I am planning to write more this summer about backpacking in the Colorado Rockies. I'll go more into the details later, but I will be backpacking 10 to 12 overnights this summer, all along the front range. I now have a tent plus almost all the equipment needed, as long as I avoid snow and ice. Some trips will be with friends, some will be alone. I plan to cook some different meals, watch for stars at night and I plan to speak with everyone I pass along the trail and capture my thoughts using pencil and paper.
My start will be in the Great Sand Dunes National Park, where I will sleep in the great dune field wilderness and watch the night sky. From there I will move mostly north to specific sites weekly along the front range where the unique area, the scenic beauty and nature will be shown to those who have never backpacked here before. The goal is to entice you.
Most of these trails will be new to me, though one or two have been visited before. So let's start with my gear. I'll update the parts of the list that change this summer.
My base weight has increased by 2-3 pounds this year, mostly for National Park Requirements. 2+ pounds of that is a Bear Vault 4.5 container, the other pound is partly the tent and heavier duty items like stakes and a propane stove (stove must have an on-off valve).
Lite Packer Ultralight Gear Backpacking Packing List, Summer 2016
Repairing the REI Quarterdome 1 damage caused by a bicycle chainring was quite easy.
I purchased a new roll of the Tenacious Tape Fabric Repair Tape in gray. I read the directions. There is rip stop within the tape, for strength.
The largest hole of 5 is noticible above
It said to clean the area with rubbing alchohol, which I did, both sides. Then I cut the 2 peices (inside and outside) with curves at the ends so it wouldn't catch on anything. I peeled off the backing and smoothly applied to both sides.
Scissors with curves
When I setup the tent later, I didn't notice the repair. Very cool. Tuesday, June 21, 2016 is the date of the repair. I will keep watch to see if the Tenacious Tape comes loose.
Tree on Hidden Mesa where I shot the tent setup video
My 6 night stay inside the REI Quarter Dome 1 during the week of Ride The Rockies has given me some insights to share.
First, I like the tent's interior space. I was able to stow my Gossamer Gear Kumo Backpack plus shoes and another bag with lots of room to spare. I did use the vestibule area to store shoes and water bottles, but found I didn't need the extra space as I was already carrying an extra clothes bag inside than I would when backpacking. I am a side sleeper and had plenty of room to turn about during the night.
I tested the vent one night by closing it and woke up with interior rain on my face in the morning, soaking my sleeping bag. Wrong! I left it open, even in rain the remaining 5 nights and woke up mostly dry each morning. A Velcro "pole" holds the vent open. While I could close the vent from the inside using the built-in zipper, I learned it must be open to stay dry from condensation.
The nights it rained (and sometimes it rained long and hard) I did get the foot of my down sleeping bag damp from contact with the tent side. The real problem was the ties to the stakes had loosened, so that was not the fault of the tent. Tightening the tarp more during setup seemed to solve the problem the rest of the week.
The one night I setup the tent on wet ground was the worst. It was also 28 degrees when I awoke and windy. The outside of the tent was frozen hard with flaky frost on the inside of the tent. During the night I had dressed in everything I had with me and was warm. The note here is the tent will be wet inside from condensation when the environment is wet. Perhaps a second vent along the roof may help this problem many other users have encountered.
Setting up the tent is easy. The instructions are printed on the bag it comes in. I would lay out the footprint and lay on it to make sure the ground was clear of rocks, roots and gopher holes. Then I would lay the tent body on top of that. When it was windy I staked down these two on the windy side first. Then I pulled out the poles, connecting the orange one first and would plug it into the orange tab grommets at each end, then I would connect the silver pole and place it into the white tab grommet at the head. Then attach the clips and buttons to the tent, and snap the plastic clear tab end onto the open end of the silver pole, creating the door overhang. Then just put on the tarp, starting with the head poles, then the foot pole. The little black nylon hoop snaps into place onto the clear tab at the top of the door. Stake out as needed. Pull the lines taut on the tarp where they hook into the tabs and all should be dry.
I shot a video of setting up the tent and sped it up. The tent sets up in 5-6 minutes. With practice, 4 minutes or less may be achievable.
We camped on well-kept soccer fields, grass parking lots, baseball fields and in school playgrounds with gopher holes every few feet (gophers would pop up two at a time). Elevations were from 8000 feet to 10,000 feet. Yes, we had snow one morning.
