Dieselboy,

You did not say what part of Colorado you live in. You will not get light, warm and budget friendly unless you luck out at a pawn shop with someone who didn't know what they had.

I live down in Pueblo. You can get snowed in at any time in the mountains if you stay overnight. You have to be prepared for that. I do not recommend winter backpacking for a new person. Camping is another story. If you stay near main roads, you can drive home if it starts to snow.

For camping, you cannot beat the old military down sleeping bags. They run about $35 to $50 on Ebay. They weigh a ton, but I've used one down to 25 below zero without a tent. (Back when I was young and crazy.)

Colorado can be unforgiving even in the summer. For temperatures to about 35 degrees, an Alpine 20 is cheap, warm and light enough. You can often find them on sale at Sport Authority. Stay away from Coleman and other brands they have there. That usually works from about May to about the second week in September. Above 10,000 feet, it sometimes gets a little cool.

Cheap tents leak. Most are made for backyard camping or car camping where you go home if it rains. For a couple seasons of car camping,the WalMart 3 person tent works fine. Otherwise you are going to have to pay more. You can even do without a tent and go home if it rains. You may find you wake up wet from a heavy dew. That is not a problem for car camping.

If you are new, I'd suggest you either start hiking first or car camping. You can hike with a school bag if you stay where the probability of spending the night is small.

In the winter, I like to head out east and wander the prairies for my hikes and I go in the lower elevation mountains on the weekends when there is no threat of snow.

Since you live in Colorado, you may as well plan to hike the Colorado Trail this summer.