Segment 8 - Cross-country ski jaunt

March 22, 2011


Colorado Trail/Continental Divide Trail at Tennessee Pass - northbound









Skiied 3 hours. Started from Tennessee Pass, followed Mitchell Creek loop trail for 2.6 miles then turned back. I need bigger boots...my left toe is turning slightly purple.

Met a family- parents on snowshoes pulling two-year-olds in pulks, heading for the Continental Cabin. I hadn't heard of this cabin before today! I must check it out soon.

The Continental Cabin is, according to the Tenth Mtn Hut Association, right on the Colorado Trail 0.8 miles southwest from Tennessee Pass.

Very windy today. Whiteouts on Fremont Pass. At Tennessee Pass, chinook winds are blowing snow from the continental divide into the lower valleys. At least 2 feet of snow on the trail. Should be ski-able for another month at least if it stays cold.

Junction of the Colorado Trail with the Mitchell Creek Ski Loop. Colorado Trail heads down and right.











Upper Mitchell Creek












Panorama of upper Mitchell Creek, 2.5 miles from Tennessee Pass.

Handy Dandy Reference Table for the Colorado Trail

Seg	Seg Miles	Cum Miles	Elev	# nights	TH	Nearest town at end	Nearest Road Crossing at end	Difficulty	Interesting Nearby	Near good rd at end?
1	16.8	16.8	2338	1	Waterton	Denver	South Platte	Easy		Yes
2	11.5	28.3	1981	1	South Platte	Conifer	Hwy 126 & FS-550	Easy		Yes
3	12.2	40.5	1268	1	Hwy 126	Conifer	FS 560 @ Wellington Lake	Easy		Yes
4	16.6	57.1	3123	1	Wellington Lk	Bailey	Long Gulch – 11 mi from Kenosha Pass	Moderate		No
5	15.1	72.2	1792	1	Long Gulch	Jefferson	Kenosha Pass Hwy 285	Easy		Yes
6	32.9	105.1	4495	2	Kenosha Pass	Breckenridge	Hwy 9 & Gold Hill TH	Hard	Georgia Pass	Yes
7	12.8	117.9	3611	1	Hwy 9 & Gold Hill TH	Copper Mtn	I-70 exit 195	Hard		Yes
8	25.4	143.3	3909	2	Copper Mtn	Leadville	Hwy 24 @ Tennessee Pass	Hard	Searle Pass, Kokomo Pass	Yes
9	13.6	156.9	2306	1	Hwy 24 @ Tennessee Pass	Leadville	Hagerman Pass Rd @ Turquoise Lk	Hard		Yes
10	13	169.9	2310	1	Hagerman Pass Rd @ Turquoise Lk	Leadville	Halfmoon Ck TH – Hwy 24	Easy		Yes
11	21.5	191.4	2212	2	Halfmoon Ck TH – Hwy 24	Buena Vista	Clear Ck Rd near Hwy 24	Long		Yes
12	18.5	209.9	4274	1	Clear Ck Rd near Hwy 24	Buena Vista	Cottonwood Ck Rd near Hwy 24	Hard		Yes
13	22.8	232.7	3762	2	Cottonwood Ck Rd near Hwy 24	Buena Vista	Chalk Ck TH near Hwy 285	Long		Yes
14	20.4	253.1	2963	2	Chalk Ck TH near Hwy 285	Salida/Poncha Springs	US-50	Hard		Yes
15	14.3	267.4	3360	1	Fooses Ck TH @ US-50	Saguache	Marshall Pass	Moderate		No
16	15.2	282.6	2446	1	Marshall Pass	Saguache	Sargent's Mesa	Easy		No
17	20.4	303	2122	2	Sargent's Mesa	Saguache	Hwy 114 @ Cochetopa Pass	Long		Yes
18	13.8	316.8	1237	1	Hwy 114 @ Cochetopa Pass	Saguache	Saguache Pk Rd	Easy		No
19	13.7	330.5	1987	1	Saguache Pk Rd	Saguache	Eddiesville TH	Easy		No
20	12.7	343.2	2793	1	Eddiesville TH	Creede	San Luis Pass 10 mi from Creede	Hard	San Luis Pk	No
21	14.9	358.1	2778	1	San Luis Pass 10 mi from Creede	Lake City	Spring Creek Pass @ Hwy 149	Hard	Snow Mesa	Yes
22	17.2	375.3	3650	1	Spring Creek Pass @ Hwy 149	Lake City	Carson Saddle 4 mi from Cinnamon Pass Rd	Hard		No
23	15.9	391.2	4355	1	Carson Saddle 4 mi from Cinnamon Pass Rd	Silverton	Rio Grande Res/Stony Pass Rd	Hard		Yes
24	20.2	411.4	3880	2	Rio Grande Res/Stony Pass Rd	Silverton	Molas Pass @ Hwy 550	Hard		No
25	20.9	432.3	3167	2	Molas Pass @ Hwy 550	Silverton	Bolam Pass Rd near Hwy 550	Hard		No
26	10.9	443.2	1126	1	Bolam Pass Rd near Hwy 550	Silverton	Hotel Draw Rd near Hwy 550	Easy		No
27	20.6	463.8	2911	2	Hotel Draw Rd near Hwy 550	Durango	Kennebec TH near Hwy 550	Hard		No
28	21.5	485.3	1425	2	Kennebec TH near Hwy 550	Durango	Junction Ck TH	Moderate		Yes

Segment 8 - Copper Mountain to Tennessee Pass

August 31 - September 1, 2010

Segment 8: Copper Mountain to Tennessee Pass
25.4 miles, 3909 ft elevation gain.
Segment start: Colorado Highway 91, 1/4 mile of Interstate 70 exit 195.
Segment end: US Highway 24 at Tennessee Pass, 8 miles north of Leadville.

