News from the Colorado Trail Foundation SUMMER 2011 Sore Feet, Happy Camper (Reprinted with permission of the Colorado Society of CPAs.) Even for Colorado’s outdoor enthusiasts, the phrase, In recent years, as he prepared to step away from his “I’m going for a hike,” probably means, at most, a several- position with CoBank, Jackson began hatching a plan to hour trip out and back in a single day. When Brian hike the entire Colorado Trail with a friend, Steve Staley, Jackson, goes out for a hike, he’ll see you in two months. a former work colleague and chairman of The Colorado A former CFO of CoBank and now a private investor Trail Foundation, the nonprofit organization that in Denver, Jackson set out in July 2010 to hike the famed maintains the trail. Colorado Trail, which runs from Durango to Denver, Jackson did extensive research to prepare. He and Staley covers just short of 500 miles, and includes 90,000 vertical nailed down the logistics for the trip over the course of feet of climbing. Clearly, it’s not your run-of-the-mill several months prior to their departure, using the official day trip. CT guidebook and maps. Planning each night’s camping around water availability was imperative. “You can carry six or seven days of food with you at a time,” Jackson says, but daily access to water is key. Once he combined his calculations about how much he could carry and the trail specifics, “it became pretty clear where we needed to stop each day.” Resupply came in mountain towns such as Silverton, Breckenridge, and Lake City. Boxes of supplies can be sent ahead to await your arrival, says Jackson. “When you get to the top of a pass, you find a ride into town and keep your fingers crossed there’s a box there with your name on it.” When it wasn’t possible to send supplies in advance, Jackson’s wife, Nancy, and others met the pair at prearranged locations. “We said, ‘At 2 o’clock we’ll meet Nancy at Highway 119’ and she would be there,” Jackson says. Spotty cell phone coverage all along the CT is part of the trail’s allure, Jackson says. “You unplug from the real world — or maybe it’s the unreal world — and your whole perspective changes. Your main concerns are very basic: food, water, shelter, and how your body is holding up.” Other than a two-week break to take care of family obligations, Jackson hiked nonstop. Pit stops in town meant it was time to dump trash (pack Jackson didn’t just wake up one Saturday morning it in, pack it out), hit the laundromat, shower, resupply, and decide to hike the CT. Rather, the journey was the and head back out on the trail. “We never took a rest day,” culmination of a lifetime of outdoor activities, including Jackson says. hiking and backpacking while growing up in Arizona. To add a bit of complexity to the journey, Jackson and Although work and family life pushed hiking aside for his hiking buddies decided to hike the trail in reverse. many years, Jackson knew he’d eventually pick it up again. While the majority of thru-hikers start in Denver and - CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Tread Lines is the newsletter of The Colorado Trail Foundation. It is published two to three times a year. The Colorado Trail® is 500 miles long in the Rocky Mountains between Denver and Managing Director’s Update Durango. It has been described as one of the Hello from the Trail Foundation” … and then “LIKE US.” best trails anywhere, one of the most scenic one-room office You’ll automatically begin receiving posts in and among the best maintained. The Trail is of The Colorado your news feed. a favorite of enthusiasts who hike, mountain bike and ride horseback. Trail Foundation Meanwhile, our regular mailing list has grown The Colorado Trail Foundation is a 501(c)(3) here in Golden. to almost 9,000 households. We are grateful nonprofit corporation funded almost entirely Trail season is that so many want to be kept “in the loop” on by private sector individuals and companies. under way and The Colorado Trail and Foundation. Because Our mission is to keep The Colorado Trail in we’re glad to we limit the number of “snail mailings” each good condition, maintaining and improving it deliver updates year, we are sending out e-mail updates with with the help of many volunteers. We recruit to you in this increasing frequency. Unfortunately, we don’t and train volunteers, provide leadership, issue of Tread have e-mail addresses for all of you. Recently we organize The Colorado Trail (“CT”) work Lines. The year is already good/phenomenal/killer/ sent out a postcard requesting new or updated crews, supply and support the crews, and manage the