Various Questions from Someone Living Sea Level

[peter303]

Quandary is probably the best in the Mosquito range the views are maybe average.

Compared the flatlands, its a fantastic view. We are just spoiled with hundreds of peaks.

I'd warm up on one of the passes to how the the humans and dogs do. Loveland Pass is very accessible and great views. Otherwise Berthod or Independence, etc.

[HuskyRunner]

You've gotten a lot of good advice so far so I don't want to rehash any of that. For your pups it was already recommended to take extra water, I would add to that dog booties and some pet appropriate pain medication, dogs can take aspirin but you should check with your vet to determine dosage and if aspirin is the best option for your dogs. I take booties and pain meds for our dogs every trip and our pups are running and hiking all year round, anywhere from 20 to 60 miles a week, several have run 50 miles in a day. You never know when a sharp rock might cut a pad, a dog could catch a paw in a hole, or even the rough terrain is just something they are not used to.

[Kara454]

Thanks so much Dave! I do plan on going somewhere between Tuesday through Thursday after Labor Day so that would be perfect! I will have to remember to pace myself if needed =) I wish I had more time there so I could do a lot more. I'm hoping one day I can call Colorado home.

[Kara454]

I have Rimadyl for the dogs (we do agility) so keeping it on hand is common for me. I have been applying a paw toughener on them twice a week and plan on buying some of the booties on dogbooties.com. I need to get a better first aid kit together (we put the supplies in soft tackle boxes)

Just talking to all of you makes me even more excited about my trip!

[Trotter]

I'd make sure to NOT hike a 14er your first day or two in Colorado. Going from sea level to 14k in 24 hours is a bad idea. I tried that once, and felt sick and nauseous and had headache the entire climb above 12k. I got to the summit, but it was a miserable time.

But I'd second Huron, Sherman, Grays, Bierstadt, Evens. All easy peaks.

[JeffR]

Kinda hard to give "one-size-fits-all" advice because the altitude affects everyone differently. (When I was (a lot) younger, I used to wake up at 1000', drive two hours and immediately hike to nearly 13000' without any big problems. Then again, some people start to have serious issues even at 8-9000'.)

So among the other good advice given, I'll second this: Do a shorter trial peak first and really listen to your body. 3-4 miles above a trailhead is not a good place to find out you get altitude sickness (which only worsens the longer you stay up).

[mtnview]

I would also recommend to sleep lower maybe somewhere in the Buena Vista area which is around 8,000 feet. Trying to sleep higher may result in little or no sleep. I enjoyed the Chalk Creek Campground just south of Buena Vista near Nathrop.

I would also consider finding some hills or an office tower and doing them for quad workouts.

Regards
Allan A

[bbass11]

I'll second the last post. We take our kids to the football stadium and do workouts up and down the bleachers with packs to prepare for 14ers in Colorado. I'd say Huron is the best view to work ratio in the Sawatch, and if you can get all the way to the trailhead, it is very easy.

I lead kids from Texas (also Oklahoma, Kansas, etc...), some not in the greatest shape, up Shavano every week as well, and I might be a little biased since it was my first, but I think it also makes a great first 14er.

If you are really worried about how you'll handle the altitude, you could also consider doing it in two days, sleeping at around 11,000 the first day to help acclimate yourself and bring you closer to the top before the summit day. Shavano, Antero, Belford, Harvard, and several others all have decent camping areas with water access at around 11000 or so. If you are in pretty good shape though, this probably wouldn't be necessary, and you could easily do it all in one day.

As far as what time to leave, I think its wise to learn some things about cloud watching and forecast reading, but I'd say for a first timer, you should plan on taking at least an hour per 1000 feet of vertical gain. So if there is a 4,000 ft gain to the summit, you'd need to plan on 4 hours or more (of course there is a chance you'd be faster, I know nothing about your conditioning) to get to the top, and ideally you would be up and back in tree line or lower before any thunderstorms come up. Once you start getting into September, the daily thunderstorms start to slow down, but weather should be a concern no matter what time of year you are climbing.

[Kara454]

I plan on hiking after being in Colorado 4-5 days. I will be showing my dog in a show three of the days so I will have to do some running then. I work at a chemical plant so we have lots of stairs to climb..will start making some extra trips on the stairs early in the mornings before it gets too hot.

I like it being cooler when being active so I do not freeze when outside when it is in the 50s like a lot of Texans seem to do, but what kind of clothing do you recommend for this? Jeans dont seem super comfortable to make a trek in, especially when it starts warming up later in the morning, but I know shorts are not a great idea for when you first set out. =)

I am in ok shape, I can do a 25 mile bike race easily with little training and still feel like I could go on to 50 miles- of course that is under 1000' altitude. Thats pretty much all I have really to gage with my fitness level.

Thanks a bunch everyone, you all have been so helpful and welcoming on this forum!

[Trotter]

I plan on hiking after being in Colorado 4-5 days. I will be showing my dog in a show three of the days so I will have to do some running then. I work at a chemical plant so we have lots of stairs to climb..will start making some extra trips on the stairs early in the mornings before it gets too hot.

I like it being cooler when being active so I do not freeze when outside when it is in the 50s like a lot of Texans seem to do, but what kind of clothing do you recommend for this? Jeans dont seem super comfortable to make a trek in, especially when it starts warming up later in the morning, but I know shorts are not a great idea for when you first set out. =)

I am in ok shape, I can do a 25 mile bike race easily with little training and still feel like I could go on to 50 miles- of course that is under 1000' altitude. Thats pretty much all I have really to gage with my fitness level.

Thanks a bunch everyone, you all have been so helpful and welcoming on this forum!

definitely not jeans when hiking. Too restrictive, and cotton is a bad idea for hiking. Doesn't wick sweat and rain, and so once its wet you will be cold and clammy.

I use the nylon REI pants when hiking. Windproof and lightweight. Some of them even zip off to shorts for if it gets really warm.

[Kara454]

Thanks, Trotter! Will look up the REI pants now- thankfully Houston area has REIs, so maybe I can go try on for size too =)

[myfeetrock]

MUST MOVE TO COLORADO!!! Everyone is doing it! I grew up in Dickinson just south of Houston. I worked at Service Master cleaning control room floors for Air Products and Enron when they were around.