Connecting the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durang to Moab

[Philderness]

Helloooo!! I'm new to the bikepacking way of life. Ever since I quit my job and moved out west from Ohio I have been dreaming about big adventures. Just last fall I was riding in Durango and stumbled upon the CT and that started my fasination with bike packing on my mountain bike. This winter left me dreaming of a big bike packing trip on the CT so starting in late July/early August I will be riding from Denver to Durango on the CT and then back to Moab.

This will be my first backpacking trip and I would like to do this all self supported. I don't want to use the San Juan huts or Hermosa tours.

My plan is to try out my bike packing set up in the La Sal mountains and on the white rim. Since I live in Moab this summer it should be a good play ground to test my set up.

Does anyone know how to locate GPS way points for the trip from Durango to Moab?
Is there water along the route? It looks like days 3-5 are pretty questionable.

If you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Phil

[AZTtripper]

This guys putting it together the other way http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=10393.0

[Philderness]

Thanks AZTtripper... I checked out his postings and they were a great read. He doesn't seem to have the GPS waypoints which is a bummer. I'm guessing they aren't really posted anywhere because no one seems to know them which is kind of a bummer. If I end up going for this portion of the trip I will have to document the way points and try to post them for future riders.

[Wildmtnchild]

Hi Philderness,

I'll be doing the CT around the same time as you. You can download the GPS waypoints off the coloradotrail.org website. They're a little tricky to find. Go to the store where you purchase the trail guides and when you click on the trail maps or official guide book (can't remember which one) it gives a link below the book or map description for the way points. Hope that helps.

How many miles are you expecting to do in a day? I'd be interested in hearing about your set up as well. I'll be riding my 29" Surly Ogre with a suspension fork. I've already got a rear rack on it so I was going to go without the giant seat bag and go with a rear rack trunk instead. What will your cooking set up be?

I just realized this was last posted a couple weeks ago. Hope to hear from you though.

[Wildmtnchild]

www.bearcreeksurvey.com or .net, possibly .org. Has all the waypoints for free. They are in a zip file which made them difficult for me to upload into my iPhone Gaia GPS app (super cool app by the way....better maps and better detail than a separate gps unit, it was $20 and the maps are free, unlike garmin etc). I did a google search for Colorado trail gpx waypoints which sent me to a forum post where a gentleman had converted the zip file into gpx and I downloaded it from there.

Hope you get this in time to help.

[stumpyfsr]

I'm in pretty much same situation and was trying to make the same route hoping to find San Huan's GPX. But lately I found out that their route consist almost of dirt roads and very little of singletrack. Since I didn't bike packed in a year, I've decided just ride Colorado Trail and see what happens next. Maybe turn around and pedal back to Denver.
If You'll make this trip from Denver to Moab make sure to post detailed report here.