Segment 8 passes through the Copper Mountain Ski area for the first 4 miles, then ascends Guller Creek to Searle Pass. The trail passes Tenth Mountain Hut Janet's Cabin about 1/2 mile before Searle Pass. From Searle Pass, the trail crosses 2 miles of tundra near Jaque Peak, then climbs over Elk Ridge to Kokomo Pass. From Kokomo Pass, the trail descends 7 miles to Camp Hale, then heads south next to Highway 24 for another 2 miles. It crosses over Highway 24 at Mitchell Creek, follows Mitchell Creek drainage southwest for another mile to meet the Old Railroad Run, then follows the railroad bed south for 1.5 miles to Tennessee Pass.

Guller Creek crossing

Upper Guller Creek















Beaver pond next to Guller Creek, a bit farther up than previous photo

Searle Pass from near Janet's Cabin. Jaque Peak is on the left.

Looking north from just above Janet's Cabin, the roof of which is visible in the trees to the left of center.

Searle Pass












View from Searle Pass southeast towards Elk Ridge and Tenmile Range










Pond where I camped is near center of photo. Tenmile Range is in distance on left. Clinton Reservoir can be seen at far left.











West side of Tenmile Range from campsite at pond next to trail 1.5 miles west of Searle Pass, 0.5 mile east of Kokomo Pass.











Campsite at pond next to trail 1.5 miles west of Searle Pass, 0.5 mile east of Kokomo Pass. Summit of Jaque Peak is at left.











Marmot on Elk Ridge. Pond where I camped can be seen beyond marmot. Searle Pass is in the distance. Jaque Peak rises to the right.

Ptarmigan on Elk Ridge just above Kokomo Pass.

Approaching Kokomo Pass











Kokomo Pass














Just west of Kokomo Pass.











A bit further down on from Kokomo Pass. Mount of the Holy Cross is just left of center on horizon.

Looking back at Kokomo Pass from trail down to Camp Hale.











Looking west along road to Camp Hale.The trail stays in trees to the right of the road.

















Camp Hale














Camp Hale















Bunkers, Camp Hale

Mitchell Creek Drainage from Trail just before it crosses Highway 24.











Along Mitchell Creek













 
Kiln ruins next to railroad bed/trail, 1/4 mile north of Tennessee Pass

Segment 25 - Molas Pass to Bolam Pass Road

September 13, 2010

Hiked 3 miles west from Molas Pass along segment 25. No more backpacking until toe heals, so I hiked this in sandals.

Looking east from trail about 1/2 mile past Little Molas Lake.











From same location as above. Jura Knob is on the left near horizon, Engineer Mountain on the right.

Looking southeast across Highway 550 from just above Little Molas Lake.

Colorado Trail heads above treeline, about 1.5 miles west of Highway 550. Photo looks north, towards eastern end of segment 25.












2 miles west of Highway 550, approaching top of first ridge, near junction with old jeep trail.











2.5 miles west of Highway 550, looking south to Engineer Mountain. Lime Creek Burn (1879) can be seen on east wall of valley below.









From 3 trail miles west of Highway 550, wide view looking south.

Segment 24 - Stony Pass to Molas Pass

September 12, 2010

Hiked 2 miles from Molas Pass towards Animas River. No more backpacking until toe heals, so I hiked this in sandals.

Near Highway 550, the western terminus of Segment 24.

Looking east along Molas Creek towards one of the Grenadier Range peaks. It was a hazy day and I couldn't see far.

Segment 7 - Gold Hill to Copper Mountain

July 2, 2010

Segment 6 - Kenosha Pass to Gold Hill

July 28-29, 2010

Planned on 3 days for this but only took a day and a half. My feet were really sore at the end though.

Left Kenosha Pass at noon, reached Georgia Pass at 6:30pm with a huge thunderstorm on my tail. Just made it below treeline when the storm hit. Hiked for another half hour in increasing rain, sleet and wind, and picked the first decent campsite I found. Lightning, thunder, rain and hail until 1am. Rain glued the fly to the tent and made it suffocating inside. This is why we stake out the rain fly...

Next day started on the trail at 7:30am in cold fog. Lots of people camped at Swan River crossing about 3 miles down from Georgia Pass.

Grazed the west side of Keystone Ski Resort at 1pm. The weather looked threatening so I decided to finish the segment by the end of the day.

Met 2 USFS rangers building a bridge at creek crossing under power line 4 miles from Gold Hill.

Reached Gold Hill trailhead at 4pm, just in time to catch the Summit Stage bus to Frisco. Hotel, hot shower and dinner, hurray! 19.3 miles in one day, the farthest I have ever hiked in one stretch. My feet and knees were so sore; I was counting down the miles till the end.