In this remote Colorado town, thruhikers are welcomed as family
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This story was produced as part of an upcoming episode of “Colorado Experience” focused on the Colorado Trail.
LAKE CITY, Colo. — Lake City, a small mountain town in Hinsdale County tucked inconspicuously along Highway 149, holds a few claims to fame.
It is surrounded by about 96% public lands, it has some of the darkest skies in the country and Alfred Packer, a miner and wilderness guide accused of cannibalism in the late 1800s, is alleged to have “dined” in the nearby mountains (the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill in Lake City is named in his memory).
But to hikers trekking the nearby Colorado Trail and Continental Divide Trail, Lake City is renowned for the Community Presbyterian Church that offers supplies, laundry, shuttle and postal services and home-cooked Sunday dinners.
The Lake City Trail Hiker Center, which operates in a wooden building steps away from the church, unifies the near 500-person population of Lake City with hundreds of thruhikers each year, building mutually beneficial relationships between the hikers and the residents living vicariously through them.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know the Colorado Trail existed… [but] the hikers tell me I have a little bit of a reputation on the trail,” said Rev. Jason Santos, the Community Presbyterian Church minister and founder of the Lake City Trail Hiker Center.
“And more and more we see people say things like, ‘You’ve got to stop in Lake City.’”
Video: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
The Colorado Trail — known by hikers as “the CT” — is a 567-mile hiking trail running from Denver to Durango. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, advocates from the U.S. National Forest Service, Colorado organizations like the Colorado Mountain Club and thousands of volunteers contributed to the building of the trail, which officially finished in 1987.
Santos started at the Lake City Community Presbyterian Church in 2020 just as COVID-19 infections began spreading throughout the state. Yet as the already quiet town turned dormant, he still noticed thruhikers making their way through town and occasionally passing by the church and his home. Santos lives next door to the church.
Santos worked with a small hiker center and ministry while serving in Pennsylvania. After relocating to Lake City, he made a goal to offer eight potluck-style meals to hikers and Lake City residents during the summer of 2021.
Interested members of the Community Presbyterian Church and a couple of nearby churches contributed food to the first potlucks. Santos advertised the event on Facebook but largely relied on word-of-mouth among hikers to share the news.
Forty-five community members and two hikers attended the first meal. According to Santos, one hiker,Jason “Bamboo” Elwood — thruhikers frequently adopt or are given trail names used while on trail — downed 18 tacos.
Word of the potlucks spread, and only a few weeks later the Trail Hiker Center served about 50 hikers. By the end of the summer, the center had served close to 300.
Santos realized growth potential in his homegrown hiker-service operation. The next summer, he formally established the Trail Hiker Center to include grab-and-go boxes of snacks and toiletries, as well as providing tired travelers a place to sit comfortably and relax.
“I noticed down at the park or the post office, there would always be hikers there with all of their stuff on the ground,” said Santos. “I was like, ‘We have this space. We’re not using it most of the time. Let’s just do it!’”
Today, the Trail Hiker Center offers “shuttle” services to and from the trailhead, though “shuttle” really refers to individual, on-call community volunteers who transport hikers in their own cars.
One closet in the center is dedicated to postal services. Parents and friends sometimes send care packages to thruhikers, which the center receives and stores before hikers arrive.
After the local Lake City laundromat closed, the Trail Hiker Center recruited volunteer “Laundry Angels” who do loads of laundry and offer the hikers loaner clothes while waiting for things to dry.
Today, Trail Hiker Center hosts serve two-hour shifts welcoming visitors. Santos said they have more than 90 active volunteers both from the congregation and from within the community who contribute their time and food donations.
Santos said that attracting thruhikers boosts the local economy because passing travelers dine at local restaurants and book hotel rooms. The Lake City Tax Board awarded the Trail Hiker Center a grant of about $4,000 to sustain this thruhiker hospitality.
Travelers hit a small gong when they enter the center for Sunday dinners. Crowds of volunteers then yell, “Hiker!” and applaud. They did this for every one of the approximately 50 hikers in attendance.
For local volunteers, the Trail Hiker Center is a welcoming setting to meet travelers from across the world. Many backpackers hail from Europe, and Lake City residents appreciate hearing their travel stories over a shared casserole and fruit salad.
“They’re so interesting and fun to talk to,” said Dorothy Schmidt, a Trail Hiker Center volunteer. “You find out how far they’ve hiked, where they intend to go… and of course, we could never do it, so we’re just fascinated!”
Schmidt is one of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of the seasonal residents who migrate to Lake City for the summer, often from Texas, according to Schmidt. She is a Texan herself and called the town “a little mini Texas in the summer.”
Santos said that the Lake City population sometimes doubles or triples in size during summer months.
Laura Fox, another temporary Texas transplant, was aware that hikers passed through Lake City, but she did not know anything about the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.
“The coolest thing is you meet these mostly young folks that are on the trail, and you can encourage them and cook for them. These [home-cooked meals], they’re a very big deal for them,” said Fox.
Santos said he feels the church is now connected to the Colorado Trail. He really appreciates the “moments of transformation” he sees in hikers and in his congregation alike, and he hopes to continue expanding upon their offered services to newfound friends in the future.
“Being on trail and the sense of community really restores your faith in humanity,” said one hiker who goes by the trail name “Detour.”
“It is a cliché, but there are certain times where it rings true, and I think coming here really just makes me feel connected to people.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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