Most of this blog has been dedicated to 3D printing and DIY topics since I re-launched it early 2019, that is going to change a bit. As summer has finally arrived in CO, my summer has gotten busy with other hobbies. The main one is backpacking and hiking. I am taking a break on the 3D printing design stuff, and while I am printing DIY stuff for my backpacking, I am not working on the printer itself right now.
I am a Trip Leader for the Colorado Mountain Club, and teach backpacking in one of the schools they offer. For the last month I’ve been really heads down focused on prep for this season with classroom instruction and some shakedown field days for the students. Last week I was finally able to get out in an overnight with the class, and CO weather didn’t make it easy!
First overnight of the season
I’ve done a number of day hikes this seasons scouting locations and getting into shape for the backpacking season. (I go and do stairs at Red Rocks a few times a week as well) But this was the first overnight trip, and due to the weird/bad weather predictions everyone packed heavy… very very heavy to ensure they would be warm and safe.
The trip started out with downpouring rain at the meet up location, then got surprisingly nice at the trailhead, then went back to sowing/hailing, and then the temp dropped to 25F overnight and snowed in the morning. Welcome to CO Summer in the mountains!
My group did an awesome job, and we had a blast. They even managed to make a campfire and had S’Mores over the fire. Not bad considering all the wood was soggy and very wet! Everyone survived the cold, rain, wetness of the entire trip and we are locked and loaded for more to come!
The trip gave us some awesome views. Waking up in the morning to gentle snow while it was sunny out was incredible. Below was the view from the wake up in the morning:
It was a nice ~ 2.5mile hike to camp, so this was an easy trip for the group to shake down their gear. The upcoming trips will be much different and more challenging with the final trip aiming to be a 22+ mile loop up in the Snowy Range in Wyoming.
Besides for class trips I have to scout up in the Snowy Range and want to get some solo overnights in this summer so I plan to do a bit more backpacking than I have in the past seasons. With the final trip for me scheduled to be the 4 pass loop in mid Sept right before we pack up for 3 weeks in Europe!
Expect to see a lot more backpacking/hiking/outdoor DIY posts here!
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