1. Photo may contain: Crest, Mountain, Mountain Range, Nature, Outdoors, Land, Plateau, Tundra

    Colorado Trail Redux

    Published on June 29, 2018
  2. Photo may contain: Human, People, Person, Flora, Forest, Land, Nature, Outdoors, Plant, Tree, Vegetation, Birch

    Aspen Groves

    Published on June 2, 2018

  3. Story on the Colorado Trail

    Published on October 31, 2017

  4. Tony

    Published on May 1, 2017

  5. Twin Lakes Aspen

    Published on April 29, 2017

  6. Hiker Album Cover

    Published on April 28, 2017

  7. Clear Cut Forest

    Published on April 27, 2017

  8. Knock on Snow

    Published on April 22, 2017

  9. CDT + CT Markers

    Published on April 20, 2017

  10. Honeybuns

    Published on April 19, 2017

  11. Continental Divide

    Published on April 18, 2017

  12. Heading Home

    Published on April 16, 2017

  13. Lighting Tree

    Published on April 16, 2017
  14. Photo may contain: Plant, Nature, Outdoors, Abies, Fir, Tree

    Wildflower

    Published on April 16, 2017

  15. San Juan Wildflowers

    Published on April 15, 2017

  16. Not pictured: sheep

    Published on April 15, 2017

  17. Knock and Laura

    Published on April 15, 2017

  18. Creek or waterall?

    Published on April 14, 2017

  19. Segment 26

    Published on April 14, 2017

  20. Columbine flowers

    Published on April 14, 2017

  21. Red and Green Mountains

    Published on April 13, 2017

  22. Colorado Night Sky

    Published on April 13, 2017

  23. Indian Trail Ridge

    Published on April 13, 2017

  24. Taylor Lake

    Published on April 12, 2017

  25. Morning View

    Published on April 12, 2017

  26. Hailstorm

    Published on April 12, 2017

  27. Dinner Spread

    Published on April 11, 2017

  28. Gudy’s Rest

    Published on April 11, 2017

  29. Black Slug

    Published on April 10, 2017

  30. Suddenly, Durango

    Published on April 10, 2017

  31. Snow Mesa Thunderstorm

    Published on April 9, 2017

  32. Pine Beetle Epidemic

    Published on April 9, 2017
  33. Can you find the pika hiding in the rocks? It’s easier when you can hear them squeaking and running around gathering flowers.

    Find the Pika

    Published on April 8, 2017
  34. While trudging through overgrown shrubbery covering the trail, we ran into a beautiful bull moose chomping away.

    Bull Moose

    Published on April 8, 2017

  35. Storm Pitch

    Published on April 7, 2017

  36. White-lined Sphinx

    Published on April 7, 2017
  37. The CT follows alongside, and eventually across the winding Cochetopa Creek. Lots of cows hanging out along the creek too, enjoying the fresh greens.

    Cochetopa Creek

    Published on April 5, 2017
  38. A cow herd grazing very majestically in Segment 19.

    Majestic Cows

    Published on April 5, 2017
  39. Two crows hanging out above an aspen grove.

    Crows

    Published on April 4, 2017
  40. Knock chats with some cows wandering around our camp.

    Cow Chats

    Published on April 4, 2017
  41. A totally innocuous sign on a tiny fenced off area of the prairie.

    Not ominous at all

    Published on April 3, 2017
  42. Probably the longest view of the trail ahead we had on the CT. Some where ahead of us is a group on horseback. Even crazier, we’d heard there was trail magic hiding further ahead, and we found it!

    Colorado Prairie

    Published on April 3, 2017
  43. Us: Tree, let go of that trail marker. Tree: No! (August 2, 2016)

    Colorado Trail Marker

    Published on April 2, 2017
  44. Thru hiking frequently isn’t glamorous. One of the lowlights of the Colorado Trail was walking through cattle pastures, on a path that was also frequented by horses. So yeah… there was a lot of poop. Oh, and sometimes, your water source is right in the middle of that cow patty filled pasture! Yay for water filters. (August 2, 2016)

    Cow Paths

    Published on April 1, 2017
  45. Certain sections of the CT are popular with equestrians too. We criss crossed with a large group one day, and caught up with their surprisingly large camp the next morning. (August 2, 2016)

    Horses

    Published on March 31, 2017
  46. At the end of the Collegiate West, we met back up with the Colorado Trail in Segment 15. We were really happy we took the advice to do the West instead of Collegiate East - thoroughly amazing views the whole way, but could since it’s so high in elevation, could be really nasty without good weather. (July 31, 2016)

