53 miles, 20,000′ gain/loss, Class 2+
Route Description
The Colorado Front Range is far tamer than many other places in the state, but it still has some gems. One very obvious one is the Continental Divide Ridge Traverse from the paved road at Hoosier Pass to the next paved road at Loveland Pass.
Between these two landmarks are two 14ers — one being the highpoint of the entire Continental Divide — a Centennial, and many, many other points and peaks that gets a small fraction of the traffic that these three landmarks get.
I hadn’t heard of anyone completing this full traverse, but it seemed relatively straightforward and fun enough. I thought it would make a good late Winter objective, given there isn’t any real technical pitches and avalanche danger can be managed. 26 miles in the middle of this route is a Continental Divide Trail (CDT) Alternative called “The Argentine Spine” that starts essentially at Grays Peak, and ends at Georgia Pass. Thus, I’ve called this route the “Super Spine”, being approx twice as long.
History and Attempts
Although I haven’t heard of anyone else completing this traverse, it’s really not out of the realm of possibility, especially since the crest of the route can be seen at least in part from many places in the surrounding towns that make up Summit County.
I have myself tried twice before finally completing it on my third try. I was surprised that it seemed so hard to complete. I was certain this could be a Winter route, rather than a summer route, so set off in Winter conditions, hoping that conditions would still work for me to have a successful traverse (I was wrong). I still would like to complete this route in Winter, but for now, a late Spring traverse will suffice.
Map
