Thank you, Jimmy! Glad you enjoyed the videos. I'm 67 too, and a flatlander from Massachusetts. I've had the CT on my mind for a few years, and I absolutely loved it. Good luck on your July 2025 hike. You will be hiking it around the same time as I did (I started on July 4, 2024). I think it's a great time to do it. There's not too much snow to walk through, but the remaining snow on the mountains enhances the views, and the wildflowers are fantastic. I hope you have a great hike!

Thanks, GreenieMeenie! It's such a fantastic trail, and you hiked the best part of it. I grew up in the West Roxbury section of Boston. Moved away many decades ago, but I still live in a suburb of Boston and I guess the accent never leaves you. Lots of people commented on it while I was in Colorado. I got a lot of similar comments on the John Muir Trail in 2021.

@ the CT was amazing. I still can’t believe I was fortunate enough to get to hike part of it. I’d love to finish it up next summer. I grew up in Belmont. My mum lives in Waltham and I still have family in Brockton/Raynham.

@@GreenieMeenie_97 Wow, it's a small world. I moved out of West Roxbury in 1969 when I was 12 years old, and after living in several other places (all in the Northeast), I've lived in Hopkinton for the past 27 years. I didn't start long distance hiking until 2019 when I did the Long Trail. Hoping to do a few more trails before I get too old. I hope you get to hike the rest of the CT next summer. I think the best part of the trail is the San Juans, but I loved the rest of it too, and it is very much worth doing.

Thank you, glad you enjoyed the videos!

Thank you, Susan! It's such a great trail, I hope you do go for it!

Thank you, glad you enjoyed the first video! I started my hike on July 4th and finished in Durango on August 5th (total 33 days including one zero day). July and August are the best months to hike the Colorado Trail. Some hikers start in June, but you can run into a lot of snow if it was a snowy winter. Many of those who start in June do Collegiate East because there's still too much snow on Collegiate West. In July, there's still some snow which makes for nice views but you don't have to walk through much snow, and the wildflowers are great. In August, I think there are usually fewer thunderstorms (although this is not totally predictable and varies year to year) and fewer bugs, but the wildflowers are mostly gone. Some people hike the trail in September, and it can be beautiful then, but you will have cold nights and mornings and you might get some snow. If I were to hike the trail again, I would probably choose the same timeframe. I really loved the wildflowers.

Thanks, Dan! Mt Elbert is definitely difficult and most CT hikers do bypass it, but I couldn't resist the temptation to climb Colorado's high point. There was one other fourteener I wanted to climb, but if you watch Part 3, you'll see that I had to change plans when I got to that one.

Thanks for watching and subscribing, Alex! That was a nice spot in the Holy Cross Wilderness, and the spot near South Willow Creek the next night was good too. September must have been a great time to hike the CT. I hiked the Long Trail in September a few years ago and it was great - mostly nice early fall weather and no bugs. Good luck next year when you continue your CT hike. Some of the spots I camped at during the second half of the hike were really beautiful!

Thank you, David! Congrats on your 2018 hike. It really is an amazing trail.

@@judybriancunningham8868 - Hey, what solar panel are you using? Any feedback now how well it performed?

Hi David. I bought the solar panel three years ago before I hiked the John Muir Trail. A lot of people say "don't bother with solar panels, they don't work", but there are very few places to charge up on the JMT and the panel worked great for me. I wasn't sure if I would take it on the CT but I decided to take it at the last minute. It worked well for me on the CT too (maybe not quite as well as on the JMT because I had more overcast weather on the CT). I used velcro to attach it to the top of my pack, and i charged a 10,000 maH Veektomx power bank, then I'd charge my phone from the power bank at night. I brought a second power bank because I wasn't sure how well the solar panel would work, but I never needed the second power bank. I ran FarOut and Strava every day on my phone, and I took a lot of photos and videos. I bought the solar panel on Amazon for about $20, and the manufacturer is Lixada. It weighs 2.4 ounces.

