Introductory Trip

[Will P]

Instead of my usual snowless trips on the Ouachita Trail or AT I’m thinking about trying out some real cold weather camping in Colorado this year. Any worthy suggestions besides lost creek wilderness or RMNP? I have about 10-14 days in mid/late December.

I have no snow experience and only some 4 season gear, so I thought it would be wise to pick a popular area with no avalanche danger where I could hike back to my car to get supplies and dry out.

[David Thomas]

Yeah, one’s car is the ultimate 4-season tent.  With climate control!  Fill up the gas tank in advance (for any trip to snow country).

If it comes to that, 4-cylinder engines take 1/4-gallon/hour to continuously idle and run the heat.  2 gallons for an 8-hour night spent at exactly 70F.  In a survival situation – stranded in the mountains – running it until you’re too hot, leaving it off until you’re too cold, etc, and you can stretch that by many fold.  When I’m planning to do that type of “car camping”, I’ll bring the Prius, because it automatically turns the gasoline motor on and off, as needed for heat or battery charging.

[Mike B]

Try around the Moffat tunnel west of Rollinsville the road is plowed most of the time since the railroad has to get there, main trail towards heart lake or forest lakes are usually well packed by the skiers. You will see lots of day use but very few overnighters. Winter is about the only time I go there, in the summer there are just way to many people for me. Watch out for tree wells if you get off the main trail and it is late in the season or lots of snow. I found my first one the hard way while solo with an over night pack while following ski tracks off the main trail…. luckily I lived and learned.

 

[Dan]

A place like Mike mentioned would be fine, and if you stick to the fire road/trail to Heart Lake, you can’t possibly get lost and avalanche danger is negligible. It’s certainly not very exotic, but maybe that’s what you want. There are also nicer and more isolated locations in that same wilderness if you build up your confidence, but you can send me or Mike a private message if you want that info. (I assume this site has a messaging function.)

On the other hand, any part of Colorado has its well-traveled, safe, backcountry ski routes, and you can skin or snowshoe up one of those to a reasonable camping site. It’s just a matter of where you want to base your trip. Denver/Boulder?  Steamboat?  Aspen?  Vail?  Summit County? Crested Butte?  You can also look at the 10th Mountain Division hut system for some general ideas. Obviously you shouldn’t plan to camp near a hut without a reservation, but the trails to those huts (and between them) are generally pretty well traveled, and many of them are on national forest land IIRC.

If you really want to avoid avalanches, Colorado is not the best choice. Go to Utah.

[Author]

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