By Jake Timmons and Juli Williams, friends of Routes, and part of the local Trailblazers hiking group.
Our June (2022) trip around the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Loop outside of Fairplay - about 2 hours west of Colorado Springs - started as a surreptitious call from our friend Sarah. She asked Juli if we’d would be interested in a “double date overnight” backpacking trip. Juli quickly agreed and she and Sarah started planning before clueing in the husbands. Eventually, the heads up was pretty much - “Hey, we’re going backpacking this weekend”.
Since Juli loves both backpacking and date night…and Jake also loves date night (but loves golf), this seemed like a reasonable compromise for us.
Juli and Jake filtering water…or at least one filtering water and one watching gleefully.
Juli met Sarah first at a networking event for her job in software and then again four days later at a Saturday run club. Two encounters that quickly meant they should probably just be friends…and the rest is history - including being a part of each other’s weddings.
The Buffalo Peaks Loop is just under twelve miles and makes for a nice intro or weekend backpack loop. Since we were dispersed camping, no permit was required. The four of us met at the trailhead and set off around 10 am. Sarah brought quick reference cards of Colorado Flowers so several conversations focused on the diversity of the wilderness that is Colorado.
We ended up hiking 6.5 miles the first day. Taking our time, it took just over three hours to reach our campsite. We saw several other folks camping but the trail wasn’t crowded.
Day 2: Camp all packed up and ready to head home.
We set up camp in a stand of trees overlooking a meadow with a creek for filtering water. After a fancy dinner of Tasty Bites Madras Lentils and Veggie Tikka Masala, courtesy of Juli and her jet boil stove, we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate (and maybe a splash of whiskey).
After dinner, we spotted deer in the meadow and heard coyotes nearby. We were told elk or moose could be sighted - if you were lucky. We were not lucky.
No campfire that evening due to a fire ban but the cool night was made comfortable in a cozy two-person tent.
The next morning, we enjoyed a relaxing breakfast at camp of oatmeal and instant coffee from Trader Joe’s - accompanied by a gorgeous sunrise over the meadow and creek.
On the 5.3 mile hike back to the trailhead, Juli and Sarah both mentioned how much they loved the trip. Jake admitted he actually loved it too - being with his wife and good friends in the outdoors was a great and meaningful time…
…even if it wasn’t golf.
