Rocky Mountains Basecamp/Day Hikes
Jul 27 - Aug 3, 2024

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

Mike Kapala

Lead Guide

Mike joined us recently and has trained to become a guide for our many adventures.  He has a passion for coming along other men and walking beside them, especially if they are struggling.

Mike is also an enthusiastic outdoorsman with a love for hiking, fishing, camping, canoeing, and just general exploring of our wondrous wildernesses! He enjoys wilderness survival and has gained experience through his time as an Eagle Scout and his military service. All of this has built a sense of pride and responsibility in caring for what God has given us in the nature around us and the beauty of this earth.

Mike is married to his beautiful wife, Diana and they have 10 children.  Yes, they are quite busy!  Mike’s family life has given him invaluable insight to the challenges of marriage, raising children and navigating chaos (mostly the good kind). As a team, they are passionate about marriage and working with couples.

Ken Johnson

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.