    Collegiate West Complete

    Published on March 30, 2017
  47. Buckets, Gil and Knock taking a break after a climb. The elevation here is around 12,500 feet, near where the Continental Divide crosses the CT in Segment 5 of the Collegiate West. (July 30, 2016)

    Buckets, Gil and Knock taking a break after a climb

    Published on March 29, 2017
  48. Really glad we got more experience at high elevations above tree line in Coloroado! Expecting to see a lot more of this kind of environment on the PCT this summer. (July 30, 2016)

    Knock and Colorado

    Published on March 28, 2017
  49. Knock hiking just north of the Continental Divide in Segment 5 of the Collegiate West. (July 30, 2016)

    Collegiate West Segment 5

    Published on March 27, 2017
  50. Buckets and Gil hiking near Bald Mountain in Segment 5 of the Collegiate West. (July 30, 2016)

    Bald Mountain

    Published on March 25, 2017
  51. Camping with Buckets and Gil at Boss Lake in Segment 5 of the Collegiate West. (July 29, 2016)

    Boss Lake

    Published on March 24, 2017
  52. Knock shimmying across a closed bridge at the beginning of Segment 5 of the Collegiate West. (July 29, 2016)

    Bridge Closed

    Published on February 16, 2017
  53. Gil, Buckets and Knock in Segment 4 of the Collegiate West. (July 29, 2016)

    Collegiate West Segment 4

    Published on February 15, 2017
  54. Knock hiking in Segment 4 of the Collegiate West with Gil and Buckets. We hiked alone for most of the CT, so we really enjoyed our days hiking with them! (July 29, 2016)

    Hikers Assemble

    Published on February 14, 2017
  55. Early on in Segment 3 of Collegiate West, we came across a sizable bit of snow, and I decided it would be fun to try and glissade down 10 feet or so. It was pretty fun, until I went over some rocks. Not pictured is the resulting gash on the outside of my thigh that we had to immediately improvise a bandage for. Six months later, I still have a pretty good scar there. (July 27, 2016)

    Glissade Incident

    Published on February 13, 2017
  56. Segment 3 of the Collegiate West was a day we’d been nervously anticipating for a while. It’s 15.9 miles long, and almost entirely above 12,000 feet. The whole thing is above tree line, so the only option is to do it all in go. Fortunately, we had great weather. Started with beautiful blue skies, and the clouds that did move in didn’t bring rain. Hiking above tree line is a weird thing. Bad weather moves in fast, so even when things look good, I’m nervous. But the sights and the beauty of it is incredible. Our only other experience being exposed for this long was the Presidential range on the White Mountains. A lot of days of hiking are forgotten or blend together, but these are two that I feel like I remember every hour of. (July 28, 2016)

    Collegiate West Segment 3

    Published on September 22, 2016
  57. Knock climbing up Cottonwood Pass. The Collegiate Peaks Wilderness ends in a broad alpine meadow, full of wildflowers. Cottonwood Pass is accessible by car, so I was a little surprised nobody else was hiking here on such a beautiful day. (July 27, 2016)

    Collegiate Peaks Wilderness

    Published on September 21, 2016
  58. Looking south from Lake Ann Pass, you can see Lake Ann nestled among the mountains.

    Lake Ann Pass

    Published on September 19, 2016
  59. My favorite wildflower we came across - skypilot! Ella told us about this flower so we’d been keeping an eye out for it. They only grow above 10,000 feet, and seem to be rarer than most of the wildflowers - we only saw them once on our hike. (July 26, 2016)

    Skypilot

    Published on September 17, 2016
  60. Tarp Camping

    Tarp Camping

    Published on September 7, 2016
  61. Collegiate Peak Wilderness

    Collegiate Peak Wilderness

    Published on September 6, 2016
  62. Hope Pass

    Hope Pass

    Published on September 4, 2016
  63. The Colorado Trail spends 8 miles or so circumnavigating Twin Lakes. A lot of it is road walking, but there are some cool sights, houses and yurts peppered along the way.

    Twin Lakes Yurt

    Published on September 3, 2016
  64. Knock rips apart our giant lump of homemade dried fruit to put in tortilla + peanut butter + trail mix dessert wraps for lunch. Note we are hiding under the tarp for lunch since there was a looming storm, and we weren’t excited to hike up Hope Pass in bad weather.

