This could have been in trip reports but if it was, I'd highlight the good parts.
I've been planning to do a week on the CT since early this year. I live by the first part and have done 1-5 at various time over the years so I thought I'd do segments 6-9 over a week. A pretty leisurely 12 MPD. Nice and relaxing. So I thought. My wife was happy to help me with a car shuttle where we would drop a car at Turquoise Lake in Leadville and then she would drop me and my dog Buddy at Kenosha Pass. On Saturday morning we left and needed to drop my daughter off where we would take a different driving route. We hit massive traffic and then drove past part of the Leadville 100 MBR. Due to the race, the parking lot at the TH was full but someone pulled out and we got a spot. Luckily. Then we drive to the Kenosha Pass TH and she drops us off at 3:30 to head home. In what turned out to be 7 hours of driving. (I married well.)
The trip starts off great and then on day 3 as I leave camp, cross a road, and start up the trail, I see this:
And the date says that day. I don't know what a Breck Epic is but I can't see how it could be a good thing. For us, anyway. The first 2 miles are uphill with a 1000' climb and then it descends switchbacks. Half way up a mountain biker/packer approaches and says hi. I ask if he's part of the Breck Epic. He says no, he and 60 other riders are racing the length of the CT. And they are travelling light. Really amazing. But he does know what the Breck Epic is and it involves a week long series of trail races out of Breckenridge. And that they would likely be here very soon and they would be flying. I realize we don't want to be caught in the switchbacks when they come by so we pick up the pace. We catch up to another backpacker and I tell him what's happening and we all rush forward. Too late. We're not even a 1/4 mile down the switchbacks when the leaders arrive. And they are moving.
I'm kind of enjoying it for a bit. The speed at which they are taking the trail is very impressive. They're doing maybe 25-30 MPH and pedaling where I'd be doing 15 and braking. And the riders are really polite. A group of 5 would fly by us and it would be thanks/whoosh/thanks/whoosh/thanks. One of the early riders said "Thanks. Sorry for ruining your day." I laughed and called out no problem. Wrong. I called out to one of the riders to ask how many and he said 300. I realize that they could be really spread out. And it's hard to stand uphill on a 45 degree slope for an extended period of time. I was considering getting down to a corner and hanging out, there might be a level spot there. While I'm thinking about that, there's a crash in the corner above me. Probably not the pace to be. So we wait for a break, climb back onto the trail, rush downhill until we hear a call from behind, then go downhill of the side, dragging my confused dog with me. My dog is pretty trail savvy and is used to exiting the trail to the low side to patiently wait while equestrians, hikers and riders go by. But being quickly dragged over the side of the trail is not part of that. Especially when you don't get to choose where you exit the trail as you usually would. It was just, here they come, step off into whatever slash, loose rocks, whatever. Then stand on steep slope until it was clear, climb back up the trail, make a little progress, and do it again. 3 times my dog's pack simply slipped over his head as it was that steep heading down. It took us 2.5 hours to go a mile. Downhill. And I was exhausted. And we ran out of water due to all the exertion and time that was not planned. No big deal but we were very thirsty when we got to the next source. But the worst part was I felt a twinge in my left leg when I got off the trail one time. And it got progressively worse. But it didn't seem that bad. Until I got into my bag. Then I had stabbing/shooting pains in my leg. I couldn't sleep. I decided at about 3 or 4 AM to bail out. And in the morning my dog was walking gingerly on his front paws. The CT is a picnic (it's very smooth from all the traffic) compared to where we walk/hike normally with no issues. He's handled the Winds, 14ers, and wherever else we went with no problem. I'm sure it was caused by all the diving off the trail into whatever was below us on the switchbacks. Whatever the cause, my wife picked us up and drove us to get the car at the far thrailhead and she ends up doing another long drive, this one 5 hours. (Did I mention I married well?)
The bottom line of all this is I don't think it's right that organized groups are allowed to take over the trail like this. I'm all for sharing the trail. The CT racers were courteous and really great to talk to. And the riders on the Breck Epic themselves knew they were impacting the hikers and said thanks/sorry constantly. But this had nothing to do with trail sharing. That isn't happening in a race like this.
Obviously I'm not happy about my vacation ending this way. It's a huge impact on me. But it just doesn't seem right that groups can take over public trails like this. Especially one as busy as the CT. This was a 5 day race on trails in the Breckenridge area. I'd think they could have skipped the CT. Or at very least, sent ahead volunteer riders to let the other trail users know what to expect. The climb started right next to a road. They would have had to ride a few miles max. I'd have been happy to hang in camp and let this rolling mess move past me. Instead, I'm at home, vacation over, with an ice pack on my leg, and thinking next time:
I'll be backpacking in wilderness. Let the organized groups have the CT.
