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SUMMIT COUNTY — With a touch of autumn in the air, 27-year-old Matt “Pi” Jackson was in a bit of a hurry Wednesday as he purposefully strode along the rec path from Frisco toward Copper Mountain.
The lanky blond hiker from Highland Heights, Ky., was about halfway through his summer journey; an end-to-end stroll down the backbone of North America along the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail.
“The real challenge is finishing Colorado before winter sets in,” Jackson said with a grin, taking a short break at Alpine Market before heading south.
The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) was first proposed to Congress in 1966, a few years after volunteers began nailing blue cans to trees to mark the route. In 1976, a government bureau reported that the scenic values associated with the CDT surpassed anything available elsewhere in the country, crossing “five ecological life zones where visitors would find much of the topography, climate, vegetation and wildlife for which the Rocky Mountain West is noted.”
In 1978, a congressional oversight committee finally designated the CDT as a National Scenic Trail, identifying a 50-mile wide corridor on either side of the Continental Divide in which to locate the final route.
Then the real work of wrangling funding and coordinating volunteer trail-building efforts began. The project got another shot in the arm earlier this summer, with a $1.2 million sum to be added to the 2007 Forest Service budget. The trail passes within 25 miles of nearly 100 communities in Colorado, highlighting its importance as a recreational amenity, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard said when he announced the allocation in June.
Among the most recent developments in Colorado is the planned development of a trailhead interpretive center at Berthoud Pass, at the site of the former ski area.
Based on the CDT 2008 strategic plan, about 70 percent of the CDT is usable today. However, many of those miles need repair, rerouting for scenic, environmental or cultural reasons, or to be separated from roads and motorized trails. Completing a completely non-motorized alignment will cost about $27 million, the strategic plan estimates.
<b>Highlights</b>
The trail climbs to its highest elevation here in Colorado’s Playground, reaching 14,270 feet at the summit of Grays Peak. Local crews joined with volunteers from around the country to work on these sky-high sections in recent years, but Jackson said there are several variations. He avoided the section near Grays Peak in favor of a route that extends from Georgia Pass through the Golden Horseshoe near Tiger Road to the Gold Hill trailhead. From there, it runs over Gold Hill, and joins with Miner’s Creek Trail to cross the Ten Mile range to Copper Mountain. The trail then passes through the ski area and up Guller Creek past Janet’s Cabin to Searle Pass.
Jackson said the trail guides are continually being updated to reflect newly completed trail segments. But some of the information is still sketchy, especially when it comes to access to water along some of the high-elevation sections.
“The trail is generally in great shape in Colorado,” Jackson said, explaining that in Montana, for example, much of the route still follows jeep trails. So far, he’s seen mountain goats, moose, bear, a mountain lion, and enjoyed some of the best scenery in the world.
The highlight along the northern half of the trail was Wyoming’s Wind River Range, Jackson said.
“That’s the most inspiring, at least in terms of scenery,” he said, recalling a trail section that passes near the spectacular Cirque of Towers via Texas Pass.
Jackson started his trip at the Canadian border in Glacier National Park on June 15 and he hopes to finish his hike at the Mexican border by late October. He’s no stranger to long-distance hiking, having completed the Appalachian Trail in 2002 and the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004.
Up until 2000, fewer than a 100 people had completed the five-state journey end-to-end, Jackson said. But traffic has picked up in recent years, with as many as 20 people per year making the trek.
When he’s not on the trail, Jackson works as an environmental educator, most recently in Saratoga, Calif. Completion of the CDT won’t mark the end of his hiking adventures. He plans to start exploring other countries on foot, perhaps starting in New Zealand.
“They have a great trail system. You can pretty much hike all over the country,” he said, glowing with anticipation, then shouldering his pack and heading back on to the trail.
<b>Obstacles</b>
Any project that involves five states, the federal government, Native American interests and local jurisdictions is bound to be complicated, and the CDT is no exception. Though much of the trail is through national forest lands, there are significant sections where access is still an issue, especially in New Mexico, where trail builders must work with private property owners to get easements.
The trail has become a political hot potato in that state, as Forest Service planners seek to preserve trees along the trail corridor in an area proposed for an extensive timber sale. Access is also in question on Jicarilla Apache land, where tribal leaders have granted transit to individual hikers who request permission. But planning a trail corridor for that stretch is still in the early stages, and will require collaborative efforts.
Parts of the trail in New Mexico also cross Catron County, long known as a hotbed of anti-federal sentiment. Even a seemingly simple project like a non-motorized trail corridor is stirring opposition from private landowners there, who see the development as an unwarranted intrusion by outsiders, according to report in the New Mexican.
That newspaper reported that some people in the northern part of the state see development of the trail as a “rich against the poor” issue, with recreational use backed by corporations like REI, Inc., displacing traditional local use of the land.
Trail advocates respond that the hiking corridor won’t displace anyone, and that it won’t be forced down anyone’s throat. Instead, the groups working to complete the trail will work collaboratively with local interests to find a solution that works for everyone.
Federal law ensures that trail development can’t bar existing uses such as ranching or use of motorized vehicles on mountain roads that may end up as parts of the trail.
