Durango, CO - The Colorado Trail

The Colorado Trail is a 486 miles trail that runs from Durango to Denver traveling through eight mountain ranges, six national forests and six wilderness areas with low elevation of 5,500 feet and a high elevation point of 13271 feet.  Much of the trail is in sub-alpine and alpine terrain and rises and falls dramatically as one traverses the mountains and valleys.

We were not so ambitious as to want to do the entire trail ... instead we took off hiking from the southern terminus of the trail, just north of Durango beginning at the Junction Creek trailhead ... and wandered the trail for the better part of an absolutely beautiful day ... (I wonder why everyone feels that they must put their finfer on the "You Are Here" indicator on a map?)

We discovered where Park Rangers are sent to learn how to make rock cairns ...

We encountered countless mountain bikers and runners (who all made the hike look much easier than our hiking boots and poles) ... but had the beauty of a creek (with water ... unlike Arizona creeks) along the way ...

A thoughtful trail runner took our picture crossing Junction Creek ...

Then we made our way up the other side of the valley before having lunch and turning back around ...

Our return trip, largely downhill, probably took us 1 1/4 hours ... the mountain bikers did it in 20 minutes ... (at least that is what they said, but they didn't show us the data like we did ...

This may serve as an inspiration to tackle more of the Colorado Trail ... but I remain a bit daunted by the mere thought of some of the high mountain passes ... We did enjoy these lovely fir, pine and spruce covered valleys with running water always in the background ... and the wondefully friendly mountain bikers, runners and their dogs who shared the trail with us (even if we had a bit of "youth" envy) ...