Thoughts about bikepacking the Colorado Trail

These are my thoughts, advice about bikepacking the Colorado Trail. I've done a first 2013 attempt on a subset of the later part of the trail, a 2015 trip to complete what we left unfinished in 2013, and then in 2022, the whole thing, Denver to Durango. Each time I learned something. This page is not perfect, complete, or done. I might add things, as I think of them.

Personal

This was hard, for me, beautiful, a Big Challenge. I had to use my brain and body to ensure basic functions; journey long distances over land, find and purify water, not get hit by lightning, find good camp spots, carry enough food and feed myself; it was good, for me, to fulfill the basic functions my body evolved to do, in nature. I spend so much time in a city, working on a computer. Operating as a fairly standard human in our original environment, with some technology was a valuable way to spend nineteen days. Other people do this ride faster. The slow struggle for me was beneficial; it really cracked me open, physically and emotionally. I was vulnerable, willing and eager for friendships, to see beautiful things, to be helpful, to experience new places. I was exposed to so much natural beauty on this ride. I would crest a rise, after a long struggle to get there, and suddenly feel like I was seeing heaven, nirvana. During and after the ride, I felt myself being able and open to changing. These words Christine Fonner said to me in Silverton were worth writing down:

Between learning zone and panic zone is the transformational space. That's where life-changing leaning happens. You need to have purposeful challenge to push yourself out of comfort, or of learning space into transformational space, to become a different person. Calculated risk talking.

Casualties 

one chain, one tire, cracked phone screen, lost mini towel, Jet Boil Sol Ti stove igniter and integrated bowl, water filter bag (Platypus) maybe charger battery getting dunked in creek, brake pads, holes in a couple dry bags and the Ortlieb seat pack, one highly abused lighter.

