my performance is greatly improved when I avoid breads, bagels, and other carb-heavy foods while on the trail. Protein-based food (nuts, salmon, energy bars) is what your body craves and is easier to digest on the move.
One mistake many, many hikers make—even very experienced hikers—is they don’t eat and drink enough on descents. While the hardest part of the day may be over, remain vigilant with your food (and sunscreen!) until the hike is done. A lot of people get dehydrated on the descent because they aren’t sweating as much, but rest assured your body is burning through its water even when you are standing still!
GPS and Cell Reception
GPS is a wonderful tool. The affordability and ubiquitousness of smartphone apps mean there is little excuse to not have GPS on your side. I strongly consider investing in a handheld, dedicated GPS unit (such as the Garmin Oregon 650t, used in this book) if you plan to undertake off-trail hikes. If you do prefer to use a smartphone app, make sure it’s one that can work in airplane mode to conserve battery life.
Because many of the hikes in this guide are well within cell phone range, chances are you’ll have reception in a lot of places. Cell communication is a nice backup for emergencies, but don’t count on it being reliable (especially the farther west you go). If you’re planning on heading into the deep wilderness in the Gore Range or do a lot of solo hiking, consider an emergency locator device such as the DeLorme inReach, which will get a satellite lock nearly anywhere in the wilderness.
And as many a crusty, old hiker would lament, be competent with a compass and map. When technology fails, the magnetic field of the earth remains the champion of uptime.
All the GPS tracks used in this book are available online for free use at mountainouswords.com/I70-hikes and are available in the .gpx and .kmz formats.
Hiking with Dogs
Hiking with dogs may be my favorite way to explore the mountains, but it is a big responsibility. There are a lot of opinions on what terrain is acceptable for dogs, especially since every dog is different. Here are some general rules for hiking with your canine pals:
• Please obey all leash laws in wilderness areas. They are there for the safety of your dog as much as they are for the wildlife.
• If your dog isn’t good with other hikers or dogs, keep them on leash (or seek out quieter hikes).
• Make sure you have more than enough food and water for your dog. I generally bring along an extra 48–80 ounces for my two dogs and top off my personal water to 100 ounces. Likewise, I make sure they have some healthy, yummy treats and make a point to feed them whenever I snack.
• Account for your dog by adding pet-specific items to your first aid kit. This includes pet wrap, needle-nose pliers (for thorns, porcupine quills, and so on), emergency blanket, paw wax (for heat or snow), and extra food. Additionally, a bear bell on the collar is a keen idea. Make sure your pups have some sort of orange vest or marking during hunting season.
My personal policy: Never take dogs on terrain harder than Class 2. There is no value in putting them in needlessly dangerous situations, even when they are physically capable. It’s irresponsible to project your climbing ego onto your dog. Save the Class 1 and 2 adventures for them—there are plenty in this book!
And finally, if your dog says it’s time to turn around … it’s time to go home, no questions asked.
Please consult the appendix for a list of veterinary clinics along the I-70 corridor.
How to Use This Book
Rather than address each individual peak with its own chapter, hikes in this book are arranged by trailheads. Because some of these trailheads offer access to the same peaks, it’s good to have options to explore new routes on the same mountain. In each trailhead listing, peaks that appear for the first time will appear in a list, while peaks already covered in previous chapters will be listed in parentheses. A good example of this is Torreys Peak, which can be accessed by Stevens Gulch, Waldorf Mine, and Loveland Pass (among others).
The upshot means you’ll have lots of great options at many of the trailheads. A weekend car-camping adventure to Mayflower Gulch can snag you Drift Peak, Atlantic Peak, Pacific Peak, Crystal Peak, and Mayflower Hill. Or you could even traverse over from Crystal Peak and do a point-to-point to the Colorado Trailhead at Copper Mountain. The ability to mix and match peaks is part of the allure of I-70’s summit collection.
Driving Directions
While most of the driving directions are straightforward, extra attention has been paid to the legality of parking areas and accurate mileage counts. It can be infuriating when you wait all week for a great hike, just to get flustered by shoddy directions. All these hikes have been personally climbed by myself (often several times) and driving notes are of special note for accuracy.
Vehicle Recommendations
For each trailhead, vehicle recommendations are made. The majority of trailheads are reachable by passenger car. If not, roads are declared passable by sport-utility cars (SUCs) such as Subaru Outbacks/Honda CR-Vs, sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) like Toyota 4Runners/Nissan Xterras, or dedicated four-wheel-drive vehicles like modified Jeep Wranglers. If a road gets close to the trailhead before hitting a tough four-wheel-drive section, passenger car parking is provided.
While I now have a mountain-worthy vehicle, I spent many years exploring the mountains of Colorado in a beat-up Honda Accord and did pretty well! I-70 is especially accommodating for less burly vehicles.
Difficulty and Class Ratings
Hikes in this guide are scaled 1–10, 1 being the easiest, 10 being the most difficult. It is important to know that a 1 in this book may be an 8 in another guidebook. Mountain hikes are tough, there’s no way around that. But once you’ve gotten a few under your boots, the relative scale of the difficulty will make sense.
Fit hikers will be able to complete all the hikes in this book—with good style! There are some long days and hard routes, but nothing that gets into elite or technical climbing. Beginning hikers can enjoy the lower difficulty hikes, especially summits like Peak 6.5, Uneva Peak, Loveland Pass west circuit, and Grays Peak.
As previously mentioned, the most difficult routes in this book are rated Class 3—but don’t let that fool you. The hiking class designations are merely suggestions, and even Class 2 trails can be scary in bad conditions or if there’s crazy exposure.
Here’s a look at the (somewhat agreed upon) rating system used in Colorado:
• Class 1: Nontechnical, easy terrain. This is reserved mostly for simple trails or very low angle grassy slopes. Class 1 can still be steep but lacks any big fall risks.
• Class 2: This is your standard-issue hiking terrain: rocky trails, a few steep sections, the occasional easy scramble or big step. Fall potential is very low or nonexistent.
• Class 2+: A good designation for Class 2 with extended but safe scrambling or off-trail routes with rock outcrops. Scrambles are solid and always have bail-out options. This is the most advanced terrain that is safe to take dogs on.
• Class 3: Sustained, advanced scrambling with hands and feet with low fall potential
