By Charley Able
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

The first human footfall on what is now the Colorado Trail came several thousand years ago as American Indians moved across the ridges that define the state's western landscape in search of food and shelter.

In the years since, the nearly 500-mile path from the Denver foothills to the Four Corners has seen conquerors, traders, explorers, mountain men, pioneers and cowhands.

The people frequenting the trail now are hikers, mountain bikers, horse riders, runners, anglers, bird and wildlife watchers, hunters, campers and others.

All owe a measure of thanks to a handful of people who pushed for official designation of the route and the multitudes who labor each summer to keep the trail functional and accessible.

The trail, which just marked the 25th anniversary of its official designation, winds through the high country from Waterton Canyon in Jefferson County to its western terminus just northwest of Durango.

The Colorado Trail passes through seven national forests, six wilderness areas, five major river systems and eight mountain ranges.

It is a living symbol of Coloradans' longtime reverence for their outdoor surroundings and determination to protect them.

The concept of the trail is widely attributed to Bill Lucas, who, in a 1970 meeting of the Colorado Mountain Club, proposed a network of trails linked by a single central route spanning the mountains.

At the time, Lucas was a U.S. Forest Service regional forester.

But Lucas says the true genesis of the trail can be traced to the Roundup Riders, a group of business and professional men who, in the late 1940s, decided they wanted to see the Rocky Mountains from horseback.

"Actually, the Rocky Mountain Trail was conceived by the Mountain Club and the Roundup Riders, and the opportunity to bring the dream to reality is what occurred to me," Lucas said when the trail's 20th anniversary was observed in 1994.

"Hal Dahl, who was the head honcho (of the Roundup Riders) then, was working on me. He was telling me about Rick Rickertson and Joe Dekker traveling in the high country, discussing their love of the country and the fact that they thought something ought to be done to basically advertise it more.

"So the Roundup Riders was founded," Lucas said.

Lucas also credits Denver industrialist Charles Gates, who secured a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation, to kick off the effort to gain recognition of the trail.

Federal legislation in the form of the Volunteers in the National Forest Act of 1982 also helped pave the way for the trail, Lucas said last week shortly after he attended observances marking the trail's first quarter century.

That legislation exempts federal agencies from paying volunteers working on federal property but treats them as employees in terms of liability or safety requirements.

"I think the volunteer (effort) ... is the most significant part of the whole thing," Lucas said.

Now retired, Lucas no longer spends a lot of time on the higher sections of the trail but remains a frequent visitor to the lower part of the trail in Waterton Canyon.

"I just use the park down here in the canyon along the South Platte River," he said. "I keep going up there and continue to be amazed at the parking lot. It does get one heck of a lot of use."

Lucas urges schools to make more use of the trail's character-building potential in the coming millennium.

"I would like to see the schools pick up and use the trail in dealing with the transition of young people to young adults," Lucas said.

When people talk about the trail, they usually mention Gudy Gaskill, whose lobbying was instrumental in persuading the state to officially designate the route.

"Gudy's done a real good job of completing it," Lucas said, referring to the project he brought from concept to reality.

Gaskill, who was the executive trail director of the Colorado Mountain Trails Foundation and later the head of the Colorado Trail Foundation, recruited volunteers to help build the route.

The Trail Foundation numbers about 2,000 paying supporters and continues its work organizing volunteers to build, maintain and reroute the trail.

Now in her mid-70s, Gaskill maintains a close connection with the trail.

"I just came in last night after five weeks on the trail," Gaskill said last week. "I had a trail crew, and then I had an elder hostel trail crew and then I had three weeks of educational classes."

Gaskill gives the trail credit for keeping her active and healthy.

"I think that (because) there is so much to be done and I am going at such high speed every day that I can't put any fat on or develop any aches and pains," Gaskill said.

"We meet a lot of people who are hiking the trail. This summer we were averaging probably five a day who came through hiking and a lot more that were just doing parts of it.

"For me that is heavy traffic," Gaskill said.

The trail still is evolving, Gaskill said, and much more work is needed to maintain and build more segments.

"We can average about a mile a week," Gaskill said. "There's a lot more rocks to move."

George Miller, current president of the Colorado Trail Foundation, agrees. He hopes to replace the handful of trail segments that use forest roads or pass near roads. Also in need of replacement are nearly 100 miles of trail, about 20 percent of its length, trail that has become the domain of motorcycle riders.

For that, more volunteers are needed.

"We will be looking for more volunteers and leaders," Miller said. "We need both to keep us going into the new century.

As for the future, Miller said continuing efforts started in the past is his goal.

"Under Gudy's leadership we have built and completed the trail and are continuing to maintain it," he said. "In the future, we'll probably do much of the same. We'll continue working to bypass motorized areas. That's one of our biggest areas of concern."

Gaskill sees a broad future for the trail.

"One of our goals is to become a recreational, educational, family-type trail," Gaskill said.

"I was just cleaning up my desk and came across a paper from a gal. She had run into me during a trek ... and she wrote a wonderful letter I think embodies exactly what has happened with the trail.

"And that is: All the love and affection that all the volunteers have put into the trail, she said she felt it the whole way."

Colorado Milestones, which appears Tuesdays, is part of a yearlong project by the Denver Rocky Mountain News, NEWS4 and the Colorado Historical Society. Digital and print copies of historical images available at the Colorado Historical Society (303) 866-2305

Online: InsideDenver.com, keyword "2000."

On TV: Sunday at 10 p.m.: Colorado History: Emily Griffith was a legendary teacher. A Denver school still bears her name, but her death remains an unsolved mystery.

August 24, 1999

Colorado Millennium 2000 is a yearlong project by the Denver Rocky Mountain News, NEWS4 and the Colorado Historical Society
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