Advice

• Train for this. You should be fit, capable of long, endurance efforts, day over day. You should be lean, and have high strength to weight ratio. I was in barely-acceptable fitness. Our idea of a pleasurable trip with multiple days off relied on a flawed memory of how hard this ride is, especially from sea level. Better fitness would have made it more enjoyable, more likely to succeed (complete) and meant for more pedaling, less walking. Regarding walking, you'll be doing a bunch. Go on some long, steep hikes. Heck, practice pushing a heavy bike up steep, loose hills. :-)
• Get up and moving early. 2022 and I think 2013 were heavy monsoon years. Storms end your day most days at 2PM, especially the higher up you are, e.g. segments 22 and 23. Start at 4AM, be moving before dawn. Set your own schedule, don't let the weather determine where you camp, and when. It's unlikely you'll be riding again, once the rain stops, unless you are riding in the dark. Most of these storms went for about 4 hours, 2-6. 
• Many segments have few water fill locations. Filter often, and as you get closer to noon, consider keeping extra bottles full. If I was high up, and approaching 2PM, and I was unlikely to be able to camp next to a stream, I'd fill my pack's bladder, a water bottle, and I'd fill my water filter's bag. I'd stow the extra bottle and water filter in my frame bag, displacing my electronics and Databook dry bags to get the weight low. If you do a dry camp, you'll need water for preparing dinner (assuming dehydrated food) and breakfast, plus water to drink until next filter opportunity. There were a few times I had my mileage markers wrong, and passed a last filter opportunity, only to regret it later. Always filter.
• Altitude will affect you. In a perfect world, if riding the CT, you live at above 6000', and train up to 12,000'. Very few of us can do that. Ideally I would have spent more time in the California Sierras, before this trip. In 2013 we used Diamox, which makes you pee, but helps with altitude problems.  Both Mark and I were affected by altitude sickness. Be ready to recognize it. It knocked Mark out of the CT, and I met people on the trail who lost partners to it. It is no joke. You really need weeks or months to acclimatize. You will have bad days, if coming from sea level. I had about 3, starting on day 2. Thankfully, they passed. 
• Pick your partner / group well, if traveling together. Are you well matched? Will you get along? Are you individually carrying shared resources, which mean separation is impossible? Will you always be together, or is it OK to travel asynchronously, reconnecting as necessary?
• It is possible to have support, if you arrange it. I met a pair who had family and friends supporting them; camper van cookouts, segments unloaded, etc. This is more likely for a Coloradoan than a visitor from out of state, but I could see doing this with friends and family.
• I started out with the GPX loaded on my bike computer, and spent extra battery/cpu, navigating using it. Worth it. I also had the Colorado Trail Foundation's Databook. A third information source that I only caught onto, half-way through the CT is the Far Out app, with the $20 Colorado Trail bikepacking module purchased and downloaded. The app is useful; you can see your current location, distance to any useful landmark (water, intersection, segment start/end, summits) in list, map and elevation profile views. You could also ride the entire trail just by looking at signs, it's very well marked. I used all four mechanisms.
• Throw out a shelter on first afternoon thunderstorm rain drops. Do not get wet and cold, do not mess with rain gear. You will just make yourself cold and wet, and your camp that much harder. You could ride through the rain, but people get killed by lightning in the Rockies. Do your research. I found that being ready to immediately get in shelter, stay dry, have ready access to my warm/dry clothes in dry bags, and food, water, toiletries, electronics was the key to success. I learned this the hard way, late in the 2022 CT thru-bike.
• You could do this without a tent. One guy I met was just using a tarp. Beltchenko just used a bivy. I had a couple camps at 13,000' where my tent was pummeled by rain and hail, and one night on segment 15 where the mosquitos were most intense. I'm glad I had a tent, but could I have done this with a lighter setup? I love my Tarptent Moment DW. I tested it with the garden hose, and didn't re-do the seam seal procedure during this trip. I probably should have. I had a few drips, and got water inside during a storm in segment 22, but I think that might have been due to vegetation crowding the tent. It has a rain fly, and a mesh inner tent, with a 'bathtub' floor, big enough for one person. Packed, it's about a 3" x 18" cylinder. I would have liked it to pack smaller. I had to mount it external to my bags, on the front of my Ortlieb, kept from rotating down to the tire via a Voile strap, locating it on a brake hose.
• Carry an extra Voile strap or two.
• The lighter your overall bike and pack weight, the more you can ride. Too heavy, you'll be pushing. I weighed my bike and backpack in Durango, on finishing, food and water mostly depleted; 57lbs for bike, 12lbs for pack. I could have left things home, carried less. Listening to Neil Beltchenko, interviewed by Payson McElveen and watching the video The Rig That Won The Colorado Trail Race - Neil Beltchenko gives me lots of ideas. 
• Practice everything. I did almost none of this, bringing bike, food, gear on the trail that I had not tried, in bikepacking settings, in advance. Practice different kinds of food, producing clean water, sleeping, camp tear-down and breakfast time from wake-up to riding, from riding to within a shelter during a storm, all gear removed and available, riding similar terrain and altitude.
