Bikepacking – Colorado Trail 2020

Well, I decided to take on bikepacking the Colorado Trail in 2020. I’ve thought about it off and on, and have biked a good portion of it already, but have never put it together in one stretch.

With the coronavirus, our time off this year for vacations has been sporadic at best. I took a look at the amount of leave I had accumulated and realized I needed to do a trip. With my wife’s knee acting up, I decided I would try to bikepack the Colorado Trail by myself – with her helping with resupply & shuttling along the way. As it was already almost September, I needed to get started ASAP. So I started researching gear, ordered and worked on the logistics.

All together, the bikepacking route for the CT is around 540 miles. This includes some ~200 miles of wilderness detour (gravel roads and highways). The plan was to have Andrea shuttle me on the detours since I’d rather not waste time on boring roads – keep me safe on singletrack. Score!

My start date was Sept 2nd. A little late in the year, but I thought it would be fine! Spoiler: it wasn’t. We ended up getting a surprise snow storm on Sept. 8th that dumped 2+ feet of snow on the collegiate peaks – right where I needed to ride! So, I ended up only getting to Camp Hale before calling it quits. The snow seemed to have melted out enough to continue ~2 weeks later, but the cyst in my foot was acting up again and I needed to schedule a procedure for it, too. Until next year, Colorado Trail… until next year.

*Starting at Waterton Canyon, September 2 – 6am*

*The first ~5 miles is a gravel road that provides access to utilities – no car traffic*

*At the top of the first big climb, I’m beginning to question some of the creature comforts I packed…*

*Segment one down, starting segment two… an absolutely miserable climb up loose decomposed granite with no water and minimal cover*

*Note to future self – fill up on way more water here than you did*

*Turns out I wasn’t hallucinating – this was indeed a black fox*

*Camp at the end of day one – what a roller coaster of a day. Segment two was miserable. A handful of flow miles in Buffalo Creek fixed me right up, though*

*A dip in the creek to clean off was welcome – but the random folks who decided cutting up a tree across the way at 9:30pm weren’t.*

*Start of day 2 – beautiful section of trail leads to the Lost Creek Wilderness (detour for bikes)*

*Starting up from Kenosha Pass on day 2 after Andrea shuttled me – don’t buy a burrito in Bailey at the cafe – rip off*

*Snack break! Really questioning the extra gear*

*The views start in earnest – the CT from Kenosha up and over Georgia Pass is an amazing ride*

*Legs are feeling it – it doesn’t look that steep but everything is steep at 12,000ft+ with a loaded down bike*

The top! Georgia Pass – beautiful. Right after this image was taken I started bombing down the trail only to find out my fuel tank bag was open… I had to backtrack a quarter mile to find all my little goodies.

*After a brutal section of technical downhill, I set up for night 2. Another long day. This area had dozens of campsites – but all of them had dozens of widow-makers. Look up before you camp, folks.*

*I believe this is before you get to Highway 9 near Breck, on my third day. I ended up getting off the trail for a zero day once I hit the highway. I did a gear re-evaluation and let my butt rest.*

Starting back up from Gold Hill, the section from Breckenridge to Copper over the Tenmile Range involves a lengthy hike-a-bike for us mere mortals. The rideable portions through the trees are beautiful, though.

*First lengthy hike-a-bike. This is steep.*

*Just popped up the top of Tenmile Range*

*The views were OK from up here. Lots of smoke, though.*

*Should have just hitched a ride up the lift!*

*Once you are past Copper Mountain itself, the Colorado Trail is amazing. This is probably my new favorite section.*

*Riding the struggle bus – still three passes to go. I probably should have set up camp but decided I wanted to push for a sufferfest on tired legs.*

*A view of the top of Janet’s Cabin – a 10th Mtn Division hut.*

*Sheep wondering why this human is so slow*

*They determined I was definitely not a threat by the slow pace I was setting.*

*And my last pass before the snow storm descended to shut my season down.*

All in all, it was a beautiful way to spend an extra long weekend. I’ve been backpacking for years, but it’s a whole different thing on a bike. I’ve learned a lot and will try again a little earlier in the season next year… hopefully with Andrea as company!

-Kyle