This last week I've been visiting A&T, two friends who recently transplanted from the UK to Denver, Colorado. After a few days they grew fed up of my drunken midnight rampages through the house and my endless racial tirades, and decided to drug me, tie me up, drive me a few miles outside the city and dump me at the start of the Colorado Trail. They told me to bugger off and learn some respect, and said they might pick me up three days down the trail if they felt like it.
It was a desperate situation. I had nothing to survive with except a tent, sleeping bag, food, water filter, trowel, pocket knife, first aid kit, compass, map, guide book and clothing. So I suppose it wasn't that desperate really.
I've done some hiking in the UK before. Here are the Top Ten ways hiking the first three segments of the CT was different from my UK hiking experience.
- Bears
- Altitude (starting at 5,000 ft and finishing at 8,000 feet, twice the altitude of Ben Nevis)
- Seeing lots of Americans (for the first day)
- Seeing hardly anyone at all (for the second and third days)
- Bears
- No running water or toilet facilities (which is where the water filter and trowel come in)
- No shops
- Bears
- It's very hard to get lost
- Bears
Did I already mention they have bears?
The CT also has mountain lions (click to zoom).
And rattlesnakes.
On the plus side, it has gorgeous views:
And biting political commentary. Trailheads do actually have occasional public toilets, but I took one look inside this example, and decided I was happier shitting in the woods.
Another gorgeous view:
The second segment passes through a huge swathe of forest that was destroyed by wildfire in 1996. This was a tough hike, because of the stiff climbing, the total lack of water sources, and the lack of shade from the searing sun as one walks through post-apocalyptic desolation. On the other hand, having no trees means that it was easier to spot attacking bears.
My camp for the second day, hunkered down between two boulders (I checked the crevices for rattlesnakes, though not too closely).
See if you can get my food now, you stupid bears.
My first clear view of the Continental Divide, three days hiking away - not this trip, though.
I saw one stile in 40 miles.
This was one piece of trail advice I took for granted:
In my brief time on the CT I didn't see a single bear, despite smearing myself in honey every night. Instead I saw some amazing views and got some appreciation of the peace and solitude that hiking over here can bring.
One of the things which impressed me most was how well-kept the CT is - I lost the trail only once, but that was my own fault for not paying attention to a perfectly obvious sign. Ironically enough, it's far easier to get lost hiking in England, where you often have to negotiate a tangle of different public footpaths, than in a wilderness like the Colorado Rockies, where you pretty much have just one trail going through the woods for miles. The trail maintenance and signage is mostly down to CT volunteers who 'adopt' a portion of the trail and go out twice a year to clear away fallen trees, replace culverts and repair erosion damage. I was lucky enough to meet one at the end of my hike, so I could thank her in person.
In three days I did less than 10% of the whole CT. It has 28 segments, is 485 miles long, and stretches from Denver all the way to Durango, regularly reaching elevations of 12,000 feet. I reckon I might be able to tackle the whole thing over five weeks next June-July. If anyone fancies coming along, let me know.
A&T did pick me up at the end of the third day. I promised not to act like such a jerk again.
