Somewhere on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado, one thru-hiker is having a week of extremes: a rest day watching baseball at Coors Field sandwiched between summit pushes in hail, wind and thin air. Week 13 of a southbound CDT hike is a good reminder that the trail isn't all suffering — Colorado's trail towns have real charm when you need a reset.
The stretch centred on James Peak, a 13er just outside Denver's backyard, delivered classic Front Range weather drama. With a forecast that couldn't make up its mind, the hiker pushed up through a hail shower and thickening cloud while other southbounders sensibly turned back. The windy summit views won out. James Peak sits along the divide north of Rollinsville, and it's a worthy objective for ordinary hikers too, especially in summer when morning starts beat the afternoon storms.
Then came Denver. A zero day — trail slang for zero miles walked — meant a Mariners game at Coors Field (with a game-used baseball thrown in), an afternoon at one of America's oldest cat cafes, and some proper rest. It was only the fourth zero of the entire hike, which says a lot about thru-hiker pacing, but the takeaway for regular travellers is that Denver makes an excellent base camp: big-league sport, quirky neighbourhoods and quick mountain access all in one city.
The main event followed. Back on trail, the route takes in Grays and Torreys Peaks, two fourteeners tackled back-to-back, before a demanding alternate called the Argentine Spine — over 9,000ft of vertical gain in a single day, the hiker's biggest yet. The ridge just past Grays Peak was described as the most exhilarating section of the main CDT so far: a knife edge with a steep drop on one side and loose scree on the other, crossed with gusty crosswinds. The advice? Stay right on top of the ridge and trust your footing. The whole day ran 16 hours, start to finish in the dark.
Why should a regular traveller care? You don't need to hike the whole 3,100-mile trail to sample this. Grays and Torreys, near the Loveland Pass area off I-70, are among the more accessible fourteeners in the state — many people summit both in a day from the Grays Peak trailhead. The hot tub at the end helps, and Breckenridge, where this leg ended, is a comfortable base with plenty of accommodation and recovery-friendly amenities. Just respect the altitude: acclimatise in Denver or the foothills for a day or two first, start before dawn, and keep an eye on the sky, because Colorado's afternoon storms are no joke.
Story via The Trek.
