If the Continental Divide Trail is the nation’s backbone, Buena Vista is its heart – at least it is next weekend, when the Continental Divide Trail Alliance kicks off TrailFest 2006, a celebration of the border-to-border walking path and the dozens of ways to enjoy it.
A $1.2 million appropriation by Congress last month will go a long way toward moving parts of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail off the road and deep into the woods.
The next step, then, is to let hikers know that they might be dazzled by even short spans of the border-to-border trail that snakes 3,100 miles across five states, says Bruce Ward, co- founder and co-executive director of the Continental Divide Trail Alliance in Pine Junction.
Since 1995, the trail alliance, organized and led by Ward and his wife, Paula, has worked to find public and private funding – and volunteer labor – to move the path off roads shared with ATVs and other vehicles and onto more primitive and pastoral routes that justify the trail’s scenic designation.
“We came to the realization that unless we had people out there enjoying the experience, getting involved and becoming emotionally connected to the trail, there was no point to going through all of this,” says Ward.
On Saturday, they’ll throw out 13 ways for hikers of all abilities to get to know the stretch of the trail that spans central Colorado.
TrailFest 2006, held for the first time in its new hometown of Buena Vista, will let people try out treks as tough as summiting a fourteener or as easy as taking a pontoon boat across Twin Lakes Reservoir to explore a ghost town. Two of the day hikes will allow trekkers to lead pack llamas and goats.
The alliance used to mark the summer hiking season every other year with a wonkish policy conference.
Last year, with about 58 percent of the long walk winding through more serene territory, the alliance reasoned it was time to focus on getting people out on “The King of Trails.” The inaugural TrailFest was held in Keystone.
Ward says he hopes TrailFest will take on the cachet of Trail Days, the weekend in May when thousands of hikers meet in Damascus, Va., to celebrate the famed Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail.
But the Appalachian Trail, where trekkers walking the 2,175-mile route between Maine and Georgia can dine on pizza every other night if they wish, is a much a different hike from the Continental Divide Trail, which is considered the most difficult of the eight National Scenic Trails. The handful of “through hikers” who make the border-to-border trip might walk through the searing New Mexico desert and the high-altitude chill of the Montana mountains in the same season.
By showing off a dozen treks along the trail, Ward says the alliance sends the message that the route is for everyone, not just the hard-core through hikers. In the process, the alliance hopes to cultivate a new generation of volunteers and financial supporters for the trail, which remains technically unfinished even though it was designated in 1978.
“We see the trail as a way of connecting people to the land, but also connecting people to each other,” Ward says.
THE BEST OF THE FEST
TrailFest 2006 has a little something for everyone, whether you’re an experienced adventurer or a kid who wants to try kayaking. The action starts Saturday at Continental Divide Basecamp at Columbine Park, on U.S. 24 near Main Street in Buena Vista:
The Buena Vista Rotary Club gets things going with a flapjack feed 7 a.m.-10 a.m. $5.
Check in for Get on the Divide adventures starts at 7 a.m. and most (except for the Mount Massive summit trip) leave the park around 8:30 a.m. Find the full schedule and registration information cdtrail.org. Free, except for the hike sponsored by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which is $35; $25 for museum members.
Kid AdventureFest of supervised activities including climbing wall, kayak paddling and mountain bike test rides, run 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $5 for unlimited use.
Music in the Park, featuring Colorado bands One Kind Favor, Solar Junkyard, Truckadero and the TFB Quartet, runs 4-9 p.m. Free.
Taste of the Trail dinner is served along with the tunes, featuring dishes from the five states the trail runs through, including Colorado trout, Wyoming moose roast, Idaho spuds, Montana huckleberry cobbler and New Mexico piñon-crusted chicken. $15 adults; $7 kids. Reservations required by Wednesday; call 303-838-3760.
Getting around: Buena Vista is a little more than two hours southwest of Denver. Get there from the Front Range by taking U.S. 285 south to U.S. 24 and then heading north. From the Western Slope, take Interstate 70 to Minturn and follow U.S. 24 south to Buena Vista.
