Owner Review by Russell Curry

OWNER REVIEW
HIKING COLORADO’S WEMINUCHE
WILDERNESS

Product Description:
Paperback Hiking Guide – Hiking Colorado’s Weminuche Wilderness
Author: Donna Ikenberry
161 pages, MSRP US $14.95
ISBN 1-56044-716-8 (pbk)
Falcon Publishing, 1999
http://www.globepequot.com/
6” x 8 ½” x ½”, 6 oz. (15 cm x 22 cm x 1 cm, 170 g) per my measurements

A comprehensive, glossy bound paperback guide to hiking in the Weminuche Wilderness in Southern Colorado. Provides data and descriptions on 39 hiking trails, ranging from shorter hikes to overnight trips. This guide works well for locating trails in the Weminuche Wilderness depending on the time, distance, and difficulty required.

The introduction to this book alone enticed me to pack my gear and head out to explore this wonderful wilderness area. The author has included many photos of the region, and each trail is rated on 7 items, they are in the order listed in the guide:

Highlights: An overview of the trail, scenic features, suggestion as a long or overnight trip, or other information that pertains to that specific trail. Some of the other information is what type of scenery to expect on the trail, whether the trail connects to other trails to form longer hikes or loop hikes, wildlife, solitude, hot springs, etc.

Distance: Distance in miles on each trail, whether it is a one-way or loop.

Difficulty: Rated as Easy, (short trail, with gentle grades), Moderate, (usually less than 8 miles (13 km) round-trip, elevations on the moderate trails are usually no more that 500 feet per mile, 152 m per 1.5 km), and Strenuous, (usually longer than 8 miles, (13 km) and have steep gains and descents.)

Elevation Gain and Loss: Height in feet gained and lost on the trail. There is also a graph for each trail showing the same information in graphic form.

Maps: A map of each trail includes major highways, rivers, paved or gravel roads, trailheads, park boundaries, elevations, campgrounds, cabins/buildings, main and secondary trails and other miscellaneous information. Some maps show more than one trail on the map.

Management: Indicating the Ranger District that manages the trail and surrounding area.

Trail Conditions: Information on whether the trail is heavily trafficked, whether there are creek crossings, how the trail is maintained, and other data particular to each specific trail. Directions follow this information on finding the trailheads and navigating the surrounding areas. The author is good about pointing out key points of interest where there is a need for it, and other notes of special interest that would apply to certain trails but not others. The specific conditions for each trail are outlined in each category listed above.

The author’s description of hiking the trail is complete and reasonably brief. She points out post-markers, mileage between markers, how faint or defined the trail may be, what type of scenery I can expect to see, how steep the ascents or descents may be, and other bits of information peculiar to that trail.

The Weminuche Wilderness guide makes it easy to plan and research hiking trails for this wilderness area. There is a lot of extra information on parking spaces, horse hitching posts, cabins, outhouses, and even types and location of flora and fauna to expect for each trail. At the rear of the guide is a Trail Finder Table that lists the Easy – Moderate – Difficult trails to enable me to decide at a glance, which trail may be right for me and the conditions that I may be hiking in.

I selected and completed the hike to Divide Lakes, (hike 12, page 64) and used this guide to research the trail. The description of the trail by the author was pretty much dead-on. What she did not tell me, and what I found out the hard way, is not to hike on this trail or perhaps other trails that allow horses the week prior to hunting season. The horses and mules with their equipment pretty much destroy any possibility of hiking on a trail that is not a foot deep in mud and horse crap. This is not the author’s fault, but something to keep in mind if planning on a first-time backpacking trip to the Weminuche Wilderness.
The author’s description of distances, creek locations, wildlife and other data particular to the trail I was on was very accurate, right down to having to scoot across fallen logs to cross East Fork Weminuche Creek.

Tester Information:
Name:                 Russell Curry
Age:                    57
Gender:           Male
Height:              6’0” (1.83 m)
Weight:           190 lbs (86 kg)
Email Address:      dpro@datarecall.net
City, State, Country:       Orange, TX, US
Date:           October 12, 2004

Backpacking Background
I began backpacking in the late “60’s” but only in earnest 7 years ago, as I had more free time from my career and my children were grown and out of the home. I began locally in the Big Thicket area of Southeast Texas, and on the Wild Azalea Trail in Louisiana.   I have hiked extensively in Western and Eastern Texas, the Grand Canyon & other Arizona sites, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Canada and in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, in a variety of terrain, desert, mountains and forests. I hike often, even if just locally and in all seasons.

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