Adopt-A-Trail program to awesome/amazing/sweet as can be. e-mail addresses. Some 1,000 of you responded, accomplish annual maintenance on the entire Worthy of particular note is the success of the which was most helpful. Now, when we send out Trail. We also conduct week-long supported CTF’s Facebook page. Launched just a year ago, a broadcast e-mail, it reaches around 5,000 people. treks on the CT and distribute information we already have more than 1,500 fans/friends. These communications are crucial to sustaining about The Colorado Trail and Trail Crews. Our page is popular with both Trail users and the CTF and our efforts to preserve of the Trail. It We work in cooperation with public agencies CT volunteers and is becoming a busy hub for the is your involvement, either through your volunteer and acknowledge great support from the U.S. exchange of helpful information. For example, work or donations, that sustains The Colorado Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, reports on Trail conditions are ongoing and Trail. You are part of the team. Rocky Mountain Region. Donations are numerous. Given this spring’s extraordinarily Finally, as I write, the first of this summer’s needed, much appreciated and tax deductible. deep snowpack, that’s vital information for those volunteer trail crews have started improving parts contemplating hiking the higher parts of the Trail. of the CT and Adopter volunteers have started Board of Directors: Users are also sharing photos — some tell a story their annual maintenance and trail clearing. They Steve Staley, Centennial, and others are just for fun. Check it out: If you’re a deserve a hearty shout out for all their hard work. Chairman Facebook user, search for “The Colorado George Miller, Manitou Springs, Vice Chair Carol Foster, Estes Park, Treasurer Carolyn Burtard, Littleton, Right after we finished the Pacific Crest Trail and I became Secretary a Triple-Crowner, we were like, What should we do now? I said, Jack Berryhill, Black Hawk Jerry Brown, Durango ‘Let’s go hiking!’ I love Colorado’s mountains and I love sleeping Tim Burroughs, Lakewood Bill Cartwright, Durango in a tent and walking the skyline. There’s nothing like it! Dan Cohen, Golden FELICIA HERMOSILLO Sam Davis, Centennial LAKEWOOD, COLORADO Larry Eads, Durango John Lipe, Castle Rock Ernie Norris, Durango Ken Swierenga, Parker Ex Officio Members: Greg Warren, Golden, New Guidebook USFS Liaison Gudy Gaskill, Golden, President Emeritus A Best-Seller Staff: The Colorado Trail Foundation has a best-seller on its hands. Managing Director: Bill Manning Two months after the release of the Eighth Edition of The Colorado Office Manager: Aimée O’Malley Trail Guidebook, more than half of the first-run printing has been sold. “We printed 5,000 copies in Korea and received the books at the Tread Lines: Mountaineers Books warehouse in Seattle at the end of March,” says Alan Content: Tim Burroughs, Bill Manning Stark of The Colorado Mountain Club Press. “Through the end of May, Graphics: Valerie Z. Miller we had sold 2,546 copies.” Dolomite Designs, LLC Costco, Sam’s Club, and REI stores in Colorado have seen “significant Welch Creative Group, Inc. sales,” Stark says. The CTF’s online store has seen similar interest, selling more than 300 copies in the first month following the guide’s release. The book is available in most bookstores and outdoor stores in Colorado, Stark says. “If the book is not in a bookstore, ask the clerk about it and remind them to reorder,” he says. “The CTF drew on the talents of dozens of volunteers in compiling the most comprehensive guide to the trail yet,” says Managing Director Bill Manning, who coordinated the overall effort. “It is the first full revisionf o the popular guide in five years. There are loads of improvements including revised maps and mileages, an end-to- 710 10th St., Room 210 Golden, CO 80401 end elevation profile, and new photos.” “Over four years the Seventh Edition sold about 10,000 copies,” Stark says. “Given the new design, we suspect Phone: 303-384-3729 the Eighth Edition will do even better than that.” (24-hour voice mail) Email: [email protected] www.ColoradoTrail.org - CONTINUED FROM THE COVER end in Durango because it provides a more gradual ascent, Jackson “When you’re hiking, you very quickly come to the realization chose to start in Durango and end in Denver. That meant that that you and only you are responsible for getting yourself over a pass, during the first two days of the trip, the hikers faced more than up the hill, down the hill, and into the next camp,” Jackson says. 6,000 feet of climbing.