• Practicing with your bags will bring you closer to perfection. The larger Ortlieb rear bag was not great. The larger stuff sack in it for my clothes led to this segmentation problem, where the rain gear I stuffed in the rigid nose of the pack acted independently from the oversize ball of the stuff sack, causing segmentation and hinging, which led to getting a hole in the bag and first stuff sack. The double straps on the dropper post meant I couldn't drop the seat! If I'd done more than one practice ride, I'd have realized this wasn't the bag I wanted. Front Ortlieb bag was OK. Practice your packing, where stuff goes, what bags.
• I could have done the whole trail with a rigid post, and maybe a QR seat collar. I did the whole CT as a high-poster, see above. One less thing to fail, lighter bike. If you get a dropper-specific seat bag, it will be smaller. That's what I'd do, if I did it again. See Neil's video, above, he had a mechanism for limiting dropper travel, to protect his bag. Smart.
• Consider bringing a lightweight, full-suspension bike. I brought a hardtail, because it's lighter, there's less to fail, the frame bag space is bigger, but I found that much of the Colorado Trail is rocky, especially the segments in the middle teens. Many times, lacking leg strength and acclimatized lungs, I was stopped by the constant up/down of riding on rocks. A FS bike would allow more pedaling, if perhaps lessening frame bag volume.
• Bring durable tires, do not skimp. Bring everything to repair them. You are in deep country on the CT. Your bike will be subject to many rocks, which can all destroy tires.
• Go down 2-4 teeth on your front chainring(s). I ran a 28T up front, where normally I run 32, the rear was your standard Eagle 10-50 cassette. I was in the 28-50 A LOT.
• Start with fresh brake pads. Consider going to a 4-piston brake and larger rotors. You will be braking a lot; you'll have a heavier bike, going over very rough, rocky terrain. To save your tires, you'll be braking more and descending as conservatively as possible. I started with fresh brake pads, and had to replace them when I finished.
• You will have practiced producing clean water, see above. Bring redundant mechanisms for producing it. I had a water filter bag failure that cost me a nero day. I later bought some tablets that I could use to purify water. Figure out your strategies and have a fall-back. One person I met, John from Montrose used grapefruit seed extract to purify water.
• I saw mountain bikers with both flats and clipless pedals. Personally, I walked most of the trail, as measured by hours. I brought flat pedals and shoes, and I'd recommend you do. If you bring clipless, bring the most walk-able, durable shoes, and extra cleats/bolts. If you are old, big, from sea level, un-fit, unused to bikepacking the Colorado Trail, or multiple of these, consider flats. If you're not already using flat pedals, now is a good time to start. They will make riding more fun, and improve your skills. I found that I had every part of my foot on the pedals, during this trip. That's good. The downside; the pins will hurt you. There's so many ways pushing your bike can cause shin and calf injury. Practice that. I used One-Up nylon pedals, and I wish I'd switched out the aggressive pins for some that were ground down lower, smoother. If makers had 'tourist pins,' I'd buy them. 
• Consider getting the weight off your back. This guy kept his water in bottles on the King Cage Manything cages, and just used a hip pack. 
• I had the Manything cages on my fork legs, with Salsa Anything dry bags. It was OK. I had a too-big Jet Boil Sol Ti stove, lighter, extra fuel can in one, and I could have done with a smaller, simpler setup, perhaps without that location. The m8 bolts tore up the bag, rendering it not waterproof. Some plastic between those bolts / studs (King Cage USB) and the bag might have prevented that. On the other side, I had food in the dry bag. The weight didn't seem to affect the fork's function, but I do think water might have been better down there than on my back. In my pack was the standard 100oz (Camelbak) bladder, plus sometimes a full bottle. I think a second Mountain Feed Bag, or something like it on the bars would have been good for water. I did find it very easy to drink while riding from the bite valve. I think the Manything cages are best used for water bottles.
• The Peak Finder app ($5) is worth the money. You need cell signal to download the data files. It identifies all the peaks in your field of vision; swing your phone to "point at" the peak, and it will show you its name, and a visual representation of the horizon you see. Neat.
• I carried a battery to charge electronics, and tried to keep everything USB-rechargeable. Except for dunking my battery, and bringing one too big, it worked well. I brought a 19,200mAh battery, but after dunking it in a creek and doubting its function, I swapped it for my friend Mark's 10,000mAh battery, which was perfectly sufficient for multiple days between charges. Some people prefer devices (Garmin Etrex GPS, Fenix lights) which have removable batteries, which themselves might or might not be rechargeable. I bought a Petzl ACTIK CORE usb-rechargeable headlamp in Buena Vista, after my Chinese Amazon usb-c headlamp stopped charging. It's great, and at 500 lumens, sufficient for pre-dawn riding. I charged my phone, Garmin Edge 520 GPS, Spot X tracker, NiteRider Swift 500 light (could have left it at home, Petzl enough) with the battery, and when I got to a place with outlets, I'd charge them all. Plan for charging time; efficiency is slow. Early camps allow you to rotate. I carried multiple cords, two wall plugs.
