Colorado Trail journals

Earlier this summer, we reported the challenge the Colorado Trail posed to a Colorado Springs resident. Tim McElderry, 55, retired a year ago and set out for a solo hike of the 500-mile Colorado Trail. But he never finished and wound up defeated by the solitary hike. "I would go about four days and then, just be kind of done," he said. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he had to finish.

This is a guy who isn't easily defeated - he has climbed the 100 tallest peaks in Colorado and recently did a rim-to-rim-to-rim trip in the Grand Canyon. So he set a new date to hike the 123 miles remaining for him. On Aug. 5, he started out at Spring Creek and headed west, bound for Durango. This time, he made it, arriving at the end on Aug. 12.

Now that it's over? McElderry admits to mixed emotions. "You have a goal like that and you work had to achieve that goal, and then it's done. You think, 'Now what? Do I have to have another goal?'"

McElderry says this trip was wet but uneventful, a pleasant walk through fields of wildflowers. He says he relied on the data book for the trail and wore a Garmin GPS watch to keep him on track.
Now that he has officially completed the trail, McElderry says he would be happy to answer questions about it at 574-3355 or jaggedmt2000@hotmail.com