Backpacking on the Colorado Trail Segment 6 - Georgia Pass to Kenosha Pass

 



August 19th, Friday

After making sure I had taken all the supplies and gear for the trip, I left home a little after 5.00 p.m. I met Rich and his son, Chris at the Dollar Tree parking lot at the Orchard Mall at 5.29 p.m. We then headed west on US 285 towards Kenosha Pass. At 7.15 p.m. we left Rich's car at Kenosha Pass North parking lot and headed down to Fairplay in my car. We were greeted by the manager at the front desk of the Riverside Inn by Wyndham. He was wearing a cowboy hat and hat a nice sense of humor. It was 7.38 p.m. After unloading all our packs from the car into the hotel room, I sat down to have a nice dinner of rice and potatoes at 8.00 p.m. We went to sleep at 9.00 p.m.

August 20th, Saturday

I was up at 6.00 a.m. and after taking a shower I went to the breakfast that was being served in the hotel. The hot water faucet wasn't working. So I heated water in the microwave oven while informing the hotel manager about it. He attempted to fix it but couldn't. He profusely apologized about it. After having Oats, mint tea, a banana and yogurt, I lazed around the lobby area reading the travel brochures. At 8.30 a.m. we started packing up and loading our car. The clouds had rolled in and it was a little chilly. 

We left the hotel at 9.20 a.m. for the trailhead. The road signs to Georgia Pass were a little confusing. We lost our way for a brief time and then after turning around we were on the right road. We went through a lush forest of Aspen trees and then a forest of alpine trees. The road became narrower and bumpier. There were several families and also a large group camping the National forest along the dirt road. After just over an hour of driving we reached the top of Georgia Pass at 10.25 a.m. 





After parking my car and loading my 40 pound backpack we started the hike at 10.35 a.m. The first 20 minutes was hiking up a hill after which time we met the Colorado trail to the right while the Continental divide trail was to the left. This is part of segment 6 on the Colorado trail from Breckenridge to Kenosha Pass. The path initially was narrow with the track surface very un-even. We were finding it hard to gain proper footing. It got better after a while. We saw a herd of Rocky Mountain sheep up on the hill just right above us. They were grazing but ever watchful of human activity below. First there were couple of ladies on their 7th day of through hiking to Durango. We saw another lady jogging who passed us and after a while passed us back again. The thick clouds were still above us. We were prepared for rain with our rain jackets. After about an hour the sun started peeking through the heavy clouds that still hung over the mountain around us. The open meadows gave way to an aspen forest. The forest floor was a little wet from the rain the night before. We saw a lot of mushrooms on the forest floor. 




At 12.45 p.m., after 3.8 miles into the hike we took a break for lunch when we found a nice dead flat fallen tree on the ground. Lunch was a nice sandwich and smoothie. We enjoyed the scenery while we ate. We were back on the trail at 1.25 p.m. We took another small break at 2.05 p.m. and then finally reached Jefferson creek. It was a wonderful stream with great campsites around. We really enjoyed hearing the sound of flowing water down into the valley. There was a nice wooden bridge crossing as well. We debated whether to camp for the night there due to the shaded campsite by a nice water source. However since it was till early in the afternoon we decided to keep hiking. 





There was a fork immediately after the bridge. We took the wrong fork initially. However the Alltrails app on my phone detected that we were on the wrong track and so we immediately turned around to go on the left fork. There was an elderly couple whom we met and had a friendly chat. The creek had a dirt road access. After hiking less than quarter of a mile, the trail crossed the dirt road. The trail continued through the thick forest. At around 4.30 p.m., we cleared the forest to a spectacular view of the plateau of south park below. The trail descended down to Guersey creek. Interestingly enough, there was a small grove of aspen trees here and an open grassy meadow nearby. There was another family on the far side of the meadow car camping as there was a dirt road access to the area. It was about 4.45 p.m. and we were about 9 miles in. We decided to pitch tent here.




The family that were car camping were a little loud with their music. They were also using their shotgun to shoot at something. In the meantime we pitched our tent in no time.We started cooking dinner at 6.00 p.m. In this high altitude it took a while for the water to get really hot. Dinner was freeze dried food pack with yogurt. We felt droplets of water and in no time it started raining heavily. We headed into our tents and decided to have dinner inside. It was 6.15 p.m. The clouds across the meadows nearby the mountain peaks looked very ominous. I laid on the floor on my bed inside the tent waiting for the rain to pass by. However it continued to rain for the next 5 hours. I tried to stay awake as much as I could as it was still too early. I had nothing to do except be with myself and hear the rain around. We couldn't talk much across our tents either as the sound of the rain was drowning our voices. At times like this normally the mind gets into boredom. However I turned my mind into a meditative status and focussed on my breathing. It was a really soothing experience. At 8.45 p.m., I decided to take a bathroom break just when the rain had stopped to a drizzle. I went to sleep immediately thereafter. The rain had picked up again. When I woke up briefly at 11.00 p.m. the rain was just halting. I didn't realize the time pass by through the night. 

