You should plan for all kinds of weather. It can be 70° one hour and snowing the next. Mornings and evenings are generally cold, so dressing in layers is important. Fall weather in the high country is very unsettled with rain and snow showers being common. Your day pack should include at least the items mentioned below or on our Rifle Checklist Page in case you are forced to spend the night away from camp. As a result it is imperative that you prepare by always carrying essentials with you in a daypack even if you think you will only be out for a few hours. Never leave on a hike or trip without at least a lightweight, waterproof parka even in the heat of summer. Below you will find our suggested what to wear and pack list.
DAY PACK
The easiest item! Does not to be too elaborate. Just big enough to store water,
snacks and extra clothing. As you hike more you will want something with a hip belt.
FOOTWEAR
When hiking in Colorado you will want to wear “sturdy footwear”. What is sturdy footwear? Sturdy footwear is simply a shoe
that will provide adequate support for your foot as you amble along on the trail. For most people, a light-medium weight boot fits
this bill. A heavy boot is great for mountaineering but overkill for most day hikes. Some people are very comfortable hiking in trail
shoes or even sneakers. A light or medium weight boot seems to offer the best
compromise between protection and support with a lighter weight.
CLOTHING
Generally speaking you will want to avoid cotton clothing while hiking. Cotton clothing when wet will actually take away heat
from your body and can cause hypothermia in adverse conditions. Because cotton will soak up much sweat it can easily causing
chafing when wearing cotton underwear or t-shirts and can cause blisters when wearing cotton socks. On a day hike,
you can easily get away with wearing a cotton t-shirt or shorts, but you may want to wear synthetic underwear and you WILL
want to wear synthetic or wool socks.
Nylon running shorts are great for hiking and come with a built in brief. Swim suits also function well for this purpose. You can also wear
synthetic long pants as well. Synthetic long pants have the added benefit of protecting your legs from the sun. Under no
circumstances should you wear blue jeans. Blue jeans soak up water like a sponge, can cause chafing and will literally suck the
heat out of your body if they get wet.
Now that we have the basic clothing for hiking you will want to carry some additional clothing to keep warm. A fleece jacket or a
wool sweater works great. You probably have one of these two items in your closet. Please do not bring a cotton sweatshirt. A
wet cotton sweatshirt will take forever to dry, has no insulating value and will rob you of body heat. Though chattering up in the
mountains may be romantic in a “braving the elements kinda way”, it is much easier to enjoy the trail when you are not shivering.
You should also bring some kind of a rain jacket. A simple nylon jacket will work great.
Naturally, if you have a Goretex jacket you can bring that. It may be too heavy and overkill for a simple day-hike, but it will
definitely work. A poncho is discouraged for most Colorado hiking for the simple fact that it can get windy above tree line,
causing the poncho to become a big sail!
The exception to the no cotton rule is a bandanna. A bandanna has many uses and will actually help cool you down due to
cotton’s properties of taking heat away from your body. On a hot day, a wet bandanna is heaven. You may also want to wear a
ball cap or some sort of hat for sun protection.
Optional clothing items to bring are a synthetic long sleeve top (a running jersey or long underwear top) and long underwear
bottoms. You may also want to pack
windpants as a lightweight clothing item that can protect you if the weather does take a turn for the worse and are susceptible to
getting cold on your legs.
Finally, two MUST BRING items are a wool or fleece hat and gloves/mittens. The weather can turn quickly up in the Colorado
mountains so it is good to have something to keep you warm in an emergency.
SUN EXPOSURE, ALTITUDE AND HYDRATION
These three topics are all intertwined. The sun and elevation will make you more dehydrated than normal, if you are dehydrated
you not do as well at altitude. If you get sun burned you will feel the effects of dehydration even more.
Keeping hydrated is very important. If you are dehydrated you will feel sluggish, get cold at night, and not enjoy yourself. Being
hydrated is also important to help adjust to the higher altitude. A dehydrate body does not work efficiently and will have to work
that much harder to carry oxygen throughout the body. Not good! Drink plenty of water and drink often. You can carry water in
something as simple as a Gatorade bottle or you can use a Camelback type of hydration system that is popular with runners,
bikers and increasingly more hikers. Whatever you choose to bring your water in, be sure to bring enough water to drink. For
most people, a liter every five miles works well. Carrying two liters at a time is standard. On a short day hike water treatment is
not as critical.
Sun exposure is also a big concern. The UV radiation in Colorado, esp. at higher elevations, can be fierce. Slap on that
sunscreen! You should wear at least SPF 15 sunscreen. A sun hat is also suggested for similar reasons. Long shirt and pants
can substitute for sunscreen on your arms and legs. For similar reasons be sure to wear sunglasses as long as they have 100% UVA and UVB protection. Even the $15 drug store glasses seem to offer this type of
protection now.
FOOD
On a day hike, bring food that will give a good caloric punch and will keep you going all day. Hiking is not the time to diet. And if
you are on a low-carb diet, I strongly suggest you get off it for the hike. How do you do the Atkins diet and hike, run, or any other
type of aerobic activity? You don’t! You need the energy! You will also want to eat all day. Rather than stop for a long lunch, it is
better to “graze” all day. Munch on your trail mix. Eat some cheese. Nosh on that bagel with peanut butter. This fact is more
important on long hiking days, but it is still a good rule to keep in mind. Your body is a furnace. And it needs fuel to run. While
backpacking, you will be burning a lot of fuel.
MISC. GEAR
You should take a map, compass, first aid kit, flashlight or a headlamp “just in case”. Nothing fancy,
even a keychain light is good enough for an emergency. A pocketknife is also a good item to take as well because it can perform
many useful functions.
Treking
poles, ski poles or a hiking stick is also good to use. You can find a good hiking stick near the trail and they help quite a bit on
uphill and esp. on the downhills. You may also want to take your camera of choice to take pictures of all the gorgeous scenery!
SUGGESTED GEAR LIST
A little confused on what to bring? Here’s a list of suggested items. Following this list will leave you equipped to go on
introductory day hikes. Also noted are on the list are optional equipment that becomes a must have if you are on longer and/or
more arduous day hikes.
Clothing – Worn
_Boots
_Synthetic T-shirt or long sleeve shirt (cotton t-shirt is OK, but a synthetic shirt is better)
_Synthetic Shorts or long pants (NO BLUE JEANS!!!)
_Wool or synthetic socks
_Sunglasses
_OPTIONAL: Sun hat, bandanna
_Hiking stick or Trekking poles (not absolutely needed, but does help on the uphills and the downhills. Can pick up a stick near
trail)
***WEAR SUNSCREEN!!!***
Clothing – Packed
_Rain Jacket
_Wool Sweater or Fleece Jacket
_Wool or fleece hat
_Wool or fleece gloves/mittens
_Synthetic long underwear top and bottom (optional; needed on long hikes)
_ Rain or Wind Pants (optional; good if your legs get cold easily)
Food – Water
_water in Gatorade bottles Nalgene bottles or Camelbak
_snacks enough for a day of hiking
_ …and a DAY PACK to haul it all in!!!
Other Equipment to Bring
***The following equipment is not super critical on an introductory day hike, but you will want them on longer and
more difficult hikes
_Pocket Knife
_Flashlight/headlamp
_Map
_Compass
_First aid kit |