• I could have been fine with the smaller Spot, the Spot X allowed me to send messages, via a blackberry style keyboard, 115 characters at a time. I sent Lauren a few messages that way, but she couldn't reply. Just the tracker is sufficient. It can send "OK" and "SOS" messages. It's smaller. Mine was in the big gap pocket on my pack, where it sometimes didn't have signal, or had buttons pressed accidentally. In a shoulder strap pocket would have been better. Sharing the link for it is nice, for friends and family to follow you. Service is month to month, don't forget to turn it off when you're done.
• A bandana, in my case a synthetic one from Grinduro, is critical. It's eyeglass cleaner, spork and pot cleaner, useful for cleaning stuff of dirt and pine needles before stowing, pot holder, cooling rag, nose / mouth wipe, you name it. I had it in my back pocket the whole time. 
• One 100g isobutane for 19 days was sufficient. I carried two. Redundancy is nice, but so is a lightweight rig...
• Bedrock sandals were great for being in town, getting wet, muddy, rock-filled shoes and socks off my feet at camp, wading in creeks, but they were not light. I could have done without them, or used lighter-weight Crocs. I originally had them strapped on top of my rear pack. They contributed to the pack folding, buzzing the rear tire. (see the segmentation problem I mention elsewhere, with the rear pack.)
• Something hot to drink at camp is really good; for hydration, for restoration, for happiness. My new discovery in 2022 was dehydrated bone broth, at evening camp. Try it. Hot cocoa is also good. Dehydrated coffee from Alpine Start for mornings was excellent.
• I didn't bring a paper book or a kindle, I read downloaded books on my phone, via the kindle app, in airplane mode of course, usually while charging off the battery. (Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez, The Complete Stories, Flannery O'Connor, some stuff I'd saved in the Chrome browser to read on the trail)
• CBD/CBN gummies helped me sleep. I also had Advil PM and melatonin tablets, which I sometimes combined. I'm 54, sleep isn't great at my age, and going from your bed at home to a sleep system on the trail isn't easy. By the end of the CT I was comfy, and slept great in my sleep system. (Marmot 30º bag, Thermarest Neo Air pad and pillow, Tarptent Moment DW one-person tent, Loop ear plugs as necessary) Practice sleeping on the trail.
• Practice food and nutrition. I just bought dehydrated meals, and relied on them for breakfast and dinner, with options for snacking all day. I'm an omnivore, and often crave meat; biltong, jerky, salami, cheeses work great mid-day. I had a lot of energy food; bars, gels. I had good dehydrated coffee, most mornings. (Some people wean themselves off caffeine for the CT.) Caffeine gels were useful in the AM, especially on big days. I wish I'd done more homework, tried more things.
• Some of the rehydrated meals were gross. Eating for nutrition, without any appetite, when the food tastes bad? Gross. Happened a lot. We had two-man dinners, but then my partner exited the trail. Sometimes they were more than I could / wanted to finish, so I'd save the 2nd half and eat it cold for breakfast, lunch. But, that's one more thing to attract bears. Figure out what works for you in advice.
• I carried way too much food. There's a pound of trail mix on the counter of our home in Oakland, CA that I ate some of, on the CT, but mostly transported it halfway through the trail before including in a resupply box bound for home. Each resupply had more than we needed, and more than double what I needed, when my partner Mark exited. We sent three boxes home, and one I left much behind as "trail magic" in the Fonner's Airstream in Silverton. Having food security feels nice, psychologically, and I did have to spend an extra night out at least once, but know your calorie needs, practice and plan, carry dense calories you like, and don't carry much more than you need.
• Hang your food, if you can, to protect it from bears. I had one bear encounter, and they didn't get my food. I did, later start just sleeping with it. Not great. I didn't research, prepare for this properly. One of the things my departing partner gave me was 100' paracord. I came to the CT with like 10', insufficient for a bear hang. I had a cam and a carabiner, and that + basic knot tying ability + proper tree configuration allowed me to do some decent bear hangs. Here's the thing; bears can climb trees, and they want your food. My personal belief is that, the farther you are from people, and the higher up you are (above tree line) the less you have to worry about bears. Mice are another food risk. Read up, practice, have a plan. 
• You'll be oiling your chain a lot, and cleaning it if you can. Be prepared. Lots of water and mud on the CT.
• Be very prepared for tire failure. It happened to me, and I was prepared. Redundancy of solutions is a good idea.
• I brought both a full rain jacket and a lightweight shell. Spending time in the rain turned out to be a bad idea. The shell was sufficient. I brought weather resistant pants, mostly used those at camp. Again, I didn't ride in the rain, could have left those home. I brought winter/rain gloves, same, didn't need them.
• I did have a warm/dry kit that was crucial, and often used; Smartwool LS wool top, Patagonia capilene boxers, Patagonia capilene/wool long underwear bottoms, ("Capilene Air Bottoms") thin wool socks. (Injinji toe socks from REI, which worked with my Bedrock sandals) Getting into these and out of wet, dirty bike clothes was critical for evening comfort. Some nights it was too warm for the long sleeve / long bottoms, but when I needed them, this warm/dry kit was vital. One day I got myself too cold (segment 22) and slept in all this, plus my Patagonia micro-puff hoodie and Patagonia wool beanie, in my REI bag liner, in my Marmot bag, comfortably.

