2024 Colorado Trail Thru Hike, Part 1 (Denver to Leadville)

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Part 1 of the Colorado Trail. Not the most spectacular section, but I loved it! Have you hiked the CT? What did you think of this section?

[@ervinslens]

Another gorgeous episode my favorite! This trail looks amazing 🏔️🥾

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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

[@incantraveler]

Awesome trail with stunning views, thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to the next part.

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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

[@Hanna-Julius]

Hello and greetings from Germany. Thank you very much for this amazing Video. Impressive hiking and a really great performance on the trail. I visited Colorado in the late 70th because my Aunt lived in Colorado Springs. It's a so beautiful Country. Unfortunately, I'm not fit enough for long hikes. I go on very long tours of over 100 km in a few hours on my mountain bike or racing bike. Best regards, Julius

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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!

[@thuthiehiker]

Loved it. ❤ great editing and music.

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Thank you, thuthiehiker!

[@dansouth2088]

This is great stuff, Brian. I love the CO mountains and I'll probably never have the time to hike the CT, so thanks for the vlogs! I've always wanted to do a day hike/run from Twin Lakes to Lake Ann to Cottonwood Pass, so will look forward to that segment if you did Collegiate West.

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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.

[@dansouth2088]

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

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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!

[@dansouth2088]

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

[@JeffCunningham]

This showed up in my recommendations. Awesome video! Looking forward to part 2!

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Thank you Jeff!

[@NiceLittleAdventures]

Awesome! I might steal some of your effects for my next video...

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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

[@MarmaladeOutdoors]

Hey they’re really enjoying your series so far. I’m watching every searching for possibly doing a trail next summer. I know it’s too late now but it’s always helpful to give dates when you’re hiking today but we’re choosing a time to go we know depending how your weather is if we want to go at the same time or not. Can you tell me the dates if you like this trail this time please? Thanks ahead of time and I’m enjoying it so far

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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.

[@eddiesedventures...3106]

Good stuff! Mind if I ask what you used to photo, video with?

[@judybriancunningham8868]

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.