This will be, without a doubt, one of the best weeks of your life. While it will be challenging at times, the adventure will prove to be a rewarding experience. After leading trips like this for many years, we have found that life’s biggest adventures are often when God speaks to us in the quiet and least expected moments. Our hope is that you would experience the same nearness to God in your time on the trail. That’s why we do what we do at WayForward.

If you have any questions about your trip, do not hesitate to reach out to your Trip Organizer or a WayForward staff member.

The right preparation for the trip will go along way. You’re not climbing Everest, but you are heading into some rough and rugged country (around 1% of the population will ever do what you’re about to do). We will climb thousands of feet, experience a variety of weather, and live the high-altitude life. Expect to feel short of breath at these elevations, as well as feeling hot and sweaty and then suddenly cold. Sudden rain showers and thunderstorms are possible, and it’s even possible to experience hail and ice in the middle of the summer. However, the right gear and a little bit of physical preparation can help to smooth over these rough patches. Of course, your guides are trained in all of these hazards and will work to keep you safe and in a relative state of comfort.

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We will meet you at Base Camp. Please do everything you can to be on time and arrive at 7 pm. We'll enjoy dinner together and settle in the first night. The next day will be busy as we sort gear, pack up, and hit the trail.

If you are planning to fly, we recommend flying into Santa Fe, Albuquerque or Denver airport. These will be your cheapest options. There are also airports in towns closer to Del Norte, like Colorado Springs and Durango, but those will be much pricer. You will need to handle transportation to/from airport to Base Camp. Many groups have reduced costs by choosing to carpool. Please contact your Trip Organizer to discuss which travel arrangements will best suit your needs and the needs of the group. A WayForward Staff member can also help to assist you with travel details.

When you get to Base Camp (address above), you will meet your guides for the week. These are highly trained men and women who have your best interests in the forefront of their minds. Your guides will be your point of contact from your arrival forward, letting you know what’s next and addressing any issues that may come up.

You may find that your head feels like it is spinning these first few hours at camp. Keep in mind that you’re coming from relatively low altitude to 7,000 plus feet, and that altitude sickness can mean headaches and nausea. One of the best ways to counter this is to hydrate, so drink plenty of water this first day and everyday that you’re in the mountains.

We will eat a delicious dinner together the night you arrive, and then, in the morning, we will start packing for the adventure ahead. After packing and a light lunch, we’ll load up the gear and head for the trail head. All non-trail personal items can be stored at base camp for safe keeping until our return.

Your time on the trail will be one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of your life. We believe that it is through challenge and adventure that God calls us to trust him more deeply. If you allow that to happen, your trip will be one of discovery of who God has made you to be as well as deepening of relationships with the people He put with you on the journey. In learning more about God, yourself and your community, you are better prepared to live out God’s desires for you back at home.

Typical days on the trail are pretty simple: eat, sleep, walk and talk. For some of us, just being away from email and a buzzing cell phone can be enough to push us out of comfort zones of control and achievement. You’ll hike some everyday, with the walks punctuated by meals, rests and content that your guides have designed for your trip.

At the end of your trip, we’ll bring you back to Base Camp where we’ll clean up and eat a great meal together. After a well deserved shower and a meal at a table with real silverware, we will reflect for a moment on what God has shown us during our week on the trail. These moments of remembering and proclaiming what God has done are often some of the most memorable events of the trip.