The morning of the gopher holes, a bicyclist caught my tent in his chain ring, tearing 5 small holes in the tarp, above the 6" waterproofing bathtub floor. I was getting dressed in the tent at the time and asked if they tore the fabric. The person lied, saying no, and was gone. I was very disappointed when I found the tears ringed with chain ring grease. The tears being above the bathtub floor means my new tent won't be waterproofed until I repair it. Fortunately it didn't rain anymore on the trip as the piece of tape I have for repair was too short for all these holes. While sad about my new tent being torn, I will buy the proper repair tape, put it on the inside and outside of the tears and will keep track of how well the repair holds over time.
Note the chain ring holes in my tarp
As for daily packing, I stuff the tent inside the bag it came in, with the tarp first, the tent body then the footprint last, so I pull out what I need first (I usually lay on top of the footprint first to check the ground for bumps and being level). When wet, I just stuffed the tent into the mesh outer pocket of my backpack. It was dry when I checked it later that day.
The tent poles are a little complicated, all connected with interior bungees and using nylon "buttons" and various "snaps" to pitch the tent. These buttons and snaps "should" hold up fine, but to me are potential failure points and are different enough to require spares or some backup means to secure the tent on long distance trips. The poles themselves use these buttons and snaps ingeniously to hold the tent open wide enough to be useful. I will pack the poles into their bag, so none of the buttons get lost.
The pole ends punch through grommets at each attachment tab and on through the footprint and tarp tab grommets. Tighten the tarp tabs to hold all together. When you open the poles, put together the orange pole first. The long end will be to the foot of the tent. Connect the silver portion last. The orange pole, matched to the orange attachment tabs runs the full length of the tent in a large arch. The silver pole crosses this arch, from the head side white tab to create the door top space using snaps to attach to the tent. The design is smart and I hope it holds up to repeated use with the nylon parts. My plan was to use my hiking poles to setup the tent, but they will not work in this case (only in an emergency). I would hope REI will find a more secure way to attach these tents and remove these potential failure points.
The footprint also uses plastic/nylon hooks to attach to tabs and strings of the tent body near the foot of the tent where the tent is staked down. These hooks are difficult to use. Using gloves here just wouldn't work well in the cold.
There are 3 outside attachment points for tieing down the tent in windy conditions. All three use a Velcro attachment under the tarp to the nearby poles right at the tie-down loop. I had pitched my tent with the foot pointing into the wind, so I didn't need any extra stability that one windy night. However, if the wind had shifted to the opposite direction, the vertical walls the wind would have hit may have needed some extra staked-out stability. I removed the plastic sliding clip from the guy lines and tied my own taut-line hitch. As long as the line is taut, I can snug up the knot to tighten the line without the plastic pieces (save about an ounce for both).
The stakes the tent came with were very heavy for me at .6 ounces each, unlike my .4 ounce V stakes. I used my 6 V stakes and two of the REI stakes on this trip. I plan to purchase 2 additional 8" aluminum nail stakes to replace the included stakes. One will hold the door and the other will be extra protection for the wind guy lines.
From the outside, the gray tarp disappears in the foliage quickly. The orange floor and brown footprint look OK. To open the door from the outside requires 2 hands, every time. The right holds the fly, the left operates the zipper. From the inside, you can sometimes open the zipper with one hand, the direction of the pull moving the fly aside from the zipper.
So here goes the scale test: On my scale, the tent tarp weighs 10.3 ounces, the tent body 15 ounces, the footprint 5.6 ounces, the poles with bag is 9.7 ounces, and my full stake bag (six .4 ounce V stakes, two .6 ounce REI stakes, tent pole section, 2 guy lines, one tent stake pullerall inside a Tyvek envelope) currently weighs 5.1 ounces, the tent bag weighs .9 ounce. Total weight is 46.6 ounces or 2.91 pounds. Travelling without the tent body will reduce the weight to 31.6 ounces, 1.91 pounds, just under 2 pounds. So much for a lightweight tent. REI says the tent minimum weight is 2 pounds, 2 ounces (without the footprint), and that must include the poles, but no bags or stakes can reach that number with my tent. Maybe I will forgo the tent bags and footprint in my backpack to save some weight.
In setting up the tent, I found the footprint to be a an inch larger than the tent. On the heavy rain night, it did route some rainwater under the tent, but the tent stayed dry inside. While this may be because the tarp ties loosened during the night, the other campers in our group using different REI tents had the same "footprint too large" complaint. I like the footprint to be 2" per side shorter than the tent floor and this one appears to be 1" wider than the floor at both length and width when the tent is setup. The footprint is marked with the same color tabs for setup as the tent body.
