23 replies to this topic

[gandhi8403]

Hello All,
My name is Gandhi and I am from Illinois. 2 years ago my family took me on my first mountain trip to Estes and RMNP it was great. It was my dad and I and my brother. We had a blast. Trail Ridge road and Longs, man it was great. So anyways last summer we went to Colorado Springs and took trip out to Gunnison and yes it was great too. But this summer I decided to take my buddies with instead. We are going to go back to RMNP and do all the stuff there. As far as hikin goes do you think if my buddies and I trained for the winter we would be ready to do something like longs peak or some other 13'er out there? Also we will be stayin in Moraine now i have not made the reservation but i am going to we have 5 guys how hard will it be to make the reservation? WE are comin in July (8th -16th) Also what kind of rafting deals do they have out there. I think i want to pre-pay for the trip. Sorry, but yet another q's, how much money do you think for 5 guys and 8 days should we budget for food...These are all just questions. If you guys want to tell me about things that we have to go see that would be great. We want to do this trip hardcore and rugged so let me know if you have any suggestions.
Gandhi
ps i am new to the forums and feel very welcomed by the admins THANKS ALOT!

[Bill 007]

Welcome aboard Gandhi!! Check out some of the trip reports when you get a chance and most of your questions will be answered, I think! :P Wait till everyone gets back from their Holiday travelling and you'll probably get more info than you'll know what to do with!
Again, welcome and feel free to post !

Bill 007
( Pictures - we love pictures!)

[gandhi8403]

Welcome aboard Gandhi!! Check out some of the trip reports when you get a chance and most of your questions will be answered, I think! :P  Wait till everyone gets back from their Holiday travelling and you'll probably get more info than you'll know what to do with!
Again, welcome and feel free to post !

Bill 007
( Pictures - we love pictures!)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks a lot Bill!! I can't wait...because my trip is in July and I think that this forum is going to be the one thing that is going to ease my anticipation...yes highten the excitement but provide a fix until i can really go! But anwyays! Hi and it was very nice to see a post so soon!
gandhi

[Aaron]

gandhi, half of the fun is in the planning. Which I think is evident in your post. Bill is right about when the Christmas break is over and everyone gets back you'll probably have a lot more responses. I'm tempted to dig into your questions now but I've got some cookin' projects going on right now as well as some presents that I need to get wrapped. But I'm sure there will be plenty of us who'll dig into your questions once Christmas is over.

....okay I can't resist. I'll take on one question for now. Assuming you're all in decent shape I would guess that you'd be a likely candidate for some 13'ers or Longs if you get some winter conditioning going and stick to it. There are some "easy" 13'ers you could do like Mount Chiquita. If you did that one you could continue on to Ypsilon which I think is the 5th highest peak in RMNP (I'm right about that right?). Well I could go on and on but I've got a suspicion that this could turn into a very long topic as far as posts go. There is so much to talk about just on which mountains you could hike. So I'd better stop here for now.

Glad you're a member here and that you feel welcome here!!

Have a Merry Christmas!

--Aaron

[gandhi8403]

gandhi, half of the fun is in the planning.  Which I think is evident in your post.  Bill is right about when the Christmas break is over and everyone gets back you'll probably have a lot more responses.  I'm tempted to dig into your questions now but I've got some cookin' projects going on right now as well as some presents that I need to get wrapped.  But I'm sure there will be plenty of us who'll dig into your questions once Christmas is over.

....okay I can't resist.  I'll take on one question for now.  Assuming you're all in decent shape I would guess that you'd be a likely candidate for some 13'ers or Longs if you get some winter conditioning going and stick to it.  There are some "easy" 13'ers you could do like Mount Chiquita.  If you did that one you could continue on to Ypsilon which I think is the 5th highest peak in RMNP (I'm right about that right?).  Well I could go on and on but I've got a suspicion that this could turn into a very long topic as far as posts go.  There is so much to talk about just on which mountains you could hike.  So I'd better stop here for now.

