Backpacking route with abundant options

Items that do not fit the categories above.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
JaredJohnson
Posts: 419
Joined: 8/27/2014
14ers: 28  5 
13ers: 13
Trip Reports (3)
 
Contact:

Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by JaredJohnson »

Can anyone suggest a scenic trip with varied camping options to take someone with very unpredictable endurance / tolerance / appetite for distance and difficulty?

My 10 year old son is super enthused to go on a killer backpacking trip with me where we hike uphill for a long long time, then maybe summit something before going back down. I'm all for it, but he hasn't really been tested, maybe he'll actually be exhausted after a couple of hours. Most of the trips I've done, until you get pretty close to the good camping, it's all steep terrain not well suited for camping. In a perfect world I'd find something where we could stop after mile or two, or keep going for hours before setting up at some scenic mountain lake. And with some easier and some more difficult class 2 summit objectives to choose from.

The best I can think of is like goblin forest on the longs trail and then go to Estes Cone and maybe drive to twin sisters if he still hasn't had enough. But I'm hoping the shooting gallery has something that would feel more legit (:
User avatar
supranihilest
Posts: 719
Joined: 6/29/2015
14ers: 58  42 
13ers: 709 1 8
Trip Reports (112)
 
Contact:

Re: Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by supranihilest »

Weminuche Pass area from Rio Grande Reservoir. This is the same area as centennial Rio Grande Pyramid. 2WD access, easy trail, incredibly gorgeous and numerous peaks (though the stats on some of them are quite large) and places to go and just hang out if that's what the day is calling for. There are potentially thousands of campsites in the upper valley and it's a relatively short (3-5 miles, <2,000 vert) hike to get there. There's even a campsite in the trees right off the trail about 2.5 miles in (37.71346, -107.29100) if that's all that he can handle.
User avatar
huffy13
Posts: 1051
Joined: 8/2/2007
14ers: 22 
13ers: 8
Trip Reports (30)
 

Re: Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by huffy13 »

You might consider going to Gibson TH and hiking in to Lake of the Clouds. Or possibly hiking some stretches of the Rainbow Trail along the eastern slopes of the Sangres. There are some a lot of class 2 options that the Rainbow Trail intersects. You might consider parking low on the Hermit Pass Road near Westcliffe and hike up that rough road and camp at the lakes near Hermit Pass.
Seems like the times that I need a mountain the most are the times that I can not get to them.
oldmanforest
Posts: 45
Joined: 3/12/2020
13ers: 11
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by oldmanforest »

Bison Peak?
Gritz3000
Posts: 45
Joined: 6/1/2019
14ers: 54  1 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by Gritz3000 »

Colorado Trail Segments 9-10 all super mellow with a ton of access near Leadville. Relatively easy 14er hikes right of the CT (Elbert & Massive). Same deal with Segment 14 near Salida, this time easy access to Shavano, Tab, Antero.
I love lamp.
User avatar
Trotter
Posts: 1409
Joined: 6/5/2013
14ers: 58  5 
13ers: 220 2 8
Trip Reports (10)
 

Re: Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by Trotter »

Missouri lakes trail near fancy peak and fancy pass. Beautiful area, and you could camp before the pass or after it. The basic loop was like 10 miles, including fancy peak. And you can add on miles back there too.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
User avatar
719BR
Posts: 494
Joined: 7/19/2016
13ers: 8
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Backpacking route with abundant options

Post by 719BR »

JaredJohnson wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:08 pm Can anyone suggest a scenic trip with varied camping options to take someone with very unpredictable endurance / tolerance / appetite for distance and difficulty?

My 10 year old son is super enthused to go on a killer backpacking trip with me where we hike uphill for a long long time, then maybe summit something before going back down. I'm all for it, but he hasn't really been tested, maybe he'll actually be exhausted after a couple of hours. Most of the trips I've done, until you get pretty close to the good camping, it's all steep terrain not well suited for camping. In a perfect world I'd find something where we could stop after mile or two, or keep going for hours before setting up at some scenic mountain lake. And with some easier and some more difficult class 2 summit objectives to choose from.

The best I can think of is like goblin forest on the longs trail and then go to Estes Cone and maybe drive to twin sisters if he still hasn't had enough. But I'm hoping the shooting gallery has something that would feel more legit (:
Standard route on Harvard. There are TONS of spots to camp along the way. In the forest, near water, you name it. And if he really powers through, you can camp at Bear Lake. Technically I guess the summit block could be considered class 2, but really it's more like class 1+.
Post Reply