Overall the REI Quarter Dome 1 is a well designed, fairly lightweight backpacking tent. Being made of lightweight materials, it is prone to tearing against metal bicycle chain rings, but that is to be expected. I will let you know about the repair and how long it lasts.
I enjoyed sleeping in it nightly. Even in the wind it was quiet. The interior space is awesome for the single overnighter, and I didn't once mind crawling into it over the week of 6 nights. Multiple nights with rain, some driving rain didn't get me wet. Sitting up inside I had plenty of room and was able to see to cook with the stove outside the door during rain. With the tarp door zipped open I could see the stars at night and in the Colorado backcountry, that means seeing so many stars I couldn't make out the constellations.
Pros = Generous with interior space due to an ingenious pole system, very light and bright inside. The setup is simple, provides tie-downs for high wind, and can be setup with only the tarp and footprint similar to a tarp. Fairly lightweight, seems to be rain proof and packs easy.
Cons = Buttons and snaps are potential failure points, footprint hooks difficult to use, footprint too large. The tent interior will be wet/damp from condensation when the environment is wet/damp, could use more ventilation. Weighs significantly more than promised. The silly Caution tag inside hangs down into your face at night, so that will soon be cut out. This tag should have been placed where it didn't hit your face.
I bought this tent with my own money and plan to use it many years.
So yes, I bought a new ultralight tent!
So I needed a tent to sleep in nightly while volunteering for Project ReCycle during Ride The Rockies. My full-time current job and REI's Spring Sale 20% coupon combined to make purchasing an ultralight tent possible. So I bought an REI Quarter Dome 1. Posted weight is 2 pounds and 2 ounces, but I will verify that with my scale and my choice of stakes and bags. 20% off is a $45 savings so the tent cost me around $185 plus tax, so it was competitively priced with other ultralight tents.
The tent does feel light and it fits in/on my Gossamer Gear Kumo backpack nicely. I did buy the footprint and will try camping out without the tent portion, occasionally using only the footprint and rain fly like a tarp system in the Colorado mountains to save weight. I know I need the tent body for keeping the bugs at bay and for my privacy during public camping with Ride The Rockies.
With only setting up the tent once indoors, I do like it. The one person sizing and side-entry is generous with space, but I couldn't fully test the tent without staking it out, as it is not self-supporting. I'm not crazy about using the tent poles because I was planning on getting double-use with my walking pole. The tent pole design is cool though, offering a lot of interior space for little weight and they fit fine on the side of my Kumo. I am packing the tent in its bag on this trip due to the light weight fabric, trying to keep it from being torn while in transit. The included stakes are much heavier than mine, so I still need to add 2 of them to fully support the tent with the 6 lightweight stakes I have. Maybe I will need to purchase some different stakes later.
I'll learn a lot more about this tent when camping out in it 6 nights in a row during Ride The Rockies and will write a full review upon my return. I also hope to shoot a video of the tent setup one day during my down time.
For the record, I now have all the essential equipment I need to backpack in Colorado with the exception of:
1. A bear-proof food container-required in National Parks.
2. Microspikes for my shoes for safety on icy trails.
I would like a better-designed stove, some newer clothing and lighter weight rain pants, but will carry and use what I already have until I can easily purchase them.
A couple weekends ago, I began this summer volunteering as a crew member of Castle Rock's Elephant Rock Bicycle Ride. I drove back and forth all day to pick up weary bicyclists and transport them and their bicycles either to the next SAG Stop for emergency repairs or back to the starting location of the ride. I had a great time and spent the day outdoors in wonderful weather.
I have been volunteering weekly for Project ReCycle as a bicycle mechanic since moving back to Colorado in 2014, and have been recently asked to step up to a position as Communications Manager. In this volunteer position, I am responsible for keeping calendars current, writing newsletters, coordinating media coverage, and for shooting Internet video of tutorials, events, fund raising and training. I like the opportunity for the experience I am getting working in a non-profit and the fact I can use my previous media experience as a television news and production videographer to support Project ReCycle in their mission. And I am still welcome to use my hands to repair bicycles. You can read more about Project ReCycle HERE.
In mid-June, I am driving the Project ReCycle truck during the premiere Ride The Rockies event, where the PR Team will be bicycling the beautiful Colorado mountains. I will be setting up the truck, tent and tables in the communities the ride passes through, working a SAG stop, shooting photos of the Project ReCycle Bicycle Team riders, and sleeping on the ground each night in the mountains. I rode Ride The Rockies back in 2001 and have been looking forward to supporting this event in some way because it is so professionally executed. It was my best supported tour by bicycle, ever.