What I brought

Bike

• XL Yeti ARC hardtail, GX build. Upgraded to M1900 wheels, 200/180 rotors, G2 four-piston brakes, 28T steel ring for this trip, fresh brake pads and new-ish chain. Started with 29x2.6 Maxxis Minion DHF front, Rekon rear, both EXO casings. Replaced chain, rear tire, (Specialized Slaughter, I think) pads at finish
• Worked well, would consider lightweight FS bike if I did it again.
• Photos: XL Yeti ARC in bikepacking mode for 2022 Colorado Trail trip

Clothes

Here's a photo album of the items below:

• Patagonia M's Capilene® Cool Daily Hoody - I lived in this thing. Long sleeves meant no sunburn, hood meant I didn't need a cap, if my helmet was off. It was the perfect insulation for hot and cold, dried quickly, didn't stink, durable. Would definitely wear this again. Most of the time, this is all I had, on top.
• Patagonia Houdini shell - I got this on ebay, years ago. Red, has a hood. Love it. Durable, just warm and dry enough, hood fits over my helmet.
• Garmin HR strap - I had heart problems, fixed, now I wear it reflexively. You don't need it, I like the data.
• Two pairs Capo bib shorts - it's really useful to be able to rotate these, as one pair gets dirtier. If the opportunity came up, I washed them, sometimes in a creek, with biodegradable soap, downstream from where people might filter. I would dry them hanging from a tree, inside my tent from the one hook at its peak, or across my front pack, under straps / brake hoses. Bring chamois cream.
• Club Ride Mountain Surf shorts - wore these things every day, all day, with a minimal belt I bought in Durango ("BISON")
• Injinji toe socks from REI - cozy, warm, work with the Bedrock sandals, part of my warm/dry kit
• Smartwool long sleeve wool top - had this for years, might be merino, wore many nights, part of my warm/dry kit
• Patagonia Capilene Air Bottoms - bought for this trip, based on bikepacking.com's recommendation. So glad I got these. Kinda perfect, except they will pick up any pine needles or bark they touch, part of my warm/dry kit
• Two pair wool riding socks - one pair is always wet, muddy, gross. I got a few "Downieville!" comments on the trail, wearing one pair, and the other LET'S GO OAKLAND! is from the high school mtb team I coached, Oakland Composite. The logo and colors are from the 1880s / 1890s team the Acme Wheelmen, from Oakland.
• Synthetic bandana - see above, used all the time
• Rapha rain jacket - used a few times, could have left at home, good for emergencies, but I found riding in the rain on the CT just not a good idea
• Wrangler ATG pants - these are a $29 good idea for mountain biking. Not waterproof, but warm and water resistant. Wore them a few times at camp, could have left them home.
• (Not photographed) two pairs gloves, actually three, as I mistakenly had some in my rain jacket pocket. Wore a pair of regular Handup gloves all day, on the bike. Had a pair of winter gloves I could have left behind, and some thin, road winter gloves I brought accidentally.
• Patagonia wool beanie - worn at camp frequently
• Patagonia Nano Puff hoodie jacket - worn at camp frequently

Bags

• Porcelain Rocket custom frame bag, made nine years ago for an XL Canfield Yelli Screamy, repurposed for my XL Yeti ARC - kinda fit, sagged badly because it's for another bike, did yet another tour of duty with no problems. Calves brushed on it because it kind of made a ball shape, due to imperfect fit, but flat pedals allowed me to put my calves farther from it. Solid quality. Scott Felter sold Porcelain Rocket IP to Rockgeist, and left the business.
• Ortlieb Bikepacking Seat Pack - 16.5L, Black - meh, not right for me. Should have done more practice/research. Had a segmentation / cantilever problem, didn't allow me to use my dropper, got a hole in it, which put a hole in my clothes dry bag. Did the job.
• Ortlieb Bikepacking Handlebar Pack - 15L, Black - this worked well. The air vent is a nice idea. I did leave one of the lose-able straps in Oakland, had to find a replacement in Durango at start. This worked well enough, but putting my tent under the long straps did allow the tent to rotate down and buzz the tire. Using a Voile strap to locate it, near a brake hose fixed that. Was able to get bag below brake levers / hoses, which is key.
• Mountain Feed Bag - this thing is an antique, had it at least twenty years. It's not the Revelate product of the same name, I'm not sure who made it. Two velcro straps and a strap with a buckle for the fork crown, a one-handed cinch cord. I put my bars/gels/snacks in here, and the trash in the mesh outside pocket. Wish I'd brought two, and kept a water bottle with Nuun in it, in the other. Perfect piece of kit.
• Camelbak Fourteener pack - also older, no rain shell, but big enough to carry more than I should carry, bladder was flawless.

