CDT Grand Lake to Steamboat Springs CO Part 9
Colorado Part 9: Parkview Mountain, Haystack Mountain
7/4-7/7/2022 CDT Miles 1344-1436
Grand Lake CO to Muddy Pass/Hwy 14/ Steamboat Springs
The official CDT leaves Grand Lake and immediately enters Rocky Mountain National Park. Severe forest fires closed most of the park a few years ago, and there was conflicting information about what was open now. I decided to bypass the park completely and take a shortcut along Blue Ridge around the park.
I crossed to the other side of the highway from the park, navigated along some dirt roads to a trailhead.
I ascended through a burnt forest to the top of Blue Ridge
After summiting Cascade Mountain, I followed the Divide back to the CDT. I camped in a burn area that night.
The next morning I caught a glimpse of the upcoming challenge: Parkview Mountain.
This would be last major peak the CDT would summit for a while, and the last stretch above 12,000 feet.
At the top there is a small stone hut with radio equipment inside
Storms started rolling in during my descent, maybe I should have stayed in that cabin.
I dropped down off the ridgetop and watched the storm roll in behind me. The eye of the storm passed to the north as I approached treeline. The trail continued as a faint tread through meadows on rolling ridges as it cleared up
As the trail reached the western corner of Medicine Bow National Forest, it started following abandoned logging roads.
At last the trail joins a two track which takes you to the highway to Steamboat Springs. Another storm rolled by and I pitched my tent for a lunch break.
Finally cleared up the next day on the way to town
The dirt road meets the highway, the CDT’s only road walk in Colorado. Its a beautiful area but there is no public land to route the trail on.
That’s it for this section, I’ll get to Wyoming in the next section, stay tuned!