjoying the views on the descent |
Leaving Cataract Creek, the trail travels through Camp Hale, a World War II era training facility for the 10th Mountain Division. A few concrete bunkers still remain. The trail passes through fields to avoid the road in the area. With the rain overnight, my lower half was soaked in a few minutes hiking through the high grass.
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| Cataract Falls |
I originally planned on hitching into Leadville from Tennessee Pass. I hadn't showered in eight days and was running low on food. Having lived in the area, I knew the Leadville 100 races were held in August. Since it was Saturday, I knew the likelihood of finding a space in the hostel in Leadville was unlikely if it was a race weekend. I passed a guy camping near Camp Hale that informed me it was the Leadville 100 bike race weekend. I assessed my food situation and decided I had enough food to make it to Twin Lakes, where I could also access Leadville.
After crossing Tennessee Pass, the trail enters the Holy Cross Wilderness for a few miles. While the Holy Cross Wilderness seems to be overlooked apart from its namesake peak, the trail passed through a pretty area. The trail never quite climbed above treeline, but had several nice views from ridges and meadows. It was a Saturday, and passed quite a few people out for the weekend.
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| Entering Holy Cross Wilderness |
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| Typical scenery in the Holy Cross Wilderness |
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| Lots of good view in the open terrain |
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| Porcupine Lake |
I camped by Busk Creek. I shared the area with a father and son out for a weekend trip. Despite the rough weather the day before, the day turned out quite nice with no more than a sprinkle. I headed into my tent pretty early, around 7PM. Although it didn't look threatening, by 730PM it started raining. It ended up raining about eight hours. About 5AM, I was awaken by a thunderous crash. My guess is a tree fell nearby.
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| Busk Creek |
I hit the trail by 655AM the next day. By 7AM it started raining lasteing about two hours. So much for dry feet. At this point I was only 20 miles to Twin Lakes and CO 82, where I would hitch into Leadville for a shower and resupply. Now Sunday, I was hoping most of the Leadville 100 crowd cleared out.
After the rain let up, the day turned out nice. I passed a lot of day hikers. The trail passes through the Mount Massive Wilderness and past the trails for the highest two mountain in Colorado, Elbert and Massive. Having climbed both before, I wasn't interested in the side trip. Not only did I have town on my mind, but it appeared that the two mountains had a dusting of snow from the overnight precipitation.
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| Entering Mount Massive Wilderness |
With town on my mind, I hiked 19.9 miles by 145PM. I cut my food close, having only three granola bars left in my pack. With the weekend traffic, I had a ride into Leadville within 15 minutes. I nearly didn't get a room though. When I originally checked the hostel, it was fully booked. I had trouble with my phone service and Puma was able to secure me a room online after a last minute cancelation. Leadville still seemed fairly crowded after the bike race. I was happy to get a shower for the first time in about 10 days.
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| Great views near Twin Lakes |
Happy to have showered, done laundry, and dry my tent; I was happy to leave Leadville the next morning. Back on the trail I hiked around Twin Lakes. From here Colorado Trail thru hikers have two options. You can hike the Collegiate East or Collegiate West. The East follows a lower route with less views and more travel through the forest. The West travels over long stretches above treeline with abundant alpine scenery. While the West is far more scenic, it's also exposed, which can be a problem during stormy weather. Given the weather pattern lately, stormy weather was a real risk.
I had hiked both the Collegiate East and West in 2016. The two routes can be combined to form a 160 mile loop called the Collegiate Loop. On that hike I endured excessive rain. I wanted to hike the Collegiate West with better conditions than the 2016 hike, so I was willing to take my chances with bad weather. For pictures of the Collegiate East, more photos of the Collegiate West, and my trip report from my Collegiate Loop trip in 2016, go to my original post on that hike at
Backpacking the Collegiate Loop. The Collegiate West seemed to be the more popular choice among thru hikers.
The trail hikes along the shoreline of the Twin Lakes for a fairly long time while taking in the views of the surrounding mountains. At one point the trail passes by a recent burn from two months earlier that actually closed the trail for a while. It's interesting to see the trail act as a fire break. One side of the trail was burned, the other wasn't.
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| Along the shoreline of Twin Lakes |
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| Recent fire damage |
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| Rushing water in Wills Gulch |
The alpine scenery starts pretty quickly on the Collegiate West You reach treeline in the first seven miles. At 7.5 miles you climb to the 12,548' crest of Hope Pass, the highest point so far on the trail. Just to keep things interesting, it began to thunder as I got close to Hope Pass. While the views from the pass are impressive, I didn't care to linger with the thunder nearby.
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| Back above treeline |
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| Hope Pass views |
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| Another view from Hope Pass |
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| The trail near the pass |
Leaving Hope Pass the trail drops in elevation pretty quickly. A I dropped into the forest, the storm moved away and I didn't see any rain. I spent the night near the North Fork of Clear Creek.
