Colorado Backpacking For My Birthday

We went backpacking in South West Colorado for my birthday, just after the fourth of July and we brought our dogs for the single-night adventure.

The drive to the trailhead took nearly 20 minutes even though we only had to travel 1.5 miles from the forest service road we entered from. The road in requires 4 wheel drive and reasonable clearance hight on your vehicle. Plenty of Subaru's but no sedans or mini vans at the trailhead.

It’s been over two years at least since Sara and I backpacked together and was a welcome suggestion when Sara asked if it would make for a fun way to ring in my 40’s? We knew when we left for our Great Western Adventure last year that we’d have limited opportunities to backpack due to our dog Deacon’s declining physical abilities, but we brought the gear, just in case.

Sara and I, each carried a 2 person backpacking tent, which I recently did reviews of on this channel. Each of us would have our own tent, with 1 dog.

The hike itself is only about 1.5 miles and wanders through aspen and evergreen forests on your way up to the lake. The trail is also reasonably flat but has some challenging footbed, so be ready for that if your mobility is challenged.

We found a great site to set up camp on one side of the lake, and after making some adjustments to layout, found a great place to pitch both of our tents close to one another. We took a great walk around the lake with the dogs and allowed them plenty of time to explore and swim in the snow melt runoff water.

I made some incredible elevated ramen noodles for dinner, recipe from my buddy Chef Corso and his Outdoor Eats trail cook books. We also made the berry granola crumble you'll see in the backpacking video I did with Chef Corso back a couple years ago in Missouri!

We spent a fantastic evening hanging out by and in the lake with our dogs and I'm super glad we chose to take a backpacking trip over going out to a fancy restaurant to ring in my birthday.

AJ' and Sara’s Big Three:

Tent: Durston X-Mid 2P

Backpack: ULA OHM 2.0 (60 Liters)

Sleep System: Big Agnes Zoom UL Pad (Reg Wide) & Sierra Designs Back Country Bed Sleeping Bag (28 Degree)

Tent: Nemo Dagger Osmo 2P

Backpack: Granite Gear Crown 2 (60 Litrers)

Sleep System: Big Agnes Rapide SL Pad (Reg Wide) & Nemo, Disco Down Sleeping Bag (30 Degree)