It may sound funny that I am supporting bicycling instead of backpacking, but after I broke my collar bone in 1998 and couldn't carry a backpack, bicycling became my great love. Many years later, with ultralight equipment and lots of bone-healing, I have returned to my first love of backpacking, making my first overnight backpacking trip in 15 years (read about it here). I still bicycle occasionally, but not the 200 mile weeks I used to ride. And supporting Project ReCycle has given me a great community-centered opportunity to help children with bicycles.
It is something I did in the mid-1990's too. I picked up children's bicycles that were in the trash, repaired them and saw they were freely given to needy children in the community. The tearful, down-on-his-luck dad who was so thankful, hugging me tightly for the gift to his child is something I will never forget. Too bad I didn't see the non-profit business opportunity of doing this at the time. But the people at Project ReCycle did see it, followed through, and several years later, have asked me to help them.
So, while working a media job and volunteering for Project ReCycle, I will still be getting out this summer on overnight backpacking trips, starting after Ride The Rockies. The tent I purchased for Ride The Rockies will be my same tent for backpacking this summer. So you see, bicycling and backpacking in my life are both related in some way.
Maybe the jobs I applied for haven't worked out as I planned, or the cool business opportunities didn't materialize, but by hanging in there and continuing to volunteer for something important to me, life is working out, and that's the lesson. And it is working out pretty well.
A really neat place to poke around in central Colorado is Paint Mines Interpretive Park, just outside Calhan and about 40 miles northeast of Colorado Springs.
I used Google maps to create a road trip there and was quite surprised at the amount of small farms I passed along the way. On the return trip home, I followed another plan which challenged my route finding skills plus offered more scenic views.
Paint Mines is an erosion, like Bryce Canyon, only smaller in size. Humans have visited this site for 9000 years, mostly to collect the colored soils for use in vessel paints and body markings. Another portion of the park also interprets the early settlers who came west and settled here in the mid 1800's. I took many, many photos here and posted quite a few of them below.
From the parking lot, follow the trail and take your first right to get to the formations and geology interpretive area. At the bottom of the hill, turn right again onto the small trail that runs along a drainage. At first, the erosion and rock formations you see are small and kind of bland. But a few yards later they start to get much better. Even fantastic!
Small paths lead left and right into the Hoodoos and spire erosion areas. Beware as these rocks are soft stone and wear easily. I will caution you here to just follow the trails as far as you can into the rocky areas, keeping the sandy ground underfoot but beleive the signs and DO NOT CLIMB THE ROCKS! It is hard to tell just where to stop, but figure that any wear you create on the rocks means those rocks will never be seen as the same again by anyone else.
Covering 750 acres, the total trail mileage is around 4 miles if you follow all the way around. A Trail Map is HERE.
You will see stone that looks like poured liquid, stones that "run" down hill or pool into circles and blobs, like wet cookie dough. The colors go from white to red stripes to yellows, grays and even greens. Rabbits cross underfoot constantly, often ducking into mini caves or tunnels of stone. Some stones rise above you, creating holes through which the winds blow. Others create falls of stone, flowing stone streams with rapids of gravel.
Off in the background stand tall windmills, creating electricity from the constant Colorado winds. The same winds sculpting the erosion around you also powers your PC and keeps your drinks cool. Wild flowers and stunted trees frame hill tops, blown grass constantly changes shapes around you. This place is quite cool!
The exposed land around you goes back more than 55 million years with centuries buried below your feet. Layers are known as Castle Rock Formation, the Dawson Formation... and much more. Colorado's light amount of precipitation will keep Paint Mines around for many years. If it rained hard, like in sub tropical regions, all this would have been gone centuries ago. All this in a county park too!
Getting there: Follow US 24 northeast about 40 miles from I-25 at exit #139 in Colorado Springs to Calhan. (Follow Fountain Blvd through downtown and turn left onto highway 24.) Drive through the small town of Calhan, turning right onto Yoder Road. Follow past the fair grounds and turn left onto gravel Paint Mines Road. Follow past a right turn in the road and park in the Paint Mines parking lot on the left. There is a pit toilet here. The small yellow steel container beside the trail holds informational brochures with maps.
It almost caught me unprepared this year, but you don't have to be. Saturday, June 4th is National Trails Day. Get out and hike, backpack, bicycle, paddle or walk somewhere to celebrate the American Hiking Society's day!
If you are in need of a trail to visit, search this site for many trails around Douglas County, plus others throughout Colorado.
In Colorado there is no shortage of trails to hike. The idea is to use human power to propel you through the woods, prairie, mountains or metro. See you on the trail!
