Schaumamoi - Colorado Trail Journal - 2022

The Birth Of A Dream

Slogging up the last couple dozen yards to the 14,267 foot summit of Torreys Peak, the first of the Grays/Torreys combination of fourteeners I was going to bag that day; I stopped to regain my breath for a second. A pair of breaths into my respite, I see a man stumbling up a ridge that came from a valley that didn't contain an actual trail head. He looked tired, and he was carrying a pack that was entirely too large for the average day hiker. He caught up to me, brushing away a lock of his fiery red hair from his eyes, he greets me with a surprisingly jovial "hello!" I responded with an equally puzzled, "where the hell did you come from?" He responded with a single word, "Mexico..." During the pursuing conversation I learned that he was on a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail.



It was an instantaneous moment of clarity. At that moment I realized what I was missing. A whole new world opened up for me.



The following few days, my mind was a blur of thoughts centered around long distance backpacking. I had heard of the Appalachian Tail previously, and this hiker informed me about the CDT. Shortly thereafter I learned of the Pacific Crest Trail and by extension the Triple Crown. Those all looked like too much for me to cut my thru-hiking teeth on. So, I looked a little closer to home. During my time in the Boy Scouts as a child, I had heard of the Colorado Trail, but I had never hiked it. And there was my answer! A long distance trail, but one that I could do in a more reasonable time frame!



It had been years since I have been backpacking, let alone camping. So, I knew I had a task ahead of me. Not only did I have to research the trail, but there were literally decades between the last time I went backpacking till now. The technology had changed drastically! I had (and still have) a lot to learn.



When I ran into that CDT hiker up on that ridge, it was the summer after I turned 34. I gave myself a goal. I made a promise to myself that I would thru-hike the Colorado Trail by the summer after I turned 40. That gave me about five and a half years. Or in other words, the summer of 2022. If I am able to get the gear and vacation time before 2022, I plan to attempt my hike as soon as possible.



Thus began my Colorado Trail - 2022 dream!

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