I can’t Triple Crown, so I’m Triple Tiara-ing instead

Never heard of the Triple Tiara? Neither had I until I realized I’d already started hiking it.

The Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail – the fantasy of thru-hiking the Triple Crown has a choke hold on me. But the reality of disappearing into the mountains for that long is a non-starter at this time in my life. Bills, a job, and my partner who would support me doing it aside, I’m pretty sure my dog would petition hard to find a replacement human for me if I dared even suggest the idea.

And so I decided doing shorter, but still epic thru-hikes was gonna be enough to scratch the itch for me, starting with the Colorado Trail, a trail I’ve been obsessed with doing since 2017 when I discovered it while living in Colorado. 

How I learned about the Triple Tiara

For years, I’ve had thru-hiking the CT on my “I will freaking do this someday before I die” list. Finally, last summer I made it happen. And I became hooked. Weeks spent hiking my way along the CT which overlaps some of the most beautiful parts of the CDT is an experience I’ll never forget. 

After completing the CT, I immediately started researching how to secure a tough-to-get permit out of Yosemite for the JMT so I could do another thru-hike in my now-home state of California. I wanted to score a permit out of Yosemite but know landing one through the lottery system tends to be pretty damn impossible with tons of people applying for it annually. Nervous it just wasn’t gonna happen for me, I started researching other must-do thru-hikes like the CT in the US, when I stumbled across a post on The Trek from 2017 – “The Triple Crown of Backpacking: A “Mini” by JIM RAHTZ.

The post outlined that for those of us who just aren’t able to Triple Crown, there’s a more achievable version that replaces the AT with the Long Trail in Vermont, the CDT with the Colorado Trail in Colorado, and the PCT with the John Muir Trail in California. All three trails share significant overlapping mileage with their longer, more famous versions. A way-in for those of us who can’t set aside months at a time for multiple years to achieve but still want to get to experience some of what many describe as the best parts of those longer trails.

Triple Tiara, I’m comin’ for ya

So I’ve decided to go for it. Having already completed the CT last summer, I’m doing the JMT this summer and next summer, the Long Trail.

In the coming weeks, I’m gonna be sharing a bit of my experience from last summer through hiking part 1 of the Triple Tiara, the CT, along with sharing part 2, my thru-hike of the JMT that officially starts Aug 4th.

Worth noting as you follow along, heed Jim Rahtz’s closing warning from his 2017 article. “Once you pick one and hike it, your bucket list may get longer. Perhaps it will even include the Triple Crown; just a Junior Version.” I must admit, he was right. Here I am, attempting the Triple Tiara. Just maybe those of you who, like me, can’t Triple Crown will end up here with me too.