Thru-Hikers Find Community Late on the Colorado Trail
A hiker reports extreme isolation on the Colorado Trail this season, with a key pass seeing only 50-100 hikers daily in June.
A thru-hiker on the Colorado Trail this season reported profound loneliness, at times holding conversations with marmots for company. The hiker's experience was shaped by a record low snow year that spurred widespread fear about water scarcity and wildfires, leading many to hike earlier in the season.
According to the hiker's account on The Trek, the trail felt like a 'ghost town' for long stretches. The only people passed were often day hikers or southbound 'SOBO Social' hikers who offered little conversation. This isolation stood in stark contrast to the hiker's experiences on longer trails like the Appalachian Trail, where finding a trail family was more common.
The Impact of Early Season Fear
Warnings about a dry summer with potential fires caused many hikers to alter their plans. The source describes significant 'fear-mongering' about conditions, with people declaring there would be no water and that the whole state would be on fire. In reality, the hiker found the weather more pleasant than on other trails and never had to carry more than two liters of water. A 34-mile reroute from Tennessee Pass to Twin Lakes was required due to the Willow Fire near Leadville, but the hiker did not have to walk through smoke.
A Sparse Trail Community
The caretaker at Kenosha Pass, known as 'Smurf,' provided one of the few instances of 'Trail Magic' the hiker received and offered a data point on traffic. Smurf reported that only 50 to 100 hikers were passing through per day back in June. The hiker speculates that the panic over conditions caused most hikers to tackle the trail early, leaving it unusually empty later in the season. This scarcity made the rare connections, like a brief hike with hikers aged 19, 29, and 39, all the more significant.
The Late Formation of a Trail Family
After two weeks of solitude, the dynamic shifted dramatically near San Luis Peak. The hiker connected with another thru-hiker, an encounter described with childlike immediacy: 'You're my friend now.' This group soon expanded to include two other hikers briefly met in Leadville and, remarkably, a hiker originally met the previous year on the Arizona Trail. They formed an impromptu 'hiker train,' hiking together despite not knowing each other's real names. Their luck turned with an unexpected gift from utility workers: a whole box of pastries including blueberry muffins and almond croissants.
Universal Thorn and Rose
The hiker ended the trail with this spontaneously formed group. On their final night, they shared their 'Rose, Thorn and Bud', a common trail reflection. The hiker reports that 'every single person said their 'thorn' was the lack of community on trail, and their 'rose' was finally finding it at the end.' The world, in that moment of sharing pastries with newfound friends, felt magical again.
