Exploring the Continental Divide: A Quick Snowshoe Adventure at Tennessee Pass

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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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, there it's me again.
Craig the Natural Medic Justskied part of the day today
because I wanted to squeeze in alittle 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 onit.
What we're looking at isTennessee Pass Trailhead for the

(00:29):
Colorado Trail and theContinental Divide National
Scenic Trail.
The Colorado Trail, of course,is in Colorado, and the
Continental Divide starts in theMexican border in New Mexico
and goes to Canada in Montana.
Pretty cool to get to hike alittle bit today.
They do have a hut system here.

(00:49):
I'm doing this on April, the9th 2025.
So when this comes out it'sprobably too late to do this,
but put it on your notebooksmaybe for next year.
It is six and a half miles tothe Holy Cross Wilderness.
It's 115 miles to get toHagerman Pass.
Take a closer look at the signhere.

(01:11):
You know typical stuff.
You are having to be preparedfor extreme conditions here.
I'm not going very far.
I'm only going to go maybe amile or so.
However far I can get in underan hour.
Just wanted to get out here anddo this for the part of the

(01:31):
afternoon, so I hope you'll joinme.
I've got some cross countrypoles right here, but I really
don't even need them.
I'm planning on going justabout a half a mile in.
Somebody left their orange peelon the ground.
Shame on them.
No trace people here.

(01:57):
Now you can see the trailsurface a little better.
It's very packed so youprobably could hike this in
regular hiking boots.
But to make it easier easier Istrapped on my snowshoes so glad
that I brought them.
I am sinking a little bit intothe terrain, which is fine.
The trail is well marked withthe blue markers and

(02:23):
occasionally you'll see a CDT ora Colorado Trail marker.
Pretty easy overall to followthe trail.
But I will remind you, as I mayhave mentioned in the previous
videos here in Leadville,especially up here at Cooper,
I'm at over 10,000 feet high.

(02:44):
So if you hear me out of breath, there's a reason for that.
I think this little dirt patchup ahead would be a good spot to
sit down, have a little snackand turn around and go back.
I wish I could spend more timeout here today.
I'm trying to squeeze in thelast moments I have in Leadville

(03:05):
to get the most bang for mybuck.
I wish I had more time toexplore.
Doesn't that look mysterious?
This is kind of the side trailhere.
As I said, I'll tell you onemore time.
They're called snowshoes, notdirt shoes.
You don't want to walk in yoursnowshoes on the dirt because
it's not good for them.
A lot of them have cleats, likemine have cleats on there, and

(03:28):
I've walked on hard ground andkind of bent them a little bit.
It's probably not good for yoursnowshoes, so keep that in mind
.
Just a moment, after I finishthese nuts, I'm going to head
back to where I came.
Yeah, snowshoes probably aren'tnecessary on this, but this

(03:49):
person did post all right herepretty good and went down in
some deep snow, which is okay.
It happens.
But if you're doing that themajority of the hike, you're
probably not gonna have a verygood time.
We are coming to the end of oursnowshoeing today.
Wish I had more time to be outhere, but unfortunately I do not

(04:12):
.
You can see it's the parkinglot ahead, which means it's
close to the end.
If you enjoyed this video, makesure 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 coolstuff that not everybody gets
to do.
I'm lucky I get to do itbecause of my work schedule and

(04:37):
proximity and I'm very blessedand thankful for that.
Until next time, see you on thetrail 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.