Backpacking Colorado
Backpacking the High Country
Backpacking the high country of Colorado is a great way to experience the mountains in their rawest and most untamed form. Setting off from the trailhead with your whole world and everything you need on your back is both a liberating feeling and a nerve-racking experience as you try to remember whether you brought everything. To help inspire you to get out there and remember to pack what you need, we offer this backpacking guide.
Getting Ready For Backpacking
Getting ready for your backpacking trip should start well before you load up your pack. Starting by making sure you have some basic hiking fitness will make the journey much more enjoyable. Regular hikes, trail running, and maybe a quick overnight trip with your pack on are a good place to start. As much as the fitness you earn from these excursions, you will want to toughen up your feet for a full day of hiking with a pack on, use the footwear that you intend to take on your trip, and make sure that they are broken in to your feet and that they won’t break in your feet once you hit the trail.
Tenets of Lightweight Backpacking
The general rule of thumb for backpacking is that the more comfortable you are on the trail with a lighter pack, the less comfortable you will be when you make camp, and if you want to carry a crushingly heavy pack on the trail, you will probably have a very comfortable campsite in the evening. While super light backpacking gear isn’t for everyone, taking a few pounds off of your back isn’t a bad idea, and the further that you intend to travel, the more sense it makes. One of the tenets of lightweight backpacking is that at the coldest temperature you expect to encounter, you will be wearing everything you brought with you; there are no extra clothes and, consequently, no extra weight in your pack. Applying this philosophy of “just enough” to everything you pack can help save some weight before you go to an outdoor store and start spending money on super-light equipment.
Consider having a written checklist before packing your equipment into your backpack. Having a checklist can keep you from forgetting the big, important things, like your sleeping bag, and help you to remember little things, like a Swiss army knife, that you might need at some point.
Bringing along a printed map may seem unnecessary in the digital age, but counting on your phone deep in the mountains is a bad idea. Between poor to nonexistent coverage and fading battery life, phones are unreliable companions and should not be counted on. Even if you never use your printed map, at least you have some important backup, and they don’t weigh very much or take up much space.
Weather – You Like It or Not
There aren’t many sure things in life but if you are camping in the high country of Colorado it is going to get cold at night, some nights may be colder than others, but it is not going to get warmer than it was during the day. Even in July or August, it is not unheard of to wake up covered in frost. Dressing for the cold is a personal decision, but there are some ways to prepare yourself for a cold morning, too. Finding a campsite that is sheltered from the wind will make things more enjoyable when it gets cold, the wind chill factor is legitimate, and getting out of the wind will make cooking much easier. Having good rain gear is definitely important on any backpacking trip. Make sure your gear is ready to withstand a thorough deluge before you have to count on it; you don’t want to find out your pants aren’t waterproof in the middle of an afternoon thunderstorm. Your rain gear also makes for an extra layer to keep warm at camp, and can help protect you from mosquitoes when they are hungry.
The mosquitoes are part of camping and backpacking in the Colorado summertime. Sometimes and places have more and sometimes less, but between April and September, they are likely to find you, and you are welcome to let them feast on you, but it is best not to feed the wildlife. Bug spray can keep them from devouring you, but it won’t stop them from swarming around your face. Wearing your rain gear to protect yourself works well, and when it’s bad, you either have to keep moving or climb into your tent.
Where to Go Backpacking in Colorado
There are a few long-distance hiking routes in Colorado, such as the Colorado Trail between Denver and Durango, the Continental Divide Trail from Wyoming to New Mexico, and the Collegiate Peaks Loop, which goes from Twin Lakes to Monarch Pass and back again. These big multi-day trips aren’t recommended for beginners and can test the endurance of even the most seasoned hikers.
The best bet for a backpacking trip in Colorado is to hike into a designated wilderness area. By restricting cars, motorcycles, and mountain bikes, wilderness areas provide a quieter, wilder experience than other places on national forest lands. The wilderness area that you choose and the experience you have are all up to you. Whether you want to climb a Fourteener, go fishing in a high mountain lake, or march across one mountain range after another, Colorado has the outdoor adventure that you’re looking for.