Stuff in backpack

A photo, showing what was in my backpack, on arrival in Durango

• a ziploc with n95 masks, an old edition (mine) of the Colorado Trail Foundation's Databook, never used
• Petzl ACTIK CORE usb-rechargeable headlamp
• emergency bivvy / blanket, never used
• blinkie light, never used
• NiteRider Swift 500 light (could have left it at home, Petzl enough) 
• Snowpeak ti spork
• Leatherman Skeletool - heavy, useful
• Paul water bottle - drinking
• Rebel water bottle - night time peeing (for guys, super useful)
• foldable bowl - this was Mark's, needed when I cracked the integrated bowl on my Jet Boil stove.
• Katadyn BeFree filter - Mark's, critical. Replaced by Sawyer Squeeze + Platypus bladder, when the 10-year-old+ bladder's seam failed
• Backpacker's Pantry two-man dinner, breakfast - I always had one extra day's food. This is the food I ate most mornings/evenings. See above for food advice.
• Some random dry bags, ziploc bags - One of these was my old clothes dry bag, which got a hole in it from the seat bag folding and making tire contact, became a food storage bag / bear hang bag. Ziploc bags are useful. These were from general-delivery resupply boxes.
• Latest edition Colorado Trail Foundation Databook - this was Mark's, had information about the wilderness bypasses missing from mine, in its own green drybag, referred to it every day, studied it every night.
• Blue dry bag with Alpine Start coffee, some unused Gu Brew tablets, miso soup packets, and formerly, Bone Broth packets (all consumed, happily) and hot cocoa packets - basically, dry things I put in (hot) water, mornings and evenings
• First aid kit assembled by my middle school mtb team's coaches, per Otis Guy's recommendation - never used, thankfully
• 100' paracord - from Mark, used for bear hangs
• carabiner, anchor - used for bear hangs
• 10' paracord - not used
• biodegradable soap - used to clean bib shorts, and my undercarriage, downstream from filter spots, hands
• a mini light - from Mark, turned on when it got wet, burnt itself out
• Spot X satellite messenger - the messenger part, not as useful, should have got the smaller unit
• REI mini towel - I left this on a bush, on segment 22, after using it pre-dawn to mop up a puddle in the tent. All that remains is the mesh pouch on my zipper pull. Was useful.

Stuff in Ortlieb Bikepacking Handlebar Pack - 15L, Black

• Stuff in red toiletry dry bag
• flushable (biodegradable) wipes - crucial for cleanup at night, after pooping, the biodegradable aspect meant they tore easily - hard to extract just one, without putting a big hole in it
• little bag with mini poop shovel in it - this poop shovel has a compartment for tp in its handle, had it for years, does what it needs to do
• extra chamois butter packets - I got these because the next item didn't do a good enough job of supplying me for the trip, didn't use
• GoToob container with DZ Nuts chamois cream in it - I'd have been better off just bringing the original DZ Nuts tube with me, this thing didn't have enough carrying capacity, then took up a lot of room, and isn't light.
• Smart Floss - biodegradable, works well, tastes nice
• Bagdent - your refillable dental set - excellent little mini tooth brush. The mini tubes have just enough for a week. 
• Extra aqua tabs - for water purification, didn't use, emergency backup
• Butenafine - antifungal cream, just in case, didn't need it, but used as chamois cream when the gotoob thing ran out
• emergency fire starter kit - didn't use, sparker plus flammable plugs
• ziploc with advil pm, melatonin pills - sleep aids, useful
• CBD/CBN gummies - had one every night, very helpful for sleep
• Loop ear plugs - useful for noisy sleep conditions, work great
• extra ear plugs - Jason gave me these, didn't need them
• toilet paper in a ziploc - I picked this up from the 'trail magic' box at Cathedral Ranch Cabins. My supply ran out. There's a reason they call this 'mountain money.' No mule's ear plants on the CT, for most of it.
• REI bag liner
• I've had this for 20+ years. It's a synthetic, comfortable liner for a sleeping bag. It adds a some number of degrees of insulation, and also protects your bag from getting dirty. I gave up on keeping my bag clean, but I did use it when it got cold. This and the red toiletry bag lived on one side of the Ortlieb, the sleeping bag in the middle, and the Thermarest bag on the other side.
• Marmot Hydrogen 30º mummy bag, large size - love this bag, it's the happiest feeling to throw it out, knowing I'm gonna get in it. Lived in a compression bag in the middle of the ortlieb. Just fit, like putting the goat back in the python.
• Thermarest Neo Air pad, pillow
• If I rolled the pad up, then folded into thirds, and rolled the pillow up and folded into half, they could both go in the pad's stuff sack and make a round enough shape to wedge in sideways, perpendicular to the Ortlieb's long axis, making fit right. 

