Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Exploring the Continental Divide: A Quick Snowshoe Adventure at Tennessee Pass
Audio only, see YouTube for Video
Craig the Natural Medic explores the Tennessee Pass Trailhead where the Colorado Trail and Continental Divide National Scenic Trail intersect. He takes a short snowshoe trek at over 10,000 feet elevation, sharing trail insights and snowshoeing tips during his adventure.
• Snowshoeing at Tennessee Pass near Ski Cooper and the 10th Mountain Memorial
• The trail serves as a junction for both the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
• Well-marked trail with blue markers and occasional CDT or Colorado Trail markers
• Trail surface is packed enough that regular hiking boots might work, but snowshoes prevent occasional post-holing
• Important reminder: "They're called snowshoes, not dirt shoes" - avoid walking on dirt patches to protect your equipment
• High elevation (over 10,000 feet) makes even casual hiking more strenuous
• Area offers longer hiking opportunities: 6.5 miles to Holy Cross Wilderness and 115 miles to Hagerman Pass
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Hey, there it's me again. Craig the Natural Medic Just skied part of the day today because I wanted to squeeze in a little bit of snowshoeing and look where we are the Ski Cooper, the 10th Mountain Memorial, right across the street here. I've got my snowshoes on. There's enough snow to walk on it. What we're looking at is Tennessee Pass Trailhead for the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. The Colorado Trail, of course, is in Colorado, and the Continental Divide starts in the Mexican border in New Mexico and goes to Canada in Montana. Pretty cool to get to hike a little bit today. They do have a hut system here. I'm doing this on April, the 9th 2025. So when this comes out it's probably too late to do this, but put it on your notebooks maybe for next year.
Speaker 1:It is six and a half miles to the Holy Cross Wilderness. It's 115 miles to get to Hagerman Pass. Take a closer look at the sign here. You know typical stuff. You are having to be prepared for extreme conditions here. I'm not going very far. I'm only going to go maybe a mile or so. However far I can get in under an hour.
Speaker 1:Just wanted to get out here and do this for the part of the afternoon, so I hope you'll join me. I've got some cross country poles right here, but I really don't even need them. I'm planning on going just about a half a mile in. Somebody left their orange peel on the ground. Shame on them. No trace people here.
Speaker 1:Now you can see the trail surface a little better. It's very packed so you probably could hike this in regular hiking boots. But to make it easier easier I strapped on my snowshoes so glad that I brought them. I am sinking a little bit into the terrain, which is fine. The trail is well marked with the blue markers and occasionally you'll see a CDT or a Colorado Trail marker. Pretty easy overall to follow the trail. But I will remind you, as I may have mentioned in the previous videos here in Leadville, especially up here at Cooper, I'm at over 10,000 feet high. So if you hear me out of breath, there's a reason for that. I think this little dirt patch up ahead would be a good spot to sit down, have a little snack and turn around and go back.
Speaker 1:I wish I could spend more time out here today. I'm trying to squeeze in the last moments I have in Leadville to get the most bang for my buck. I wish I had more time to explore. Doesn't that look mysterious? This is kind of the side trail here.
Speaker 1:As I said, I'll tell you one more time. They're called snowshoes, not dirt shoes. You don't want to walk in your snowshoes on the dirt because it's not good for them. A lot of them have cleats, like mine have cleats on there, and I've walked on hard ground and kind of bent them a little bit. It's probably not good for your snowshoes, so keep that in mind. Just a moment, after I finish these nuts, I'm going to head back to where I came. Yeah, snowshoes probably aren't necessary on this, but this person did post all right here pretty good and went down in some deep snow, which is okay. It happens. But if you're doing that the majority of the hike, you're probably not gonna have a very good time.
Speaker 1:We are coming to the end of our snowshoeing today. Wish I had more time to be out here, but unfortunately I do not. You can see it's the parking lot ahead, which means it's close to the end. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you give it a thumbs up and if you want more content, make sure to subscribe to the channel. I'm trying to bring really cool stuff that not everybody gets to do. I'm lucky I get to do it because of my work schedule and proximity and I'm very blessed and thankful for that. Until next time, see you on the trail and if you get bored, there's videos, probably up here. You can watch one of those. All right, until next time, folks. Bye-bye.
