Cruising through champagne powder in January, hiking in verdant canyons in April, climbing towering fourteeners in July and backpacking under golden aspen in September — Colorado’s mountains are known for spectacular scenery and year round backcountry adventures. Outdoor adventurers lace on their hiking boots for summer trails, then switch to snowshoes or cross-country skis when the snow flies. In fact, year round fun is the main idea around these parts, with Coloradans able to enjoy outdoor activities in the easily accessible Colorado Rockies any week of the year. That was the inspiration for The Colorado Year Round Outdoor Guide.

Drawn from author Dave Muller’s long-running, weekly series in The Denver Post exploring hiking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing adventures in Colorado, this full-color guide selects many of the best outings that the state has to offer. There’s a pair of outings for every week of the year, with many not described before in other guides, and all chosen for their seasonal appeal. The emphasis here is on tours with skis or snowshoes in the winter months and hiking outings in the remainder of the year. These activities are similar in nature in that neither requires great athletic ability, and all can be enjoyed in uncrowded settings.

Color-coded symbols make it quick and easy to find an outing that’s right for anyone, including identification of the type of outing and the difficulty level. There is a complete range of difficulty levels covered, from trips appropriate for novice snowshoers, to challenging hikes up some of Colorado’s famed fourteeners. There are even special outings identified for wildlife or flower viewing, for families or persons with disabilities, and for discovering history or geology. And for those who enjoy exploring with their canine companion, the book singles out outings that are true “pooch-pleasers.” Even outings into some of Colorado’s spectacular Wilderness Areas and National Parks, plus along the famous Colorado Trail and Continental Divide Trail, are identified for you by easy-to-find symbols. Finally, as part of the CMC’s Colorado Classics series, the Colorado Mountain Club indicates, with a special gold-colored symbol, those outings that have become annual favorites of the 10,000 member organization. With nearly a century of experience leading thousands of trips into Colorado’s back country, the CMC recommends these outings to everyone for their outstanding scenic or wilderness qualities - or because they are just plain fun!

There is also expert advice in planning for your adventures, with tips on safety and weather, information on natural history and a complete equipment list for any season. It’s the extra details in his descriptions that differentiate Muller’s guides from the rest. For trips in winter, Muller gives users a heads-up by providing a pre-trip rating of the avalanche danger for each tour. Outings in summer that reach summits feature Peak Finder, a unique system that quickly and easily identifies the peaks within view from your summit. Rounding out this full-featured guide are colorful maps and elevation profiles for each outing, plus over 100 full-color photos by CMC members.

Author and outdoor expert Dave Muller is uniquely qualified to write about adventuring in the mountains of Colorado, something he has been doing now for nearly 15 years through his popular “Hike of the Week” and “Cross-Country Ski and Snowshoe Trip of the Week” series in The Denver Post. While this format has become widely copied by other print and web based publications, Muller’s is by far the longest running column devoted to guiding adventurers into Colorado’s back country. Readers know Muller’s style as spare and very precise, or as Dave puts it, “To minimize the chance of becoming lost or confused, I make a special effort to give very clear, unambiguous information, without a lot of extraneous stuff about the route.” The result is both accurate and definitive, born out of over 30 years of experience at all seasons, on foot and on skis, exploring the mountains of Colorado. Thousands of readers who have clipped his column out of the paper for their own weekend adventures have learned they can trust Dave Muller’s expert advice. Dave Muller has authored two other books in the Colorado Mountain Club’s Colorado Classics Series: Colorado Lake Hikes For Everyone and Colorado Summit Hikes For Everyone.

240 pages, 5 ½ x 8 ½, 127 full-color photographs with 105 full-color maps, paperbound, $18.95, ISBN 0-9724413-2-8

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