Glad you're a member here and that you feel welcome here!!

Have a Merry Christmas!

--Aaron

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Aaron,
This Forum is so cool! Thanks for getting to me! I understand totally about people being on vacation I am at work right now and it is so boring. I am mgr of a verizon kiosk and there are so many people here ugh. But anyways. i will wait. But thank you so much for the info on the mtn climbing i think i am going to do it though! I can't wait to get more info from everyone!
Thanks
Gandhi

[Veik]

Tell us a little about the hiking you've done before, how many miles, how much elevation gain etc. That will help us make suggestions. Longs Peak is tough and July (8th -16th) can be too early in the season. During that time in 2004, Longs still had too much snow for non-technical hikes.

Welcome to our Forum!

[gandhi8403]

I want to thank you for replying. I have done some pretty difficult hikes but as far as hiking in Mountainous terrain I have not. I hike a lot her in Illinois and have repelled her in Giant City but that isn't that big of a deal. I do however say that my friends and I are in pretty good shape in terms of what we can handle. I think that the other reply is accurate in saying that we should try something a little easier first and then build up? How is that assesment? Are there any sites that show the trails of some smaller Mtns other than Longs?
Gandhi

[Veik]

It's always a good idea to spend a few days in the park and start with some easier stuff and save the harder stuff for the latter part of your visit. That gives the body some time to get used to the higher altitude. That helps me a lot.

As for summits, Lily Mountain is relatively easy with great rewards at the top. Deer Mountain, Estes Cone and Twin Sisters are a little tougher and all good hikes. A little tougher again are Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak. Flattop isn't a great summit because it's so big and broad. What makes Flattop good is that it's on the way to Hallett, which is a great summit. Then, one giant step farther on the difficulty scale is Longs Peak. I'm not a big fan of big broad summits, and Longs is one of those. But the hike up is fantastic.

[waterrat]

Well, I agree that Longs is a long step beyond the other mountains mentioned in difficulty. It is 16 miles roundtrip and 4800 feet of elevation gain, you usually need to start up the trail at 2 am or so to hit the summit by midday and get off of it. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in the Rockies, and since Longs is the highest point around it attracts more than its share of lightning. I say all of this not to scare or intimidate, but merely to make you aware of what is involved. It is one of the most difficult hikes in the park, but also one of the most popular and for very good reason. If you are up for it, good luck and have fun! (and take lots of pictures to post here afterwards!)

That said, my first pick of a peak as a must do is Hallett Peak, which is not quite 13000. My first pick of a trail to do is the Glacier Gorge, with its many beautiful lakes, some waterfalls and lots of wide-open views. It will have lots of people on the trail, though. Taking the Wild Basin to Ouzel Falls, or to Thunder Lake are two beautiful hikes. I have done Ouzel Falls, there may not be a better hike to see rolling rivers and waterfalls anywhere else in the park. Others here have done Thunder Lake, and the pictures are stunning.

A more off-the-beaten path alternative for a summit would be Mt. Ida, starting from Milner Pass. It is not a 13er either, but you spend a long time out on the tundra, so you have lots of 360 views that are just stunning.

Really, there is so much hiking to be done in this place I don't think you can go wrong on any trail. In the place of ProfHall, I will throw in a plug for spending some time at Grand Lake on the west side of the park. It is quieter, there are fewer people than in Estes, a lot of great animal viewing, some good (and LONG) hikes, and above all, ice cream at Grand Lake Chocolates!

Just the thoughts of a native who wants to live there some day! Have fun (and planning is half the fun, the way I see it)

[SandyP]

Hi Ghandi! Welcome to the wonderful world of fellow Rocky Mountain junkies. You will have a blast in July! I think that happens to be just about the busiest time of year there, so if I were you, I would make my reservations for the campground early. It sure won't hurt to have your spot locked in. When you asked about budgeting for food, are y'all going to cook everything at your campsite? Or will you be trying out some of the restuarants ?? There are lots of restaurant threads here you could pull up and look at for everyone's ratings on the different restaurants, but if you are planning on being really rugged and doing all your cooking at the campsite, you may be able to have a pretty affordable food budget. There's a Safeway there . . .not exactly what I would call a place to "bargain shop" (I think Bill and I decided that for the price of a couple of steaks we wanted to grill, we could have bought a whole cow in Texas), but it will still be cheaper than eating out every day.

