I'd plan to spend the time to acclimatize, even if you use diamox. First night, Denver or equivalent (5,000 feet). Then maybe 7,000 feet for 2-3 nights, but dayhike higher each day, returning to your starting altitude to sleep. Then pick a route where your next sleeping spot is not much more than 1,000 feet higher than the last one. Yes, it will take 5-7 days, but you'll feel a lot better! It's the price we have to pay for living the rest of the year at low altitude!

8,000 feet is about the lower level timberline (the altitude at which trees start growing) in Colorado.

I was going to try a variant ot this in the Wind River Range, spending two days dayhiking and then starting at Green River Lakes (it's practically level for the first two days), but my dog got sick the second day out so I had to backtrack. It turned out to be a good thing, or I'd have been hit with a nasty snowstorm at 11,000 feet!