new to the site

[tmountainnut]

hi, my name is Ted. im new to the site and i joined after hearing about the trail designs giveaway.

Im a backpacker and climber from colorado. this summer i am planning on doing a few trips this summer like the teton crest trail in early june and the collegiate peaks loop in late june/early july. if im able to, i might scrap the collegiate peak loop and hike the entire colorado trail, but i don't know if i can get more than a week off at a time.

the collegiate peaks loop will be my first real test of a long distance hike. it will be around 160 miles over 7 days, and i might extend it out a day to complete the two 14ers that are nearby the trail, Mount Shavano and Huron Peak. i can easily hike 25+ miles a day, and my base weight is under 10lbs for my summer setup. My last trip was 30 miles backpacking salt creek with 3 newbie backpackers in 2.5 days, which went very well considering 2 of the newbies are slow hikers and i had to outfit the whole trip. My favorite trip ever was my Gannett Peak trip a few years back. i solo'd the mountain in two days, which was 50+ miles of hiking and 10,000+ feet of elevation gain.

i think the ti-tri setup would really help me with my trips. i normally use a woodburning stove made by bushbuddy, however i think a good alcohol stove system might convert me away from wood, and i could always add the wood burning system from trail designs later to have that as a backup option. wood dirties up my pots with soot, and isn't always plentiful when i hike into the alpine zone, so i have to haul small amounts of wood if know i won't have reliable access to dry wood.

Thanks

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Ted - Welcome. We've been on trips in Gannett's general vicinity but haven't made an attempt at the summit just yet. Awesome country. Did you head in from the Trail Lake Trailhead via the Glacier Trail? Sounds like you have a pretty intense Collegiate Peaks Loop trip planned - Should be one to remember!

Edited March 23, 2012 by Aaron

[tmountainnut]

Ted - Welcome. We've been on trips in Gannett's general vicinity but haven't made an attempt at the summit just yet. Awesome country. Did you head in from the Trail Lake Trailhead via the Glacier Trail? Sounds like you have a pretty intense Collegiate Peaks Loop trip planned - Should be one to remember!

I hiked in on the east side of Gannett near Dubois, which i believe is the Trail lake trailhead via the glacier trail and did the standard snow route up the south east side of the peak.

if i can, i would like to back out there and do some more of the summits around there and try to climb some of the alpine ice on the north face/ridge of peak.

I'm extremely excited about the collegiate peaks loop. With the current snowpack, it should be melted out by late June.

[Stick]

Welcome to the site! Sounds like you have some fun and exciting hiking plans in front of you...I'm jealous...