K and I joined the Colorado Mountain Club a few months ago and quickly signed up for our first school – Wilderness Trekking School.  WTS is designed to teach the student the basics of navigating the backcountry off marked trails.  The CMC is:  “An organization devoted to connecting those who love the Colorado Rockies or who study or seek recreation in them.”

“The primary purposes of the club are to gather and disseminate information regarding the Colorado mountains in the areas of art, science, literature and recreation; to furnish facilities for the enjoyment and study of the mountains by the Club members and the public; and to advocate for the preservation of the alpine regions.”

We meet at the American Mountaineering Center which is the old Golden High School.  They have converted it into the rich mountain learning center that it is today.  We have been nothing but impressed with the facility and the professionalism of the instructors.  There are about 80 students in our class, which we meet for a lecture once a week for 2.5 hours.  We then have a “field day” where we apply the principles discussed in class on the trail.  This course is about a month and a half, so we decided to post our first two hiking trips and then we will do our last 2-3 in another post.  We went to Eldorado Canyon State Park, outside of Boulder, for our first trip and then we went to the Beaver Brook Trail near Evergreen for our second trip.  The hikes are gradually getting longer and more difficult.  Next trip is snow travel, shelter building and avalanche awareness.

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