Denver, CO The Colorado Trail runs 500 miles from Denver to Durango. We do not run, so we will walk it and so it begins. All mileages, average moving speed, overall average, and altitudes were determined by GPS except for Segment 1 (pre-GPS) and a portion of Segment 6 where reception was unreliable.
Segment 1– Waterton Canyon to South Platte Town Site September 24, 1999

We drive two vehicles to South Park Town Site, the end of Segment 1 and leave the car there. We drive our Ford Explorer (base camp) to Waterton Canyon and look for a place to park. You cannot park overnight at the trail head, so we drive around and find a vacant dirt lot not too far from the trail head. We settle in the back of the Explorer and try to sleep in spite of our trail anticipation? This turned out not to be a great decision as being close to the city we are disturbed several times in the night. At different times in the night, vehicles pull in to the lot, some park for a while, then leave. This leads to a restless and uncomfortable nights sleep, as each vehicle is suspicious in our minds.
September 25, 1999

Where the Real tread Begins

We get up early and drive to the trail head at Waterton Canyon. We are a little tired from the previous nights lack of sleep but the excitement of beginning has our spirits high. We eat a small breakfast of bananas and granola bars. After a good luck kiss, we hit the trail at 6:35 AM. It starts with about 6 miles along a wide trail (service road) to the Strontia Springs Dam. The morning is beautiful and the air is crisp. From the Dam at mile 6.2, we come to sign that says Colorado Trail, South Park Town Site 10 miles. This is where the trail begins to feel like a trail, as we start a climb into the woods. We reach Bear Creek at mile 8, almost halfway. We stop about every hour to eat and refuel (Carols idea and as much as Charlie hates to admit, a good one) so our energy level stays high.

CNC in Segment 1

We top out on a ridge about mile 10 and spend 3 miles walking along it. At this point we begin a long descent down to the South Platte Town Site Trail Head. As we finish, our spirits soar and we soak our tired feet in the South Platte River. We did much better that we thought we would and finished at 2:20 PM. We covered the 16.2 miles in 7 hours and 45 minutes including our stops and lunch. It was a great hike and a beautiful day. The journey has begun! Segment 1 Miles Hiked – 16.2
C.T. Miles Hiked – 16.2