Colorado Trail

About a week ago The Denver Post had an article about a fellow by the name of Winston Branko Churchill. Winston hit the CT in July 2008 to sort some things out and, in particular, figure out why society is so tightly bound to material things (i.e. bigger houses and more money). The takeaway I got from the article is that like many others who have an appreciation for the wilderness, Winston was trying to find himself and figure out his place. The tragedy of the story is that Winston never returned from the CT as his body was found about a month ago.

This caused me to think deep about why I'm doing the Colorado Trail. Am I trying to find myself? Am I trying to find meaning to this life? I don't know. What I do know is that I share the same appreciation for the wilderness and also question my affinity to material things. In addition, I like to challenge myself and find out what I'm capable of. One of my sponsors, Nathan Hydration has a tag line of "Helping athletes redefine their humanly possible". Maybe that's what I'm doing, simply stepping out of the box and redefining my own limits. I never wanna look back at my life and say "should have, could have, or would have". Needless to say this adventure will change me.

Now to the adventure itself:

• I don't plan on breaking any records.
  
• Start on September 2nd and finish on September 13th (my 40th birthday)
• Begin each day @ 6 A.M. and hopefully be off the trail by dark
• Anyone is welcome to join me at any time along the trail
• I will be wearing a SPOT device and will have a link up on the blog
  

• Day 1 – Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 – Brian Fisher pace
  Segment 1 - 16.8 myles
  Segment 2 – 11.5 myles
  Segment 3 – 12.7 myles
  Segment 4 – 16.6 myles
  Day Total – 57.6 myles – end Long Gulch
  
  Day 2 – Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 - Long Gulch
  Segment 5 – 14.4 myles
  Segment 6 – 32.9 myles
  Day Total – 47.3 myles – end Goldhill
  Overall – 104.9 myles
  
  Day 3 – Friday, September 4th , 2009 – Gold Hill - Rick Hessek pace
  Segment 7 – 12.8 myles
  Segment 8 – 25.4 myles
  Segment 9 – 13.6 myles
  Day Total – 51.8 myles – end Timberline Lake
  Overall – 156.7 myles
  
  Day 4 – Saturday, September 5th, 2009 - Timberline Lake
  Segment 10 – 13.0 myles
  Segment 11 – 21.5 myles
  Day Total – 34.5 myles – end Clear Creek Rd.
  Overall – 191.2 myles
  
  Day 5 – Sunday, September 6th, 2009 - Clear Creek road
  Segment 12 – 18.5 myles
  Segment 13 – 22.8 myles
  Day Total – 41.3 myles – end Chalk Creek
  Overall – 232.5 myles
  
  
  Day 6 – Monday, September 7th, 2009 - Chalk Creek
  Segment 14 – 20.9 myles
  Segment 15 – 14.2 myles
  Day Total – 35.1 myles – end Marshall Pass
  Overall – 267.6 myles
  
  Day 7 – Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 - Marshall Pass
  Segment 16 – 15.2 myles
  Segment 17 – 20.4 myles
  Day Total – 35.6 myles – end Hwy 114
  Overall – 303.2 myles
  
  Day 8 – Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 – Hwy 114 - Paul DeWitt pace
  Segment 18 – 13.8 myles
  Segment 19 – 13.7 myles
  Segment 20 – 12.7 myles
  Day Total – 40.2 myles – end San Luis Pass (overnight pack)
  Overall – 343.4 myles
  
  Day 9 – Thursday, September 10th, 2009 – San Luis Pass - Paul DeWitt pace
  Segment 21 – 14.8 myles
  Segment 22 – 17.1 myles
  Day Total – 31.9 myles – end Carson Saddle (overnight pack)
  Overall – 375.3 myles
  
  Day 10 – Friday, September 11th, 2009- Carson Saddle - Paul DeWitt pace
  Segment 23 – 15.9 myles
  Segment 24 – 19.8 myles
  Day Total – 35.7 myles – end Molas Pass
  Overall – 411 myles
  
  Day 11 – Saturday, September 12th, 2009 - Molas Pass
  Segment 25 – 20.9 myles
  Segment 26 – 10.9 myles
  Day Total – 31.8 myles – end Hotel Draw
  Overall – 442.8 myles
  
  Day 12 – Sunday, September 13th, 2009 - Hotel Draw
  Segment 27 – 20.6 myles
  Segment 28 – 21.5 myles
  Day Total – 42.1 myles – end Junction Creek
  Overall – 484.9 myles

I hope to see you along the trail somewhere.