How to Prepare for a Colorado Trip
Colorado is one of those trips that gets better the more you prepare for it. A lot of people don’t prepare for it, unfortunately, and it affects their time here regarding their comfort level and how much fun they have. There are three major obstacles you have to get over in CO:
The altitude
The sun
The hills
Let’s start with the altitude. It’s actually at the core of all the other things. Its very common that people get a headache the second they get off the plane in Denver. It isn’t called the mile high city for nothing, afterall. The headache goes away pretty quickly, but it’s only the first of several altitude related issues. Boulder, where I live and give my tours, is at the foot of the mountains- not even in the mountains, for the most part, and it is at 6,000ft. How are you going to prepare for that? I can tell you that swimming, especially underwater, is a great way to prepare for that.
Next, the sun. The altitude makes it feel as though the sun is right on your skin. You’ll notice it. The vast majority of the days here are sunny. Get a base tan before you get here and drink lots of water!
Last, the hills. A lot people that come here want to go hiking, which is understandable: the scenery is beyond beautiful at times.
That said, there are few flat trails. I usually say that ”all the trails are uphill.” And most of the ”hills” are actually mountains. Without prior exercise you are going to end up like the majority of the people who get tired on the trail to the trail, if you catch my drift (pic).
You don’t want to be one of those people and you don’t have to be. It takes is a little bit of exercise to make it through, not a lot. A couple cardio workouts per week should do the trick. More is obviously better in this case, but you can actually get by with a minimal amount of exercise. None, on the other hand will, unfortunately, bench you. Seen it happen a million times.