    Trail Lunch

    Published on September 2, 2016
  65. Sharing couscous with Nightmare and Pine Cone Mama in Twin Lakes.

    Twin Lakes Resuppy

    Published on September 1, 2016
  66. A hiker and his dog we met just south of the Tennessee Pass Trailhead. We leap frogged back and forth on the trail for a bit, and this dog just kept running between us, checking it out, veering off to check out some smells, then sprinting back to other person. Being a hiking dog sounds exhausting.

    Tennessee Pass Trailhead

    Published on August 30, 2016
  67. A ptarmigan chirps next to the trail, trying to distract us from her chicks. In the summer they are brown to match the rocks, and moult to white in the winter to match the snow.

    Ptarmigan

    Published on August 29, 2016
  68. Abandoned bunkers at Camp Hale, where the 10th Mountain Division trained during World War II. Note the warning sign for unexploded ordinances in the area.

    Camp Hale Bunkers

    Published on August 28, 2016
  69. Wildflowers and vistas seen coming down Kokomo Pass. Not pictured are the flies EVERYWHERE.

    Kokomo Pass

    Published on August 27, 2016
  70. Our first marmot sighting in Colorado! These little guys are common above timberline. They run around the rocks squeaking a lot, earning them the wonderful nickname “whistlepigs”.

    Marmot

    Published on August 26, 2016
  71. Janet’s cabin pokes from above the treeline on Searle Pass.

    Janet’s Cabin

    Published on August 24, 2016
  72. Knock climbing Searle Pass, near Copper Mountain.

    Climbing Searle Pass

    Published on August 24, 2016
  73. Hikers walking the switchbacks into Breckenridge.

    Breckenridge switchbacks

    Published on July 25, 2016
  74. A moose grazing in the forest as we approach Breckenridge.

    Moose!

    Published on July 24, 2016
  75. A stretch of trail in Segment 6 where trees have been clear cut due to the pine beetle epidemic.

    Pine beetles

    Published on July 24, 2016
  76. Cute (creepy?) gnomes someone has decorated the trail with on Segment 6.

    Gnomes

    Published on July 24, 2016
  77. Part of our new gear is a two person net tent from Yama Mountain Gear - lightweight and helps keeps the mosquitos away.

    Yama Net Tent

    Published on July 24, 2016
  78. Knock at Kenosha Pass - our first venture above treeline on the Colorado Trail.

    Kenosha Pass

    Published on July 23, 2016

  79. Wildflowers!

    Published on July 23, 2016
  80. Cattle grazing in a six mile stretch of meadow in Segment 4.

    Segment 4 - Cattle

    Published on July 23, 2016
  81. Aspens in Segment 3

    First Aspen Grove

    Published on July 23, 2016
  82. Walking back from Leadville urgent care.

    It’s not lupus

    Published on July 22, 2016
  83. Durango - an adorable pack llama we met in Segment 3.

    Durango the Llama

    Published on July 22, 2016
  84. Wildflowers in the Segment 2 burn area.

    Wildflowers in the Segment 2 burn area

    Published on July 22, 2016
  85. Umbrellas proved very useful in Segment 2, which features a waterless ten mile stretch through a burn area.

    Burn Area

    Published on July 22, 2016
  86. The South Platte River, marking the end of Segment 1.

    South Platte River

    Published on July 22, 2016
  87. To my surprise, Colorado flora includes cactuses.

    Cactuses in Colorado

    Published on July 21, 2016
  88. Waterton Canyon in Segment 1 of the Colorado Trail.

    Waterton Canyon

    Published on July 21, 2016
  89. A herd of long horn sheep graze in Waterton Canyon.

    Long horn sheep in Waterton Canyon

    Published on July 21, 2016
  90. Waterton Canyon trailhead with Scout and Burnout Flat People

    Segments 1-5, Colorado Trail

    Published on July 16, 2016
  91. New super feet insoles and galaxy print gaiters for Honeybuns.

    Feet are ready

    Published on July 11, 2016
  92. This REI is really quite large

    Retail adventures in Denver (i.e. buying new spoons and other stuff we forgot)

    Published on July 9, 2016
  93. En route to Denver

    Postcards - like Snapchat, but slower

    Published on July 8, 2016
  94. Testing out of new shelter - a tarp and net tent combo.

    “How We’re Spending Our Summer Vacation”

    Published on July 6, 2016