Colorado-Expedition Style?

[packman73]

Anyone interested in doing a trip out to Colorado next spring/summer for a bit of wheeling/camping/hiking, etc?

 

[Loki]

I'm sure Lance and I would be in. I have some friends out in CO that I am planning on visiting this winter or spring and I'm always trying to plan trips out west.

 

[Chadman]

YES!!!!! I know some really cool places to go!

 

[Chadman]

Seriously!

 

[Doc]

I'm always interested in going to CO. timing will be the key.

You could SERIOUSLY spend a week solid wheeling the area around Crested Butte. (My personal favorite area of CO. )

 

[packman73]

My thought on this was to figure out who is "serious" about doing this and then start looking at dates/areas/etc and doing some online planning with possibly a get together or two. Right now it looks like the folks that are interested are more north of the DSM area, so I would suggest we would meet between Waterloo and Fort Dodge.

It only takes 10 hours to get to Denver from Des Moines....

There is SO much to see in CO it's not even funny! It would be cool to start in the SW corner of the state and make our way back towards Denver...that way when we are done we could possibly catch a ball game or do something else in Denver for a day just to wind down.

Questions to discuss:

Camping or hotels?
What areas of the state? (Ouaray, Colorado Springs, etc.)
How many days on the trails?
Do we want to set a limit as to the size of the group?
Will we need to secure permits for camping by a certain date?

Just tossing things out here?

 

[Doc]

1. Camping (weather dependent- hotels as fall back)
2. I'm up for just about anything. The only are I know well is the Gunnison/ Crested Butte area
3. 5 (Leave IA Fri evening, camp in NB, next day to CO to 'base camp', 5 days on trail, leave CO Fri night or Saturday to head back to IA)
4. Not sure we'll need to do that
5. Dude, have you ever been to Colorado? Pick a spot and pitch a tent. I suppose some areas might require reservations, but there are so many small campgrounds that I don't imagine them to be full up.

I would suggest spring over summer mainly because of the tourist traffic. Head out in late april or May?
What do you want to see? Last trip to CO for us was mainly 'old mines and stuff like that' sight seeing. That was a lot of fun. Hiked up one mountain to an elv. of about 12k ft and saw a couple really nice old mines, most old mines are back filled into be safe for the public, these two weren't- which was really cool. Too bad I left the flashlights back in the cruiser (at 9k ft). !!

 

[packman73]

1. Camping (weather dependent- hotels as fall back)
2. I'm up for just about anything. The only are I know well is the Gunnison/ Crested Butte area
3. 5 (Leave IA Fri evening, camp in NB, next day to CO to 'base camp', 5 days on trail, leave CO Fri night or Saturday to head back to IA)
4. Not sure we'll need to do that
5. Dude, have you ever been to Colorado? Pick a spot and pitch a tent. I suppose some areas might require reservations, but there are so many small campgrounds that I don't imagine them to be full up.

I would suggest spring over summer mainly because of the tourist traffic. Head out in late april or May?
What do you want to see? Last trip to CO for us was mainly 'old mines and stuff like that' sight seeing. That was a lot of fun. Hiked up one mountain to an elv. of about 12k ft and saw a couple really nice old mines, most old mines are back filled into be safe for the public, these two weren't- which was really cool. Too bad I left the flashlights back in the cruiser (at 9k ft). !!

As far as timing, Cruiser Moab is the first week of May, and I know when I went last year, there was still snow falling in CO...so we probably need to look at late May/June so that we aren't running into snow in the mountain passes we may take.

 

[REKCUT]

Taylor lake area is a great spot to start. Camp anywhere you want. Best to go durring the week. The weekends are packed everywhere. We go in Aug almost every year.