One (the only?) silver lining of Covid was Norah gaining a bonus month of summer vacation when the school start was pushed back to after Labor Day. After spending 2.5 weeks on a Montana road trip, Norah and I returned home for a few days, then we all took off for Colorado. Steve’s initial plan for this vacation was fastpacking the John Muir Trail, but a last minute call based on the fires and smoke led us to a ten day hiking trip in Colorado instead.

This was the exact type of vacation we had in mind for our new Overland CampX truck camper and it worked out perfectly for this trip. We needed the truck to get to some of the trailheads and it was convenient to camp at the trailheads to make it easier for early starts (and staggered starts - Steve was up early for his long hikes, while Norah and I could get a later start for our more modest endeavours). Steve’s main objective was bagging as many 14ers as he could and he got in a great hike every day. Norah and I had our own schedule - most days we did an easier hike and a few days we took it really easy - sleeping in, reading, and/or checking out thrift stores in the local towns (had to keep the pre-teen happy!). This worked out well for us - everybody was happy on this trip (no off trail passes or 16 mile days like our Sierra Nevada backpacking trip that certainly tested the bonds of our family unit, lol).

Steve ultimately climbed 17 peaks (most of them 14ers) and Norah and I climbed three (with some additional non-peak hikes). After rain on our first day, we had terrific weather (and even woke up to beautiful snow one morning), we loved the mountain towns, and we had a good meal every day (we especially liked Tennessee Pass Cafe and Mountain High Pies in Leadville). The scenery and views were amazing and it was a fantastic week in the mountains. This was our itinerary:

Day 0: Drive to Colorado and camp along the road to Ice Lakes Trailhead

Day 1: Steve hiked Fuller and Vermillion Peaks, Norah and I hiked to Ice Lake, Island Lake, and Grant Swamp Pass; dinner at Thee Pitts Again in Silverton; camping at Yankee Boy Basin

Day 2: Steve hiked Mt. Sneffels, we stopped in Ouray to walk around, dinner at Packer Saloon & Cannibal Grill in Lake City, camping at Grizzly Gulch

Day 3: Steve hiked Sunshine, Redcloud, and Handies in the San Juan Mountains; Norah and I hiked Handies; dinner at Packer Saloon & Cannibal Grill in Lake City, camping near Uncompahgre trailhead

Day 4: We woke to gorgeous snow! Steve hiked Uncompahgre and Matterhorn, Norah and I hiked to the pass, dinner at El Paraiso in Gunnison, camping at Shavono/Tabeguache trailhead

Day 5: Steve hiked Mt. Shavono and Tabeguache Peak in the Sawatch Range, dinner at Mountain High Pies and walking around Leadville, camping at Elbert Creek CG (we were here for the next four nights)

Day 6: We hiked Mt. Elbert and Steve added Mt. Massive, dinner at Tennessee Pass Cafe

Day 7: Our original hiking plans were thwarted by a busted RV blocking the road out; Steve opted to hike Mt. Massive again using a different route; Norah and I later made it out to Buena Vista to walk around town and visit a few thrift stores, another good meal at High Mountain Pies

Day 8: The last peak of our trip - Mount Huron in the Collegiate Peaks and Steve added on La Plata; last meal at Tennessee Pass Cafe

Day 9: Starting our drive back to the canyon, we drove to Telluride, which was insanely busy - so we didn’t linger long. We camped near Trout Lake.

Day 10: Drive home to the Grand Canyon. Fantastic week!