@judybriancunningham8868 I've done several solar panel reviews. The latest from my Arizona Trail section hike. I'm looking for a smaller one with a reasonable power output. Thanks, I'll check it out.

Interesting. The Lixada is not very powerful, but I liked its compact size and low weight. It worked great for me on the JMT because it was sunny every day. It worked well on the sunny days on the CT too, but not that well on the mostly overcast days. I see that you've done a lot of great hiking and you have other interesting videos too (the "Advice for Older Backpackers" video is applicable to me). I just subscribed to your channel.

Thank you, karmahavok! I don't have a way to heat them, so I just eat them cold. Another hiker ("Knee Deep") gave me the idea to buy frozen burritos in the grocery stores and eat them the next day after they've thawed. The burritos are fully cooked before they're frozen, so they don't require any more cooking. They would be better if they were heated up, but I eat a cold breakfast every day anyway when backpacking, and a cold burrito is WAY better than my usual granola, powdered milk, and cold water!

Thank you, Kate! I thoroughly enjoyed this great trail!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you!

Thank you! Looking forward to your Sawtooth Range video!

Thank you, Julius! Colorado is a beautiful place. I know that Germany is a beautiful place too, and I hope to get there someday. And thanks again for creating some of the excellent music that I used in my videos!

Thank you Eddie! I used my Samsung phone for all the video and still photography. It's an A25, which is not a top of the line Samsung at all, but it's much better than my previous phone, which was a Motorola. The A25 isn't great in low light (early mornings), but it's pretty good otherwise. I shot everything in 1080p, and I used the main camera for everything, even the "selfie" videos, because I discovered that the selfie camera doesn't have stabilization (the main camera does). I didn't discover this until after the first couple of videos on day 1, so I shot those with the selfie camera, which is why those videos are a little shaky. I edited the videos in CapCut.

Thank you Dan! I had been to Colorado before, but had not done any hiking there before this trip. I loved the trail and the Colorado mountains are fantastic! I did do the Collegiate West route, and that section from Twin Lakes to Cottonwood Pass is awesome. It's in my "Part 2" video.

@@judybriancunningham8868- Most excellent!! Congrats on your CT journey and will look forward to part two!!

My Part 2 video is actually already out! There's a link to it at the end of Part 1, or you can use this link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpKae6OArNqIeNE. Part 3 is also out, and I just uploaded Part 4 (the last section) a few minutes ago. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the videos!

@@judybriancunningham8868 - Oh perfect! Thanks for sending! I watch a diverse set of vlogs and it's hard to keep it all straight!

Thank you Jeff!

Thanks! Feel free to steal, I didn't copyright anything.

LOL, thanks! Gotta love crossing each river three times. If I had fallen in, I would have deserved it. (And I almost did fall in once.)

Thank you again, thuthiehiker! Colorado is a beautiful place.

@@judybriancunningham8868 Yes it is. My son lives Denver so I got a chance to hike quite a few places over the last few years.

Thank you, thuthiehiker!

Thank you, Ervinslens! It really is an amazing trail.

Thank you, incantraveler! The views are fantastic on this trail.

@@tammylee6342 Thank you!

Thank you, Sean! And what a coincidence, both starting on the same day. I guess the bright side is that the truck accident allowed all of us to experience additional trail miles that we otherwise wouldn't have seen. We loved the Timberline Trail and wouldn't hesitate to do it again, especially if we lived closer to it (we live on the east coast).

Thank you, Stacy! Yes, I did cross over Mt Isolation's summit. From the saddle below Eisenhower, I went down the Mt Eisenhower Trail to the Dry River, then crossed the river and ascended the Isolation West Trail to the Davis Path. Then I went south on the Davis Path to Stairs Mt, but I climbed the short spur path up to the summit of Mt Isolation along the way. I didn't mention that in the video, but there's a picture of me standing on a summit, with the Southern Presidentials in the background. That picture was taken on the summit of Mt Isolation. (I think I did a timelapse of the clouds from the summit too.) That whole area is really nice for backpacking. There are some campsites along the Davis Path, and there are even a few small sites right near the Mt Isolation summit, and there are great sites along the Dry River. Stairs Mt is my favorite campsite along the Davis Path. There's very little water available on the Davis Path though.