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| Descending from Hope Pass |
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| The trail avoids the most rugged terrain |
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It's easy hiking with the good views
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I was awakened before dawn to some rainfall. The rain cleared by the time I got up for the day, but was enough to pack a wet tent. The clouds lingered most of the morning.
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Deer outside my tent, I couldn't get good focus
in the low morning light |
The trail enters the Collegiate Peak Wilderness. I followed a series of sparsely wooded meadows with lots of nice views of the surrounding mountains. This is one of my favorite stretches of the Collegiate West. The trail travels below 14er Huron Peak and the jagged peaks of the Three Apostles.
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| Great scenery from open meadows |
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| Three Apostles |
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| Entering the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness |
The trail climbs to the scenic Lake Ann that sits above treeline at 12,588' Lake Ann Pass. Along the way, several waterfalls drop close to the trail. As I gained elevation the clouds dropped onto the surrounding peaks. I was afraid the pass would be socked in by the time I reached it.
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| The clouds were dropping |
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| I left the trail to get this waterfall pic |
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| Trailside cascade |
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| Looking over Lake Ann |
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| Approaching the pass |
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| Looking back at Huron |
As I approached the pass, it became quite cold. The wind picked up and the clouds obscured the sun. There was still some lingering snow along the trail. At least the pass was below the clouds. It started to rain as I reached the pass. I quickly put on my rain gear. With the cold temperatures, gusty winds, and rain; I didn't stick around too long. Even with clouds covering the surrounding peaks, the view is quite impressive.
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| The clouds just barely at a nearby summit |
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| View near the pass |
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| Lingering snow by the trail |
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| Looking into Taylor Park |
Since my Collegiate Loop trip in 2016, the Collegiate West had a new reroute that opened in the summer. The new route avoided the much lower Timberline Trail and utilized new tread for a more direct route to Prospector Gulch. The old route followed a trail that allows dirt bike traffic and large areas open to cattle grazing. The new route stays at or above treeline with much better views.
I stopped for a snack along the new route. almost immediately I had a very social marmot investigate what I was up to. It sat on the rocks just feet from me. Eventually I had to scare it away when it got too close to my pack. They are known to seek out the salt on hiking equipment. I didn't want it to chew my pack.
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| Curious marmot |
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| Nice scenery along the new stretch of trail |
The rain during the descent didn't last long, but it never really cleared. I had a planned destination for the night. Within a few miles of my planned camping spot, a thunderstorm moved in with the usual accompanying hail. Knowing that I would soon be in meadows and more exposed, I waited out the storm under the cover of the trees. The lightning was getting pretty close. I waited over an hour before the storm finally moved on, but stayed mostly dry. I made it most of the way to my campsite before a light rain fell again. Hiking through the grassy meadow, my lower half was pretty wet by the time I stopped for the day. The sky finally cleared before dark. my campsite was just below treeline at over 11,600' a couple miles north of Cottonwood Pass and pretty chilly.
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| View after the storm passed |
I woke up to a clear but cool morning. With the next 18 or so miles at or above treeline I was hoping for a good day. During my 2016 hike through this section, I got caught in a cold rain for the day that was miserable. Fortunately the day turned out pretty nice. In the morning, low clouds socked in Taylor Park to the west, which made for a neat view. As the morning progressed, those clouds moved over the trail and socked it in briefly. For the most part the day was beautiful. With the section staying above treeline for so long, the scenery is quite pretty.
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| View near Cottonwood Pass |
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| Long stretch above treeline |
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| The view would stay like this most of the day |
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| Generally the trail was fairly easy tread |
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| Looking down on a small pond |
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| Undercast in Taylor Park |
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| Much better weather than my last time here |
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| Ptarmigan |
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| Another small alpine tarn |
I had a much better experience on this section of trail than my 2016 trip. In 2016 I had barely any views and felt like hypothermia was a real possibility. This time I had endless views. There were still some lingering wildflowers along the trail as well. I encountered a few minutes of rain late in the day, but it cleared by the time I reached my camping spot for the night along Tincup Pass Road. The skies cleared by the time I reached the road. For the second night in a row I camped with a Collegiate Loop backpacker.
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| Flowers in a meadow |
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By mid August most flowers were past
their prime |
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| One of the best sections of flowers still blooming |
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| Climbing away from the flowery meadow |
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| One last stand of indian paintbrush |
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This entire section was socked in and rainy
when I hiked it in 2016 |
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| A more rugged stretch |
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| View from an unnamed pass |
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| Traveling just below the Continental Divide |
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| No shortage of grand views |
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| Pleasant hiking through the tundra |
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| A young marmot |
I woke up to frost in the meadow by my campsite. I planned on hiking a relatively easy day to Hunt Lake. The morning started out beautifully without a cloud in the sky. The trail climbs back to the Continental Divide and climbs to over 12,000'. The trail travels a long stretch above treeline on pretty easy terrain before losing some elevation in Tunnel Gulch on an old rail grade.
