This was our first backpacking trip for the 2021 season with my husband Ryan. It took us months to pick a section hike of the Colorado Trail, as there are 28 segments of varying length that cover a total of 485 miles. We were looking for something in the 50-60 mile range with relatively easy to access trailheads, and so after much research we finally settled on Segments 25, 26 and 27. I ordered the CT guide book and pocket guide, and they were invaluable resources for us to help choose our route, and the pocket book was just the right size to take and use on route.
Durango, CO was the perfect place to base our trip out of before and after the trail, so that is where this trip began. We hiked this trail the first week of July, which was just warm enough to ensure no or little snow in the mountain passes and to ensure there was still reliable water sources for the seasonal streams. The added bonus-no permit required!
Day 1: Molas Pass TH to nearby intersection for Engineer Mountain Trail (Segment 25)
Miles: 9.5
We booked a shuttle ride from downtown Durango to the Molas Pass TH on US 550 with Hermosa Tours - Mountain Bike Tours. They typically shuttle bikers to and from trails in the area, but they will also shuttle hikers for a very reasonable price. We met the driver and van at 2nd Ave Sports in downtown Durango along with a group of mountain bikers going to the same TH. This was perfect for us because we were staying in the downtown area the night before and could easily walk to the meeting spot. The driver was also able to pick us up at the end of Segment 27 on the morning of Day 6 at Kennebec TH, which can be challenging to reach by any vehicle without 4x4 and enough clearance to clear the rutted dirt road. I highly recommend them!
We hit the trail at the Molas Pass TH about 9 am, and we were off! This first segment meandered around Little Molas Lake and through some beautiful fields of mountain flowers and open terrain. We encountered quite a few day hikers as well, so it wasn't really until after about 7 miles into the hike before we were truly on our own. Needless to say, it was sunny, hot and we did climb some elevation, so I was quite happy to call it a day in the early afternoon after 9.5 miles. We were also out of water, and so finding both a campsite, access to water in the nearby stream, and getting off my feet were our #1 priorities. We camped up on the hill in a dense brushy area halfway between the stream and small lake, just under a mile from the intersection for the Engineer Mountain Trail.
Day 2: Mile 9.5 to Mile 18.5 near FS Rd-5788 (Segment 25)
Miles: 9.0
The second day started off with full sunshine and a small slushy snowfield to climb over in the first few miles. We hiked through some lush green spaces and forests, crossing a few streams and watched clouds roll in transforming our bluebird sky into the potential for rain. It did end up raining a bit, on and off for the afternoon. We were able to find a campsite in the last few miles of Segment 25 just off the trail that was near a seasonal stream. We managed to get water from the stream to start filtering and got our tent set up just in time before it poured. But we were cozy in our tent, after a break in the rain to cook dinner, we called it a night.
Day 3: Mile 18.5 (near FS Rd 5788) to Mile 9.0 (Segment 26)
Miles: 11.2
After the rain the night before, the third day started off with a beautiful blue sky again. In just a little over 2 miles, we came to the end of Segment 25 near Celebration Lake (pictured here) near Bolam Pass Road. Now we were officially on Segment 26.
The trail meandered down several switchbacks, around a valley and then back into some lush green forest. We knew that before we ended this day, we had to be sure to fill up every bottle and hydration pack we had as we would be going into a 22-mile stretch between Straight Creek and Taylor Lake over the next 2 days without a reliable water source. While we should have stopped at Straight Creek, we continued on thinking that we could find one of the seasonal streams a little further down to as to minimize how far we had to carry until we made camp.
As we passed these smalls streams (and some just flowing a small trickle), we realized we were going to have backtrack up the trail about a half a mile to go back to a small stream we passed. It still had a reasonable flow, so we were able to make it work and filtered water while we cooked and ate dinner. We filtered enough water to fill my hydration bladder, Ryan's bladder, a two Smart water bottles and the Platypus clean bladder from the filter system. You don't realize how much water you go through when you are drinking it, making coffee and tea, rehydrating freeze-dried meals, brushing your teeth and cleaning your dishes and hands. That extra pack on Ryan's back is an extra 4 L (9 lbs) of water in addition to his full bladder inside his pack (3L = 6.6 lbs) and his general pack weight. Together, we probably carried about 10L of water to get us through the next 2 days until we got the Taylor Lake. We were able to hike another mile before we found an amazing campsite and called it a day!
Day 4: End of Segment 26 to just south of intersection with Salt Creek Trail (Segment 27)
Miles: 11
We packed up our lovely tent site, which was about a mile from the end of segment 26. Of all the places we camped during this trip, this site (and the views!) were my absolute favorite. We officially ended segment 26 once we reached Hotel Draw Road, thus beginning segment 27.
We hiked the first few miles along old logging roads and trails through wooded areas and across fields of alpine flowers. We crisscrossed a dirt forest road several times, and eventually we left the forest road for the trail again, following along a forested ridge for most of the afternoon.
I was so glad to have that extra water as we gulped it down due to the heat and full onslaught of the sun for most of the day along the exposed ridge trail. We did come across a few water stashes along this section of trail for hikers in need, thanks to some kind trail angels who hiked or biked in the plastic 1-gallon water containers. We started looking for a place to camp about mid-way through, but we were in a part of the forest with lots of deadfall and not many campsites along the trail. We were tired, it was getting dark, and so we wandered a bit off trail and called it a night tucked up in the woods.
Day 5: South of Salt Creek Trail/Orphan Butte to Taylor Lake (Segment 27)
Miles: 10.6
We had our work cut out for us for our last full day of hiking. After finding a reliable water source about 100 yards down the hill from the trail, we filtered a little more water so that we had enough to be able to stop and have a hot breakfast while taking a break at the Scenic Overlook. This was worth the side trail excursion for stunning views of the Indian Trail ridge we would climb later that day.
A few miles later, we entered tundra and very exposed sections of the Indian Trail Ridge. There were two main summits we had to climb that day, both over 12,000 ft. We paid close attention to the sky that afternoon, as the last thing we wanted to see was a thunderstorm roll in while we were on the exposed section of trail with no place to hide.
As we began to summit the last part of the ridge, we could see storms brewing both in the east and the west. I was starting to get really nervous, especially when I started to see lightning in the distance. We were running on fumes at this point after all the ups and downs we had encountered in elevation changes. As I was catching my breath near the top of the last summit, I saw lightning strike way too close for my comfort. It was just the motivation we needed to pick up our pace and get down on the other side of that ridge!
As we started to make our way down into the basin, we could see finally see Taylor Lake in our sights and our destination for our last night of camp
We had a lovely campsite on a plateau just above Taylor Lake, and were able to replenish water, cook dinner, and see what we had left in our food bags! We even had a few visitors walk right through our campsite while we were sitting in our tent.
It was a perfect end to our last full day on the trail.
Day 6: Taylor Lake to Kennebec TH (end of Segment 27)
Miles: 1.2
The last morning we woke up to more sunshine and an easy hike out to the trailhead parking lot to catch our ride back into Durango. At this point, I couldn't wait for a hot shower. Our shuttle pick up was right on time as we planned at 9 am. We caught our last glimpse of the trail below as we prepared to head back into civilization. In all, we covered about 53 miles of trail for this trip!
Looks as if you had a great hiking experience in Colorado! My favorite photo is that of the deer in a field. It belongs on a US Postage stamp!
Beautiful scenery!