Hi SunkistSteps, thanks for watching the video. Sorry for the delay, I just finished hiking the Colorado Trail. The campsite on the Edmands Path is very nice. I had it to myself, but it's large and can fit several tents. I believe it's about 0.4 mile up the trail, just before a large brook. You'll see a very distinct herd path on your left, probably 100 yards before the brook. It will lead diagonally to the brook, where you'll find the campsite. If you put "Edmands Path Trailhead" in Google Maps, you'll see Abenaki Brook just a little way up the trail. I'm pretty sure that's the brook where the site is (I seem to remember a couple of very small brooks before Abenaki Brook, but Abenaki is large and you'll know it when you see it). Google says it takes about 11 minutes to walk there from the trailhead, which sounds about right.

@@judybriancunningham8868 thank you! Hope you enjoyed the Colorado Trail. Its surely a good one!

Thank you Michael! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I just finished hiking the Colorado Trail and I plan to make a video about that too (it will take a while because I took a million pictures and videos). I will definitely subscribe to your channel!

@@judybriancunningham8868 hahaha the whole trail!? Yes I could imagine that would take a long time lol. Looking forward to it!! 💯

Thank you! And thanks for watching!

Hi. It was warm (but not hot) at Cottonwood. It was much cooler at HG, but not uncomfortably so. It rained a lot overnight at HG, and the temperatures were quite cool the next day as we climbed out via Bright Angel Trail. Probably about 60 degrees. Overall, the temperatures were great. Hot at the very bottom, comfortable everywhere else. Thanks for watching!

Thank you! The trail should be beautiful in the fall. Good luck on your hike!

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful! October should be a great time to do the trail. It should be drier and the foliage should be beautiful. I hope you have a great hike!

Hi Casey. Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I hope it helps you if you decide to hike the Cohos Trail. Resupplying is a little tricky on this trail, because it doesn't pass through or near any towns with real supermarkets. I took 13 days to hike the trail, and I decided to do only one full resupply. My wife and I drove up to NH the day before I started hiking, and we stayed at Stark Village Inn, which is near the halfway point of the trail (though it's a 3 mile road walk west of the trail). I brought a resupply package with me and left it at the inn with Nancy, the proprietor. When I reached that area on day 7, I did the 3-mile road walk to the inn and picked up my resupply, and I also stayed at the inn that night too. It's a fantastic place to stay: beautiful location, very cost effective, and Nancy cooks a great breakfast. So I basically had a 6.5-day carry to the inn, then another 6 day carry to the end of the trail. But I knew that I would be passing three stores along the way: Young's Store in Pittsburg on day 2, Old Corner Store in Jefferson on day 10, and Bretton Woods Market on day 11. Those stores are small, but they all make sandwiches and Old Corner Store has pizza. So I lightened my food carries by planning on buying sandwiches and pizza for lunch and dinner on the days I went by those stores. And I bought breakfast sandwiches too at Old Corner Store and Bretton Woods Market. That worked out well for me. I'm not sure if you could do a full resupply at those stores, but maybe if you're not picky. The stores are not that well spaced for resupplies though. I know that you can also mail a resupply package to Nancy at Stark Village Inn (instead of dropping a package off in person like I did). Percy's Lodge & Campground is in Stark and is another option; I believe you can mail a package to them too, and it's closer to the trail than Stark Village Inn. They also have a small store, but it's not open every day. And the property is for sale, so I don't know if they will still be in operation in future years. Let me know if you have other questions. I enjoyed the trail!