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| Hiking in the morning |
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| Looking forward to the sun on a chilly morning |
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| Enjoying a cloudless morning |
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| Yet another enjoyable section of tundra |
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| Bluebird skies |
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| string of unnamed 12,000' peaks |
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| Hiking the old rail bed |
The trail stays above 11,000' before climbing back above treeline and over 12,000' at Chalk Creek Pass. With numerous alpine meadows and lakes, this section of trail is quite pretty. I encountered some clouds by early afternoon by Hancock Lake and Chalk Creek Pass with cold gusty winds, but the rain held off.
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I enjoyed the Collegiate West much more
with the great weather |
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| A brief section of talus |
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| Approaching Hancock Lake |
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| Even the marmots enjoy the scenery |
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| Until they realize I am nearby |
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| Hancock Lake |
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| Looking north form Chalk Creek Pass |
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| Looking south |
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| More pleasant hiking |
I descended the south side of Chalk Creek Pass and left the wind behind. The trail passes a series of small alpine lakes south of the pass with several scree and talus fields. One massive talus field rises thousands of feet above the trail on Mt. Aetna.
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| String of ponds south of Chalk Creek Pass |
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| Rough stretch of talus |
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| Long talus slope below Aetna |
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| Traversing the talus |
One unavoidable pain of hiking is the PUD, or pointless up and down. The trail passes a forest service road as it nears the Boss Lake trailhead. To avoid the road, the trail climbed away from the road into the forest. The trail gains elevation over a long series of switchbacks before dropping back on another long series of switchbacks back to the road. I'm not sure of the distance or elevation gain, but it was definitely over a mile and hundreds of feet of climbing to avoid what seemed to be a few hundred feet of dirt forest service road. I heard other hikers talk about this PUD for the rest of the trail.
I made great time and miles for the day. I stopped for lunch before 1PM and already hike 17 miles. With my planned campsite of Hunt Lake only two miles ahead, I had a change of plans. Monarch Pass was about 11 miles ahead. I knew I had enough light to make it there before dark. When I lived in Colorado, I lived just outside of Salida and planned on visiting some friends there. My friend Rick Adams lives just a few miles below Monarch Pass and offered me a place to stay. I now had town fever.
The last 11 miles were pretty tough. From the Boss Lake trailhead, the trail climbs back to the Continental Divide. The trail gains over 2,000' as it reaches over 12,500' in elevation. There are numerous little ups and downs along the way and the trail is quite rugged and rocky as it gains the Divide.
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| Boss Lake |
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| Hunt Lake |
The trail is also extremely pretty. It passes several lakes including Boss and Hunt Lakes and several unnamed tarns above treeline. The trail follows the Continental Divide above treeline for over eight miles enroute to Monarch Pass.
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| Hunt Lake |
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| Hunt Lake |
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| Unnamed tarn |
I had hiked this area a couple times in the past. Both times the Divide was socked in the clouds. This time I was blessed with a beautiful day. I was happy to look into the Arkansas Valley toward Salida. I could just barely make out S Mountain, the small hill in Salida with a big "S" on it that I have mountain biked many times while living there.
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| View toward Salida |
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| Gaining the Divide |
Once on the Divide, I was blasted by strong winds. It was a warm, clear day though and a small price to pay to actually have a view for the first time on that ridge after striking out twice in the past. I did have one strange animal encounter however. As usual, marmots and pikas were milling about above treeline. At one point I could see a pika poking its head out of a hole along the trail. The pika decided to run as I passed rather than retreat into the hole. It ran directly in my path and I accidentally kicked the little guy, sending it somersaulting. It sat motionless along the trail afterwards. I touched it with my hiking pole and it squeaked at me but didn't run I'm hoping it was just stunned or scared and not injured.
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| Hiking toward Bald Mountain |
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| Enjoying the open alpine terrain |
The final couple miles to Monarch Pass aren't as pretty. The trail runs through Monarch Mountain ski area. The time through the ski area seems to linger. They were actively working near the trail on a logging project. It was a little tricky knowing where the trail turned until you left the ski area.
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| Cruising along the crest |
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| Approaching Monarch Mountain ski area |
As I neared the pass, I called Rick. He was willing to pick me up at the pass and take me into town for food. I reached the pass a little after 6PM. Knowing I had town food ahead, I didn't eat much on trail. I finished the day with 27.9 miles. I ate only about 1400 calories while on trail. I was quite hungry by the time Rick picked me up. He took me to Domino's. I easily devoured a large pizza.
I took a zero day in Salida. I caught up with a friend, Russell Morgan. I ate a Thai meal and a large burrito. Rick and his wife Elisa made dinner in the evening. The next morning Rick even made me breakfast and took me back to Monarch Pass. By that point I hike about 263 miles. It was nice to have a short respite from the trail to get a calorie boost and visit with friends. It was also nice to see Salida for the first time in more than five years. I enjoyed living in that area.
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