I wouldn't worry about your hikes tho. If y'all are in good shape, half the fun is heading out on an ambitious hike, feeling about 1/2 way up that you'll never make it, then finishing up, after all -- all tired and sore, and feeling GREAT. . . and of course having some great pictures to share with your Forum Friends :)

Happy Planning!
SandyP

[gandhi8403]

Thanks for all you're amazing replies...Check this out...My buddies and I really getting psyched about all of this. I am going to reply to everyone's posts in one fell swoop here. Basically all the posts about the trails have been very helpful and I will definitly be taking all the suggestions about hikes and climbs into serious consideration...Thanks for all the responses...Another thing as far as preparation goes what do y'all think are the necessities for hiking and camping i guess i should post that in the camping part so I will... But in answer to the question about whether or not we will be cooking the meals mostly in the campground. We will want to do most of the meals on site but we probably will be doing some out-to-eat stuff. I guess I'm guessing anything Coleman and gas powered woud be good for cooking right? Let me know some more suggestions! Thanks ALL!
Gandhi Keep !!!

[Out of Breath]

Alittle advice from another Rocky novice. I'm from Tulsa, OK (nearly the same elevation above sea level as Illinois) and the altitude kicked my rear!!! We stayed in Estes for a full day before we took a short day hike (4 miles) and were really beat. Around home 4 miles is nothing to us. A perspective from my very limited experience is to plan on being able to hike half as much as you can at home, plan on it to rain everyday (it usually stops after a short while), plan on more food than you usually eat, always have plenty of water, and be prepared for the trip to be even more incredible than you are planning, even with all of the build up and anticipation you are going to experience for the next 6 months. We camped at Andrews Creek, it is a glorious hike with the scenery continually changing. I found information on explore-rocky.com handy for planning our camping. No offense to anyone here, I just discovered you today and reading your comments has made me anxious to return to RMNP and want to meet all of you!

[Dolenz]

As another Illinois native let me welcome you to the board.

I will say that while I do not do hiking here in Illinois I do play sports (softball, basketball, and volleyball) and consider myself to be in good shape for a 40 year old.

My first day in Estes scared me because for the first few hours the altitude did get to me. I was vey queasy the first afternoon. While I was fairly used to by the next day of hiking I would definitely reccomend a warmup hike. I went up to Loch Vale and loved it! I wanted to go beyond (and could have) but my sister was done climbing at that point.

I did (or attempted) flattop the next day and did fine with that climb until I got above the treeline. The wind really kicked up and the temperature dropped and I found myself pausing to catch my breath what seemed like every 50 feet. It would be a good test climb I would think because it is pretty much uphill all the way with very few flat portions. I really would like to try Longs Peak someday but I have newfound fear and respect for it after Flattop. I keep reminding myself Flattop was only half the distance and several thousand less feet of climbing.

Anyway, if interested you can see plenty of almost step by step pictures of my hikes at my gallery

Tom's RMNP Hikes 2004

Monday - Loch Vale, Mills Lake, Bear Lake and Nymph Lake
Tues - Flattop attempt - Fall River road
Wed - Lily lake
Thursday - Odessa Loop
Friday - Bear, Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes

[TempestT-37]

I really enjoyed your photos. I am hoping to do the Odessa Loop with the family this summer and maybe even try Hallett peak my eight year old son.

[misssilly]

Dolenz -

I just looked through some of your hiking pictures from Rocky. Wow! I love looking through everyone's pictures. It makes me so homesick. :)

Jen