Hi Bill. The Cohos is a relatively new trail, about 20 years old. It's in northern NH, between Crawford Notch and the Canadian border, the length of Coos County. It's about 170 miles, but my hike was a little longer because I did a few side trails too. I live in Massachusetts, so it's relatively easy for me to get to this trail (although it's still a long ride to the Canadian border). The Cohos Trail does cross the AT in the Presidential Range, between Mt Eisenhower and Mt Monroe, but there are no signs to indicate that. North of the White Mountains, there are lots of Cohos Trail signs, but in the Whites, the trail follows pre-existing trails and there are no Cohos Trail signs. Going SOBO, the CT ascends the Edmands Path, crosses the Crawford Path, and descends to the Dry River via the Mt Eisenhower Trail. There's an alternate "high route" that stays above treeline and follows the AT for a short distance. If you watched the whole video, that's that part where I had zero visibility and high winds, so I decided not to do the alternate high route. I see that you've hiked both the AT and the Colorado Trail. I've hiked much of the AT in Mass, NH, and VT, and some of it in Maine. The Colorado Trail is on my list, and I hope I can get to it before I'm too old to do it. Looks like you had some really nice campsites on that trail.

Hi Bill. We were so impressed with the Timberline Trail. Both of our sons had hiked it a few years ago, so we knew a little about it, but we were blown away by the trail. We live on the east coast, but I was telling people that if I lived in Oregon, I'd hike it every year. There sure is a lot of beauty and adventure packed into only 40 miles. There might have been a time when I could have done it in two days, but I'm afraid those days are over for me too. There were great campsites by the rivers, and the crossings were ... fun. I considered bringing sandals or crocs, but I decided to just walk through in my trail runners if rock hopping wasn't possible. My wife Judy did bring sandals and used them on at least one crossing. I watched your video and enjoyed it!

Thanks! And congrats on completing the Wonderland Trail!

Thank you John! We stayed in refuges, so we didn't have to carry camping gear. We did carry sleeping bag liners (required by the refuges) and we also brought our own pillowcases, which I recommend. And lightweight microfiber towels. We didn't bring sleeping bags and didn't need them. All the refuges were warm enough and all had blankets. You can't wear hiking shoes in the refuges, so I'd bring something to wear on your feet at night (flip flops, crocs, etc). A lot of the refuges have shoes you can borrow, but we liked having our own. We brought a water filter, but we found that there was plenty of water along the way, so we never had to use it. You can fill up at all the refuges and all the villages have places to fill your bottles. So I would probably leave the filter at home. We brought a USB battery to charge our phones, but we never needed that either, because we never had a problem finding outlets in the refuges. The sun is intense, so sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat are recommended. Our trip was end of July/beginning of August and the weather was mostly great. We never felt that it was too hot. You are going a little later, so it might be a little cooler (and maybe a little wetter?). I'd bring rain gear. We had rain jackets and pants, and it only rained one day, but it rained so long and hard that day that we got soaked (and cold) anyway. You don't have to carry a lot of food if you are staying in the refuges. We bought the box lunches on some days. They vary in quality, but most are pretty good. We would split a single box lunch and supplement it with snacks that we bought in the stores in the towns we passed through. That worked well for us. If you have some time before or after the hike, it's definitely worth spending some time in Chamonix. It's a beautiful city. A lot of people like to go parasailing, but we didn't do that. Courmayeur is great too, and Champex-Lac is small but beautiful. The TMB is a great trip and we had a wonderful time. I hope you have a great trip too!

@@judybriancunningham8868 Thanks so much for the considerate reply. Looks like we are basically doing the same thing you did. We booked our own accommodations, no camping, as we are considering this a "hiking" vacation. We have the liners, but definitely will take a pillow case and our own foot wear for the refuges, Thank you for that tip! At 62 and 57, we need to realize our limits, and pace ourselves. The TMB seems perfect for us! Thanks again.