August 21st, Sunday




When my eyes opened up to the light inside my tent I realized that it was already 5.00 a.m. I slept a little more until 6.00 a.m after which time we all woke up. I packed the sleeping bag, pillow and my bed. We then boiled water for our breakfast. My stove had stopped working the night before due to the fuel being low. But thanks to Rich I was able to get hot water on both the occasions. I had a nice breakfast of Oats and Team. After breakfast we started packing our tent. The rain fly was indeed our savior. The inside of the tent was dry. We wiped down the rain fly and the bottom of the tent as much as we could. Luckily because of the grassy meadow, we were saved from our gear becoming muddy. 




I then went to the nearby stream a few times to fill up my water bottles using my water filter. The family whom we saw on the other side of the meadow last night had decided to leave camp in the middle of the night. We were the only one in the campsite at that hour. At 9.11 a.m., we left the campsite and hiked up a steep hill with beautiful views of south park, a ranch and a lake right down below us. It was another three miles through a forest of aspen and pine tress. As we were approaching our destination, we were surprised to find fallen branches of trees arranged neatly like a native American tepee tent all along the trail. We encountered sever day trippers with families. As we started hearing the noise of the traffic on the highway we were down to the Kenosha pass north trailhead in no time at 1.05 p.m.



It was an end to a wonderful backpacking trip on a small segment of the Colorado trail through gorgeous scenery. This was Chris's first backpacking trip and I was truly amazed by his level of fitness. He was a real trooper and a very happy camper. He didn't complain a bit and enjoyed the trip all along. He was even talking about climbing the tallest peaks of each state of the U.S. That is really admirable for a kid of his age! After loading all our gear into Rich's car, we headed back to Georgia Pass to pick up my car. It was a lot cloudier this morning. Many of the families camping in the Pike national forest had left. We reached the top of Georgia pass at 11.30 a.m. As we started heading down it started raining. By the time we reached back on Highway US 285, it was dry again. We made our way back to Kenosha pass again and then headed east down to Bailey followed by Confier. At Confier we found a nice hidden pizzeria called Snowpack Pizzeria where we had a nice sumptuous pie. We celebrated in style! We were back at home at 3.15 p.m. As it should be, we savored every moment of our trip and totally forgot about the outside world. It was yet another wonderful trip with a great friend and his adventurous son.







Trail Stats

Total Distance: 13 miles
Elevation Gain: 1161 feet

Schedule

August 19th, Friday


5.05 p.m. Leave Home


5.29 p.m. Leave Dollar Tree parking lot in Orchard Mall


7.05 p.m. Kenosha Pass Parking Lot


7.15 p.m. Park Rich’s car. Leave parking lot of Kenosha Pass


7.38 p.m. Arrive in Fairplay, Checkin into Riverside Inn by Wyndham


8.00 p.m. Dinner (Rice + potatoes)


9.00 p.m. Go to bed


August 20th, Saturday

6.00 a.m. - Wake up, Get ready


7.00 a.m. - Breakfast (Oats, mint tea, banana, yogurt)


8.30 a.m. - Pack up


9.20 a.m. - Leave hotel for trailhead


Cloudy weather


10.25 a.m. - Reach Georgia Pass


10.35 a.m. - Start hike


12.45 p.m. - @3.8 miles Lunch: Sandwich, Smoothie, Indian snacks


1.25 p.m. - Back on Trail


2.05 p.m. - Break @5.4 miles


2.20 p.m. - Back on Trail


2.50 p.m. - Break near the first creek - Jefferson Creek

3.15 p.m. - Back on Trail


4.45 p.m. - At campsite near a small stream


5.20 p.m. - Tent pitched


6.00 p.m. - Cook Dinner


6.15 p.m. - Heavy Rain


8.45 p.m. - Go to bed


11.00 p.m - end of rain


August 21st, Sunday


6.00 a.m. - Wake up, pack up, breakfast: Tea + Oats


9.11 a.m. - Leave campsite for Kenosha pass trailhead


10.43 a.m. - Back at Kenosha pass trailhead


11.30 a.m. - Pick up car at Georgia Pass


1.05 p.m. - Lunch at Snowpack Pizzaria, Conifer


3.13 p.m. - Back at Home




 

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