Why I’m Section Hiking the Colorado Trail: a Haiku

No vacation time

Means taking a poo outside

Just on the weekends

 

…I think I summed it up pretty well there. But in all seriousness, since I moved to Denver my sister and I have talked about hiking the Colorado Trail. Thru-hiking is out of the question for me with my current job. So here I am in the process of planning my section hike. I’ve hiked and backpacked before so it seems simple enough to plan, right?

So far, getting to and from the trail seems to be the major source of my headaches.

Section hiking is kind of a hilarious concept when you break it down. I’m going to drop my car off at our planned end. My sister will drive us from there to our starting point on the trail. Then we walk from one car to the next, only to have to drive back to the beginning of the section to retrieve the second car. WHAT. Worth it though I think. Might be time to make some friends along the route who can double as a taxi service. 

I’ve looked at sections 1-5 of the trail, and plan to start sections 1 and 2 the first two weeks of May. The quicker I accepted my fate as a long haul uber driver, the more excited I’ve become to actually start the trail. Until I remember the weight of all of the equipment that I currently have.

The only time I’ve backpacked was when I was living in New England.

Some friends and I wanted to do the Bondcliff Traverse through the Pemigewasset wilderness (it can be done in one day but we wanted to make it an overnight trip for fun). I was so focused on getting all the gear I needed that I honestly didn’t do a lot of research. Made absolutely NO effort to replace some of the bulkier items from a camping package I bought a few years ago at REI.  Did not AT ALL consider the weight of the gear that I was planning on bringing. Why is this important? Well, when you take your pack off and feel like your spine decompresses and you grow an inch or two? Probably should lighten the load. 

As I plan my section hike, I feel like the first 2 or 3 weekends will be like shakedown hikes. I at least know it’s possible to use the equipment I already own, but dear Lord am I frantically searching for lighter alternatives that won’t break the bank. To be honest I’ll probably still pack out an entire jar of peanut butter because why the hell not. Delicious and nutritious! So if I’m not going to reduce the weight of my food I figure I better start looking at my sleeping bag or tent to see where I could cut some pounds. Any suggestions are much appreciated – my current sleeping bag takes up about 1/2 of my 50L pack…

Realistically if I wanted to go ahead and start the trail tomorrow I very well could.

Dialing in my gear will make the experience better, but the trail has always been a place where I could decompress and forget about real life for a couple of hours. While thru-hiking may be out of the picture, I’m itching to get out on the Colorado Trail even just one weekend at a time.

I can’t imagine a better way to spend my weekends: eat, walk, shit in the woods, sleep, repeat.  

Affiliate Disclosure

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek's ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!

To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.

Comments 2

  • Ruth Morley : Apr 22nd

    I’m very excited for you as you plan your section hike of the CT! Our paths might cross, as I start my SOBO thru-hike of that trail starting the last week of July. I lived in Creede as a child, can’t wait to double zero there.

    RE: the self shuttling with cars, I’m doing something similar on my multi-year solo section hike of Ohio’s Buckeye Trail, although with my own e-bike, not a car. Check out my posts from last summer and fall here on the Trek. It works. Just think of it as adding to the uniqueness of this adventure. Good for you for figuring out a way to do this! As I like to say, “Make plans, not excuses.”

    Reply

What Do You Think?