From the Sawatch to the San Juans

Colorado Trail Days 21-24 – Monarch Pass to Eddiesvale Trailhead, 74 miles

Not every mile of every trail can be the most scenic. Sometimes to get from one gorgeous mountain range to another you have to transition through forests and valleys. This next section of trail was more about finding the beauty in the smaller things, and just enjoying the process of walking with friends.

It definitely helped that I was feeling more well-rested after having taken a couple of days off in the Salida area. After bailing out of the Collegiate West route due to weather my hiking partner and I decided to jump a bit ahead and get back on trail at Monarch Pass.

The first eight miles or so out of Monarch Pass were still part of the Collegiate West route and stayed at and above tree line. It was a cloudy and an incredibly windy morning which added a bit more challenge to the day, but was also very invigorating! It was a Saturday morning and apparently a very popular section of trail for mountain bikers. We had to stop and step aside for dozens and dozens of cyclists. A lot of them get dropped off by a shuttle at the pass and cycle their way back towards Salida through the mountains.

About 10 miles along we decided to break for lunch. The clouds were threatening rain so we took shelter in an old cow herders cabin, built about a hundred years ago and maintained for snowmobilers.

This was also the first area of the Colorado Trail we’d hiked that motor bikes were permitted. In fact it’s the first trail I’ve ever hiked where motor vehicles are permitted.

We’d had to step aside for a handful in the morning and then kept an ear open for a few more through the afternoon.

Unfortunately some of the trail that afternoon was a bit more chewed up and rocky than we’d gotten used to, most likely because of the motor bike use. I was a bit grumpy about that, knowing how much forest road and two-track there is in the area for them to enjoy. Neither the PCT nor the AT allow motor vehicles on the trails. It would be nice to see more of the CT preserved in the same way.

The next day saw us dropping off the forested ridges and making our way through some beautiful meadows and open grasslands. It was great to look back and see the now-distant peaks of the Sawatch mountains.

Another challenge to this section of trail was the lack of good water sources. We were actually quite lucky in that all the recent rains kept most of the water sources flowing even if they were a distance apart. On the second day in this section we had a 12-mile dry section to manage through with a very low flowing creek to pull from at the end. It would be a much more challenging section in a dry year.

The third day started out cool and cloudy but was brightened by wild raspberries and trail magic. The trail in the first couple miles of the morning was lined with raspberry bushes all filled with perfectly ripe and juicy gems. Wild raspberries are my favorite to forage. We definitely took our time and enjoyed as many as we could!

Late morning we dropped out of the forest into a meadow where a sign saying “Jolly’s Trail Magic” was prominently displayed, pointing to a camper-bus. We were greeted by Jolly Rancher, a retiree who’d hiked the CT in 2017. He loved giving back to the hiker community by spending a week camped near trail and cooking fresh food for the hikers coming through.

There was fresh fruit, snacks, fresh coffee and delicious pancakes for us to enjoy. We ended up staying almost two hours and left feeling refueled in body and soul. The kindness of the community can be overwhelming!

We had another waterless stretch that afternoon but thankfully the trail was really easy, mostly following forest and jeep roads.

Our camp for the night was on the edge of a beautiful meadow where we enjoyed an incredible sunset.

On the fourth day of this section we finally got our eyes on the prize. We got a glimpse of San Luis Peak in the distance which stands at the north end of the San Juan mountain range – our destination for the end of the day.

Almost the entire day was spent walking jeep road and 4×4 track and the miles flew by. We spent a lot of the day crossing through grasslands at the edge of the Cochetopa Valley.

By early afternoon we were headed through the meadows of Cochetopa Creek which was dammed many times over by local beavers. We took a long break by the creek and I managed to get fully into the cool waters for a quick bath.

The last few miles of the day continued to follow the creek but stayed on the slopes a bit above it.

We reached a trailhead at which point my plans diverged from my little trail family’s. I had a good friend meeting me at the trailhead and I’d decided to enjoy a couple nights off trail with him. My trail family would continue along the trail past San Luis Mountain and over Snow Mesa and would meet me in the town of Lake City in two days time.

Unbeknownst to either me or my friend the trailhead he was picking me up at was a nearly two-hour drive down forest roads. Thankfully he arrived safely and within our rendezvous window and we headed out towards Gunnison for the night.