For more information, or to get involved with CDT efforts, visit http://www.cdtrail.org.
<i>Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.</i>
The lanky blond hiker from Highland Heights, Ky., was about halfway through his summer journey; an end-to-end stroll down the backbone of North America along the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail.
“The real challenge is finishing Colorado before winter sets in,” Jackson said with a grin, taking a short break at Alpine Market before heading south.
The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) was first proposed to Congress in 1966, a few years after volunteers began nailing blue cans to trees to mark the route. In 1976, a government bureau reported that the scenic values associated with the CDT surpassed anything available elsewhere in the country, crossing “five ecological life zones where visitors would find much of the topography, climate, vegetation and wildlife for which the Rocky Mountain West is noted.”
In 1978, a congressional oversight committee finally designated the CDT as a National Scenic Trail, identifying a 50-mile wide corridor on either side of the Continental Divide in which to locate the final route.
Then the real work of wrangling funding and coordinating volunteer trail-building efforts began. The project got another shot in the arm earlier this summer, with a $1.2 million sum to be added to the 2007 Forest Service budget. The trail passes within 25 miles of nearly 100 communities in Colorado, highlighting its importance as a recreational amenity, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard said when he announced the allocation in June.
Among the most recent developments in Colorado is the planned development of a trailhead interpretive center at Berthoud Pass, at the site of the former ski area.
Based on the CDT 2008 strategic plan, about 70 percent of the CDT is usable today. However, many of those miles need repair, rerouting for scenic, environmental or cultural reasons, or to be separated from roads and motorized trails. Completing a completely non-motorized alignment will cost about $27 million, the strategic plan estimates.
<b>Highlights</b>
The trail climbs to its highest elevation here in Colorado’s Playground, reaching 14,270 feet at the summit of Grays Peak. Local crews joined with volunteers from around the country to work on these sky-high sections in recent years, but Jackson said there are several variations. He avoided the section near Grays Peak in favor of a route that extends from Georgia Pass through the Golden Horseshoe near Tiger Road to the Gold Hill trailhead. From there, it runs over Gold Hill, and joins with Miner’s Creek Trail to cross the Ten Mile range to Copper Mountain. The trail then passes through the ski area and up Guller Creek past Janet’s Cabin to Searle Pass.
Jackson said the trail guides are continually being updated to reflect newly completed trail segments. But some of the information is still sketchy, especially when it comes to access to water along some of the high-elevation sections.
“The trail is generally in great shape in Colorado,” Jackson said, explaining that in Montana, for example, much of the route still follows jeep trails. So far, he’s seen mountain goats, moose, bear, a mountain lion, and enjoyed some of the best scenery in the world.
The highlight along the northern half of the trail was Wyoming’s Wind River Range, Jackson said.
“That’s the most inspiring, at least in terms of scenery,” he said, recalling a trail section that passes near the spectacular Cirque of Towers via Texas Pass.
Jackson started his trip at the Canadian border in Glacier National Park on June 15 and he hopes to finish his hike at the Mexican border by late October. He’s no stranger to long-distance hiking, having completed the Appalachian Trail in 2002 and the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004.
Up until 2000, fewer than a 100 people had completed the five-state journey end-to-end, Jackson said. But traffic has picked up in recent years, with as many as 20 people per year making the trek.
When he’s not on the trail, Jackson works as an environmental educator, most recently in Saratoga, Calif. Completion of the CDT won’t mark the end of his hiking adventures. He plans to start exploring other countries on foot, perhaps starting in New Zealand.
“They have a great trail system. You can pretty much hike all over the country,” he said, glowing with anticipation, then shouldering his pack and heading back on to the trail.
<b>Obstacles</b>
Any project that involves five states, the federal government, Native American interests and local jurisdictions is bound to be complicated, and the CDT is no exception. Though much of the trail is through national forest lands, there are significant sections where access is still an issue, especially in New Mexico, where trail builders must work with private property owners to get easements.
The trail has become a political hot potato in that state, as Forest Service planners seek to preserve trees along the trail corridor in an area proposed for an extensive timber sale. Access is also in question on Jicarilla Apache land, where tribal leaders have granted transit to individual hikers who request permission. But planning a trail corridor for that stretch is still in the early stages, and will require collaborative efforts.
Parts of the trail in New Mexico also cross Catron County, long known as a hotbed of anti-federal sentiment. Even a seemingly simple project like a non-motorized trail corridor is stirring opposition from private landowners there, who see the development as an unwarranted intrusion by outsiders, according to report in the New Mexican.
That newspaper reported that some people in the northern part of the state see development of the trail as a “rich against the poor” issue, with recreational use backed by corporations like REI, Inc., displacing traditional local use of the land.
Trail advocates respond that the hiking corridor won’t displace anyone, and that it won’t be forced down anyone’s throat. Instead, the groups working to complete the trail will work collaboratively with local interests to find a solution that works for everyone.
Federal law ensures that trail development can’t bar existing uses such as ranching or use of motorized vehicles on mountain roads that may end up as parts of the trail.
For more information, or to get involved with CDT efforts, visit http://www.cdtrail.org.
<i>Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.</i>
