Hot take: the Colorado Trail is overrated compared to the Wind River Range

I did the CT last July and just felt like I was walking through crowded forest service roads the whole time. The Winds near Big Sandy gave me real solitude and way better alpine views in 5 days than 3 weeks on that trail. Has anyone else bailed on a popular route for a less famous one?

3 comments

3 Comments

riverreed1mo ago

Oh man, YES! The Winds are totally the secret gem that everyone sleeps on. I did a loop out of Elkhart Park a couple years ago and had whole basins to myself, no joke. Coming down from Titcomb Basin and seeing nothing but granite peaks and alpine lakes with maybe two other groups the whole week felt like I was in a different world compared to the CT's constant stream of mountain bikers and horse packers. The CT has its moments for sure, but the sheer scale and wildness of the Winds just hits different. Plus you get way more bang for your buck elevation wise without those long, dusty forest road slogs between actual good stuff.

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rose_hart1mo ago

Folks always talk about the solitude in the Winds like it's the main draw, but what nobody mentions is how the weather patterns are completely different from the rest of the range. I've been caught in afternoons where it'll dump an inch of hail while the sun is still blazing on the next ridgeline over. That microclimate stuff makes navigation a real puzzle because you can't just rely on forecasts from the trailhead. It forces you to actually read the terrain and clouds instead of just following a GPS dot. That unpredictability is what separates real wilderness from a pretty hike, in my book.

margaret_taylor4215d ago

That unpredictability you're talking about is kind of how a lot of things work when you peel back the surface. It's like how people will plan their whole life around a 5 year plan but then a kid gets sick or a job falls through and none of it matters. The real skill isn't the planning, it's being able to read the signs and adjust on the fly. The Winds just force you to do that faster than most places.