trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles
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Twin Lakes to Clear Creek
Absurdly unprepared. But a superb day anyway. 🙂
I had trouble deciding where to hike in Colorado. There are simply too many great options.
The new Collegiate Loop sounded like an excellent and challenging possibility:
… In 2012 the Colorado Trail added an 80 mile stretch of trail that serves as an alternate route around the Collegiate Peaks. The new route, called the Collegiate West, follows the continental divide at much higher elevations. The Collegiate West is above tree line much of the time, which makes for rugged hiking and incredible views. …
The Collegiate East is part of the traditional Colorado Trail that stretches 500 miles from Denver to Durango. The 160-mile Collegiate Peaks backpacking loop is formed by hiking both the Eastern and Western routes of this section.
Clever Hiker
We dropped my friend Betsy at a mountain running race near Aspen. Husband Brion drove me on to Twin Lakes, recommended as one of the best places to start the Collegiate Loop. I was hoping to get information at the General Store.
They sold me a new map covering the entire Collegiate Loop, but the shop-keep had not heard of the new dedicated guidebook.
Historically they’ve considered Collegiate West the Continental Divide Trail, Collegiate East the Colorado Trail. It’s going to take some years before locals start considering the western side part of the Colorado Trail.
I was excited to get this adventure started. Ready or not.
Brion and Julius started up the trail with me around 11am. Thanks for the send off.
Just after posing for this shot, I knocked my pack into that creek. 😦
Happily almost everything inside is kept in waterproof bags.
It’s a steep climb to reach the treeline en route to Hope Pass, the highest point on the Collegiate Loop 12,500ft (3810m).
I didn’t suffer much from altitude despite having only one acclimatization hike since flying in from sea level. Smarter hikers than myself would have finished crossing Hope Pass rather than starting here.
On the downside, it was raining.
I took shelter under those far trees with an older couple from California who were section hiking, year by year, Canada to Mexico on the Continental Divide Trail. Like me, this was their first day. They’d also started at Twin Lakes. The twosome and their dog planned to hike to the New Mexico border this summer.
I was embarrassed to admit to them I didn’t know whether I was hiking north or south. That’s how unprepared I was. I hadn’t yet opened my new map.
They’d hiked Collegiate East the previous summer and told me it was much less spectacular. Right then and there I decided NOT to do the entire 160 miles, but rather just the most spectacular half.
When the rain let up a little, I tried to get up and over Hope Pass as quickly as possible. Lightning is a real danger in the Colorado Rockies. The couple told me to go ahead and that they’d plod along behind. (The tortoise and the hare, I thought.)
End of July 2015 the remaining snow was not a problem. Earlier some seasons it would be a good idea to bring an ice axe.
A couple of trail runners paused to chat. They were changing gears from uphill to downhill. This spot is where some of the Leadville Trail 100 mile racers come to grief. It’s 3,400ft of vertical on the front side, descending about 2,600ft.
The southern side of the Pass was equally scenic. Plenty of wild flowers. It had been a very wet Spring and Summer here.
I saw all kinds of wildlife: a ptarmigan family, chipmunks, pica, marmot, weasel. The oddest was a group of snakes sunning on trailside rocks. I was so surprised I didn’t manage to get a good photo.
At another stop I carefully set down the pack. Then watched it roll downhill finally coming to rest in the bushes.
Quite quickly, dropping down to the valley, vegetation changes. 
You pass a number of old mine shafts. 
The final few miles to Clear Creek near Winfield were exhausting though the trail was comparatively flat. I’d been running on enthusiastic adrenaline. It finally ran out.
About 6pm I grabbed the first campsite I saw.
Good night.
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After a pot of coffee , it was time to do my doodie. A job well done this day. You’d never guess what’s under that flat rock. 🙂
There are no formal campgrounds on Collegiate West. No pit toilets. It’s dispersed camping only.
As so often in the Rockies, you start in the trees and climb to another high pass.
Seems the Collegiate Wilderness has a welcome dog. 🙂 If you want to hike with your dog, Colorado is a great place. I saw many hiking dogs over the week.
These were the only pack lamas I saw. The guys told me they were very helpful. Very good natured.
Mud is a concern in the Colorado Rockies. The Sierras in California are a far dryer alternative.
But I was loving the high altitude scenery.
It’s heaven up here when the sun shines.
Crossing the pass. Again a little snow.
Wow.
It’s difficult to capture the splendor in a photo.
Nice weather. If you are a beaver.
I probably should have stopped in a de facto campground when you first reach the creek. It’s an open field with road access.
It was wet.
Yet … a glorious hiking day, all in all. 🙂
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