For a traveler headed west across the vast swath of Midwestern land dominated by rolling hills and cornfields flattened over the millennia by the ice sheets of old, the course west and the gradual climb up reaches its striking and dramatic conclusion in Colorado’s Front Range. A region that encompasses Pikes Peak at its southern limit and extends northward along the eastern flank of the Coloradan Rockies, the narrow alpine canyons, decaying talus slopes, aquamarine and emerald lakes, and pine forests characterize the American wilderness experience as iconically as the Sierra Nevadas in California.
A wide range of outdoor opportunities make the Front Range an adventurer’s paradise, but there’s something about this part of the Rockies that belongs especially to hikers. Perhaps it is the close proximity to Boulder and Denver, whose cultures have been shaped by quick and convenient access the Front Range’s serrated peaks. It could be the ruggedness of the terrain, which sometimes appears hostile to any form of travel that isn’t on foot. Or maybe it's the wildlife: few places in North America stand out like a textbook illustration, but the Front Range has beaver dams, bighorn sheep, and wildflowers that sit like campfires, windblown and bright red and gathered around by an intrepid few.
Beginners to this area have a lot to catch up on, but here are a few staples to get started.
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