Trip Suggestions for Father and 8 y/o Son

Brian, one classic CO hike is to get off the train at the Needleton stop. This gives you access to head steeply to the east, grunting your way several thousand feet up to the stunning Chicago Basin. Keep in mind that the train only runs once a day, and if you need to bail for any reason, you'd have to wait until the next train comes.

By the way, travel logistics from Durango to Aspen are goofy, probably a couple bus rides. You could always fly. But I think I'd not recommend the 4 Pass Loop (Aspen area)for an 8-year old–lots of ups and downs, where you gain/lose 2000' each day. Coming from a low altitude, I think this would be quite the strain on you both, but especially your son.

Another thought, maybe rent a place in Estes Park, and do several great day hikes in RMNP. Lots of people until you get higher up, but it's a national park for good reason. The Indian Peaks, as mentioned, offers scads of great hikes, some in-and-back, some scenic loops. All in all, I think the altitude will be a bit of a factor, if you're only going to be here for a week. Plan accordingly (including serious hydration a couple days before you get here), and acclimate wisely.

I'm not trying to scare you here, Brian. It's just that this thread drifted a bit, and folks were mentioning some hikes that maybe aren't quite appropriate for a low-altitude 8-year old. YMMV…

Brian:

I've been to the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness 3 times (2003, 2008, and 2009). The flies, which are annoying, seemed to go away once you get above 10,000 feet.

Despite the expense, I found having a rental car made things much easier, and opens up many options.

As far as the train between Silverton and Durango, I don't think the trailheads along the railroad route are accessible except from the train…

I grew up in Durango and worked on the train in highschool. There are a couple of trails that the train "used" to stop for–I don't know if they still do. As I recall one of the possible trails is up Elk Creek toward the base of Twilight Peak and Crater Lake. The other (if I remember correctly) is a trail up to Columbine Pass and the Chicago Basin. It is gorgeous country with good water, old mines, wild strawberries and raspberries, and amazing views.

I hope this might be some help in looking for a trail.

Ditto on the hydration idea (especially for the boy). My friend runs an outdoor ed program for schools at 9000 feet. Kids from Denver stay about 3 days and almost every week someone gets dehydrated even though he tells them to drink and the teachers make them carry around water bottles.
Gary – Can you (or anyone else from the area)compare the hikes along the RR to Indian Peaks as far as difficulty (as in being really steep)? My flatlander family did an Indian Peaks backpacking trip (with a 9 yr. old)just fine although we had been in the mountains for something like a week before that.

Gary–I didn't realize doing the train thing would possibly leave me with little or no bailout options. Probably isn't wise with a kid. The idea of renting a place doesn't appeal, though. We want to sleep out on the trail. I think I just need to do some more research on these CO trails. If I have to rent a car, I'll just have to. If I fly to Durango or Grand Junct, the airfare is cheap enough to justify it. Then it's just a matter of picking a place and going there.

I appreciate everyone's advice and I'm learning a lot, but man I wish this was easier. Maybe I'm making it harder than it is. Maybe that's why these places are so special though…it ain't like booking a trip to Disneyland.

One good thing about the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness, is that you can camp at USFS campgrounds (Silver Bells is best for tent camping) on Maroon Creek Road. From there it's a short drive or shuttle bus ride to the trailhead, and an easy 1.5 hike to the first backcountry campsites at Crater Lake.

John–that sounds about perfect to me right now. As much as I'm enjoying learning about all of the hiking options in the Western US, it's making my head hurt. Hopping on a flight and then maybe picking up some fuel and hitting the trail sounds like the perfect plan at this point! You and Staples sure know how to sell that "Easy" button thing.

Hope I don't help too much Brian but I'm a big fan of taking kids backpacking so I'm enjoying this.
To actually try and narrow things down here are our three best options based on where you fly into.
1. Fly to Aspen and head for Maroon Bells.
2. Fly to Denver rent a car/catch shuttle and head for the front range which basically means Indian Peaks or Rocky Mountain National Park.
3. Fly to Durango rent a car/catch shuttle and head for a trailhead in the Wimiuche Wilderness area other than trailheads along the RR.

I have an Indian Peaks bias and haven't really got deep into the Maroon Bells but the pictures look great. My guess is you can't go wrong with any of these.

Luke–thank you for putting so much thought into this for me. I'm really excited about this and all of the advice just fantastic. Like you said I can't go wrong–that is really an understatement.

This area in the Mt. Sneffels/Blue Lake area just has me mesmerized…

http://www.mycolorado.org/images/trips/wildflowers_2008/blue_lk-1804.jpg

Getting late here in the East…thanks again for everything. I'll do some more pondering tomorrow.

Brian,

By any chance do you have access to Google Wave? A friend and I are planning our big summer hike using a Wave, and if you have access to it I'll "invite" you to see it.

It has Google maps I've made of a lot of hikes including the Chicago Basin train shuttle hike, several loops in Maroon Bells including the Four Pass loop, some trails on the east side of the Weminuche Wilderness, the Sangre de Cristo range, a shuttle hike we briefly considered in RMNP, loops in Lost Creek Wilderness, and loops in Flat Tops Wilderness. We are favoring linked loops because of the many bail options and their scalability if we find ourselves moving quicker or slower than planned.

Note- both the Four Pass loop and the Chicago Basin train shuttle hike are incredibly popular. (Read: crowded on weekends.)

PM me if you have Wave access, and I'll "invite" you.

Brian for what its worth here are the numbers on the Four Pass Loop compared to the loop I mentioned in Indian Peaks according to my mapping system (it seems to round milage down so assume a bit more).

Four Pass Loop
23.1 miles
Elevation gain 8511 ft
Elevation loss 8509 ft.
Average Grade 14 (the higher the number the greater the difficulty)

Indian Peaks Loop
22-23 miles
Elevation gain 6935 ft.
Elevation loss 7004
Av. Grade 12

The Indian Peaks loop looks a bit easier but in the big picture I'm not sure its radically different if you're doing all this over five days or more. Both loops have good side hikes if you're going faster than expected. If this is at all helpful I would be happy to punch in a few hikes for the Durango area, there are so many down there I'll let you chose. My family is actually looking at the Mt. Sneffals area too.

Brian,

I started another thread entitled shuttles for BPL members. You might want to take a look at that.

If you want to come to the Seattle area, I could give you a ride up into the Snoqualmie or maybe Stevens Pass area where you could hook up with the PCT. I am sure other members could get you a ride back to the airport- if not I could do that too.

Greg

Greg,

Great idea. I just posted that I could help with rides to the AT. Thanks for giving me yet another option!

Brian

That's great info. Sounds daunting in numbers, but like you said, spread out over a few days it's not too bad.

I spoke with a Forest Svc employee today in the Uncompaghre (sp?) and have a map headed my way. Probably leaning more towards the hikes you mentioned for the ease of logistics, but I'll make it to that area sometime even if it's not this trip.