Hey guys I'm new to backpacking, planning on taking my first trip this summer, so I thought I would stop in, say hi, and introduce myself. My name is Brad and I'm a student at UW-Stout. I have done a lot of hiking and day trips before, when I was a child my parents would take me to the Smoky Mountains. This summer my friends and I decided we are going to take a backpacking trip out to Colorado, and hike in the Rocky Mountains.

You can have a lot of fun in the Colorado Rockies!

Just beware of situations where you could be injured or become hypothermic. Either of those can become bad news in a hurry. Don't go along with group-think if your gut is telling you something different.

Happy hiking.

Welcome and have fun in Colorado. Where exactly are you thinking of hiking?

Welcome!

I spent many summer vacations being hunted by skeeters up there. One of my sisters still lives there (It's amazing she has any blood left at all

Hey, just across the river from Steven's Point is a park called "Yellow River State Park". If you go there the weekend before Memorial Day you'll have a great time camping and taking day hikes and you'll have the whole park all to yourselves. This might be a good place to test out your gear.

If you're all new to backpacking I have to recommend you spend some time reading up on the gear list recommendations here and getting to know the area where you'll be packing in to. When you're packing with friends you should remember not to duplicate items you can share, like camp stoves, cookware, first aid items, etc. (see below for why this is important).

Don't try and do to many miles. Take your time and enjoy being outdoors. Backpacking and hiking are not races or distance contests. The real key to enjoying backpacking is in the number of hours you get to spend doing it, not the number of miles you go doing it.

Listen, Colorado has some tough laws, so don't do anything stupid there cuz they have a private prison system that donates heavily to judges running for election. Don't drink and drive and don't piss off law enforcement. Personally, I won't go there. (And I try not to go to Illinois anymore either

And be sure to take aimless's advice. Everything I mention above and much more is summed up in it.

Finally, and this is important, always remember...

Lighter gear = more beer.

(I learned that while studying Physics in the field)

Bill

Thanks for all the advice and warm welcomes!

Bill I know all to well about the mosquitoes around here last summer was the worst I have ever seen! I haven't heard of Yellow River Park but I'll defiantly try to check it out this summer. I have been doing quite a bit of research on gear and what to bring with on the trip. We will be doing a 20 mile stretch over the course of 4 days, I feel this is a good pace for beginners who are not yet sure of what they can fit into a good days hike comfortably.

I have to say I'm sorry to hear about Colorado's problems I flew to Denver in February and thought it was a very nice city.