Any primitive backcountry campers on here?

It’s pretty much all I do. Surrounded by 4 million acres of wilderness. Where are you going in CO? Backpacking?

I backpack a few hundred miles every year. Hit 21 states so far.

Where you looking to go.

quote:

---

Anyone do any backcountry camping in hiking-accessed campsites before? Regularly? Have my first trip planned this summer. Wanted to know if anyone had gone before.

---

There’s so many ways to do it the best thing to do is learn by experience. If you hike then you know what good gear matters to you. High end gear used often is almost always worth the price.

Go light, I never do lol. I’ve started 2 night weekend hikes on the Florida trail with a shotgun, box of shells, 12 pack of beer, and 16 oz steak on my back. While having a luke warm beer and steak over the fire after a 3 mile hike may sound amazing, it’s probably not worth it lol.

Personally, I get bored and I enjoy sitting around a fire as much as anyone. But I like to cook and eat good hot food so that’s one of my downfalls. If you can eat cold packaged food that saves you a ton of weight.

One lesson I’ve learned is that if you boil water to drink in a mildly warm environment it takes a frickton of time to cool enough to drink. But that won’t be an issue in Colorado.

I’m local to the area and do a lot of backpacking including frequent trips to the park. A few things to keep in mind that haven’t been mentioned: RMNP requires the use of approved bear resistant food/smellable storage containers. This usually adds a bit of weight. I haven’t camped at Andrew’s creek/ Andrew’s tarn before but I believe it is a requirement at that site that all waste including human waste be carried out. Keep that in mind and plan accordingly. There are no latrines nearby.
Early July you will be almost guaranteed to run into sporadic snowfields around and above the loch but nothing to really be concerned about unless you’re planning on a much higher elevation hike from Andrew’s creek. Timberline falls should be flowing strong with a lot of snow melt.
What other info do you need? I’m hesitant to give very broad advice but can assist with planning and/or gear selection if you need.