Rocky Mountains Basecamp/Day Hikes
Aug 19-26, 2022
Cost: $
695.00
Due:
July 24, 2023

This is a 6-day (8 days with travel) adventure. We will camp and hike the best trails around the towns of Leadville and Buena Vista. This area offers the quintessential Rocky Mountain hiking experience with glacial valleys leading to vast alpine expanses sprinkled with glistening lakes amid soaring peaks.

Wild Hearts will provide all necessary equipment, food for the week and guides.  We will also provide transportation out there and back, some training before the trip. Participants will be responsible for bringing appropriate clothing and food/money for food on the way there and back.

This camping/day hiking trip will be done as a group, with our day hikes going at a pace necessary for the whole group. We will basecamp at a campground, tenting in group tents, cooking together and do day hikes that the whole group can participate in.

This trip is for anyone looking for a mountain adventure! This promises to be an amazing adventure for those who are up for some mountain fun!

Additional info:

  • We generally leave very early Saturday morning from the Twin Cities area. Usually, we want to depart no later than 5am. This allows us to arrive in the Denver area somewhere around 6:30pm Mountain time that same day.
  • We stay in a hotel in the Denver area Saturday night. We will have 2-4 people stay in each room.
  • We will get all the gear ready the hotel parking lot early Sunday morning and then head out towards Buena Vista, CO.
  • We will go to either a Colorado State Park or a U.S. National Forest Service campground and set up camp. We may move our basecamp to another campground or two during the week so that we can hike other areas.
  • On Friday, we will head out of the mountains, travel beyond Denver and spend the night in a hotel near Sterling, CO.
  • We will arrive home Saturday evening.

Documents

Important stuff will show up here when needed and when available! Check back often if you are going on an adventure with us because there could be some really, super-important stuff here. No, really, it could be the kind of stuff that decides whether you have a great trip or not like... oh, a list of things to pack, for example. That could be crucial. Actually, there's no "could" in that... it's definitely crucial.

Participant Waiver of Liability
This is a required document to be signed by the participant or guardian before your upcoming trip. (.pdf download)
Participant Expectations Agreement
You agree to these expectations on our adventure.

Meet Your Guides

Ken Johnson

Lead Guide

As a 6-year old growing up on the outskirts of Duluth, my summer days were spent running through the woods and fields with my neighbor buddies. At age 11 I got involved in Boy Scouts, earned the Eagle Scout award at 14 and at age 16 I began spending my summers on staff at a Boy Scout camp in northern Minnesota. I spent six summers at the camp; my final year as Program Director. Over the years I have led numerous groups on canoe trips in the BWCA, backpack trips in the Rocky Mountains, and mission trips to Central America.

Paul Lanhart

Guide

I started Wild Hearts because of a longing to reach out to those who have struggled with substance abuse and other destructive life choices to help them rebuild relationships with their families and with God. My desire to do this through wilderness experiences comes from a life-long love of the outdoors nurtured by my parents’ many family camping and canoeing trips. I now share this passion with my wife of 40 years, Pam and our four children, Diana, Andy, Jake and Nikki. I am also blessed with 10 grandchildren that I can share the beauty of God’s creation with!

I am an experienced outdoorsman and have led numerous trips to the Rocky Mountains, the BWCA, St. Croix River, the Appalachian Trail and many of our state parks and forests. Along with wilderness adventures, I love kayaking, backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, CrossFit workouts, watching movies and playing the occasional video game.  I am also a commissioned pastor with Breakthrough Ministries.