08    Bailey - Denver    48 km

There is not much to be seen in Bailey. The Coney Island Boardwalk unfortunately was closed on a regularly open day. The day before was Labor Day. During the second night we had another hiker coming in during the night. I did not here her and slept through the night. Our host gave us a very early ride at 7 am back to the trail. Unfortunately Waterton Canyon was starting this week closed Monday through Friday for water works. This meant we could only hike out on Saturday. The alternatives the Forest Service offered were not appealing to us at all. As a consequence we daily had only limited miles to hike until finishing the CT. Now the weather became really better. No more rain and getting lower by the day increased temperatures. We staid at a cave near Morrison Creek for the night.

Next day was a really hot day. Before coming into the open burn area we refilled out water at the fire station. We had been told it would be all day in the open but it turned out to be quite a bit smaller. The former Top of the World Picnic Area as well as Campground was only visible on the map. Everything was taken down. Being in a dry area there where some different cactus along the trail. Eventually we arrived at the South Platte River which is crossed over a bridge. Camping along the river is not allowed. So we got up on the other side until finding a reasonable spot. We met hardly anyone all day long. In the morning we had ice on our sleeping bags. Seven day hikers coming up from the road by the river passed by before we even got out of our bags. The first part is a long climb up to Russel Ridge. There was some deer right on the trail. It was a short and slow hiking day as we had to stop just outside of Waterton Canyon.

Very early and still pretty cold we started into the canyon. Here the trail is a wide gravel road. The further we got downhill the more runners, bikers and hikers we met. And then there were two bighorn sheep bulls fighting on the road. They couldn't care less about people passing by. They continued fighting it out. At the trailhead it was like we had never been in the mountains. Just open plains and big parking lot. An Uber driver took us to the railway station. From there we drove into downtown Denver for a celebration dinner. This ended the Colorado Trail hike.

Coney Island Hot Dog restaurant in Bailey

Cactus at CT

Cowboy Camping at CT

Bighorn sheep in Waterton Canyon

The Colorado Trail is completely hiked

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