Hiker Trevor Thomas and his guide dog, Tennille, share a moment during a resupply stop atop Molas Pass recently. On July 30, Thomas, along with Tennille and hiking partner Dave Baumgartner, completed the 500-mile trek along the Colorado Trail from Denver. The trio averaged 14 miles a day./Photo by Jennaye Derge

The blind side

Hiker relies on senses, guide dog to trek into Colorado Trail history books

by Martina Pansze

Nicknamed “Zero/Zero” in reference to his vision, long-distance hiker Trevor Thomas is experiencing nature differently.

On Thurs., July 30, Thomas became the first blind person to complete the Colorado Trail. Accompanied by his guide dog, Tennille, and hiking partner, Dave Baumgartner, Thomas completed the 500-mile trek north of Durango, welcomed by a small crowd.

The trio averaged 14 miles a day on the technical, high-altitude route. They also took a detour to summit Mount Elbert on the Fourth of July. They completed the trek in 42 days.

Although they caught their fair share of stormy weather, Thomas, who is from Charlotte, N.C., said he couldn’t complain. “This is truly a world-class trail. If not the best one I’ve ever done, it’s in the top five.”

Thomas, Dave and Tennille were forced to start at segment 3 when they took off on June 19 due to flooding. But they returned to sections 1 and 2 after finding that 7 was impassible because of snow. Luckily, returning to the earlier sections bought just enough time for the snow to melt.

“Every day was my favorite day, but if I had to choose one section I was really proud of, I would say segment 7 out of Breckenridge, just because we had to deal with snow, we had altitude to worry about, the terrain was technical, and that was something we hadn’t had a chance to work with in our previous trails,” he said. Obviously, Thomas doesn’t hike for the views. “I feel fortunate. Instead of just seeing

what it looks like on top of the summit, my experience is multi-dimensional. My memories are more robust, I get to remember the sounds, the smells, the touch.”