Stuff in Porcelain Rocket frame bag

The frame bag had a thin zippered compartment on left - sunblock and lip balm - and a roomy zippered compartment on right - everything else. When I filled the water bottle and water filter, as storms grew likely, I put them with the grey tools/spares bag in the roomy compartment, and moved Databook and electronics to my pack.

• Roll-on sunblock - perfect form factor, used on face
• Burt's bees lip balm - I forgot to put this on for a few days, paid a hard price. Sunburnt, chapped lips are no fun.
• Stuff in grey parts / tools dry bag
• mini pump - used regularly, I think this is a Crank Brothers unit
• Park stick-on patches, boots - didn't use, thankfully
• spare derailleur hanger / thru-axle nut - specific to my Yeti ARC, didn't use
• Wolftooth chain pliers with master links inside - didn't use
• Genuine Innovations tire plug tool - used to put three GI 'bacon strips' in my tire, on segment 11, saved my bacon
• little ziploc of tubeless valves, valve nuts, valve cores - didn't use
• Squirt lube in mini bottles - used every day, worked great
• Extra 12spd master link - didn't use, I save old ones (You're not supposed to re-use them.)
• Stans sealant - didn't use, this thing's plastic diaphragm/seal burst at altitude, luckily I kept the cap on tight enough / the bottle upright that it didn't leak. Think about that. 
• Zip ties - didn't use
• old paper rag - used regularly
• 25g co2 - used one, trying & failing to use a dynaplug on segment 11, resorted to Genuine Innovations tire plugs + pump. (old standby)
• Dynaplug + extra hose - tried, failed
• Tubolito 29er tube - didn't use, love the size/weight/toughness tho
• Upholstery hooks in gorilla tape, kevlar thread - didn't use, but could have sewn a tire closed
• Mini roll duct tape - I can't remember what, but I used some for something
• Park Tool MTC-40 multi-tool - this is the biggest one, probably too heavy, the screwdriver was almost useless when the King USB clamps slipped, on segment 11, otherwise used as few allen keys, could have left all co2 tools home, as it has one, thought about how heavy it was, a lot.
• Stans plug tool, extra plugs - bought at BV Bike Co in Buena Vista, after I exhausted my three Genuine Innovations tire plugs, and failed to deploy a dynaplug, didn't use
• Extra paracord - didn't use
• Stuff in electronics clear dry bag
• See above for battery specifics, started with bigger one, ended with Mark's 10,000 mAh unit, sufficient
• Various cables
• Anker wall plug with two usb-c
• Grocery store wall plug with regular usb (lost the nicer Anker one, left at a hotel room somewhere)
• Latest Colorado Trail Foundation Databook in green dry bag - this is pictured in my backpack's contents, but usually lived in the frame bag. 

Stuff in the Ortlieb Bikepacking Seat Pack - 16.5L, Black

• Stuffed in rigid 'nose' of bag, near seatpost:
• Rapha rain jacket
• Wrangler ATG pants
• Winter gloves
• In sea to summit, too-big compression sack
• All my clothes (see above)

Stuff in Salsa Anything dry bags, on King Cage Manything cages, on fork legs

• One side: 
• Jet Boil Sol Ti stove, within it, 100g Jet Boil fuel can
• spare Jet Boil fuel can
• lighter (this thing got battered to death, luckily I had a spare)
• The other
• Food that wasn't dehydrated, wasn't in my mountain feed bag, this bag got hung with the other bag containing dehydrated food / food trash, to protect from bears
• Jerky
• biltong
• salmon/tuna packets
• energy food
• nuts
• you name it