.  Five Colorado backpacking loop hikes that will knock your socks off and give rocky mountain high a new meaning. As the hot summer sun melts the winter snows off of the high peaks, I get the itch to hit the trail, fill my lungs with piney mountain air, enjoy the sight of jagged peaks lining the horizon for miles, then relax to sounds of a.  Five Colorado backpacking loop hikes that will knock your socks off and give rocky mountain high a new meaning. As the hot summer sun melts the winter snows off of the high peaks, I get the itch to hit the trail, fill my lungs with piney mountain air, enjoy the sight of jagged peaks lining the horizon for miles, then relax to sounds of a.  Summer is backpacking season and every dedicated backpacker has a list of favored destinations. And it's hard to go wrong in the American West. Following are a personal backpacker's dozen, chosen for outstanding scenery, variety of.  Almost 000 miles of Colorado's stately Rocky Mountains are connected by The Colorado Trail as it threads its way over eight spectacular mountain ranges, through six national forests, six wilderness areas and the headwaters of five river systems, reaching its highest point at 00,000 feet.  