July 18-23, 2023: Backpacking Flat Tops Wilderness
$550.00
Creatio Experiences challenge and transform the whole human person. Creatio guides lead participants through a multi-day exercise designed to encourage the fundamental attitudes key to living out a fulfilling life. Each new day brings participants through a process to develop an openness to Reverence, Gratitude, a Readiness to Change, Responsibility, and Self-Gift on the path from Transcendence to Communion. Activities, talks, and reflections focus on forming yourself as a complete human person. Come join an experience that reforms your worldview and brings you closer to your own identity.
Creatio’s experienced guides will lead you on this adventure in nature and in spirit. We will provide meals, group gear, and itinerary so all you have to do is meet us in Denver!
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About this Trip
Are you deeply aware of the great connection between wilderness and transcendence? Have you ever been curious about why nature uplifts and renews the body, mind, and soul with such effectiveness and power? Hungry to deepen your awareness of philosophy, theology, and man’s relationship to God?
Creatio’s Formation for Leadership Wilderness Backpacking Course will take you a journey of epic proportions through the wilderness of the Colorado backcountry as well as the human soul. The Experience is 6-days packed with Daily Leadership Reflections from Plato, Aristotle, D. Von Hildebrand, Thomas Merton, H.U. Von Balthasar, Plato, and more, all the while learning the introductory backpacking skills you need to lead your own experience in the wilderness.
Flat Tops Wilderness
The FTW lies deep in the mountains of Colorado and encompasses over 235,000 acres of land! We will be backpacking approximately 24 miles (about 5 miles per day) that takes us along the Sweetwater Creek to mountain lakes, waterfalls, and pristine wilderness.
Community
Come join your peers 18-39 for an experience that will challenge body, reinvigorate your heart, and forge the soul. Creatio is here to teach you how Beauty is not simply an experience but a path into the wilderness of God.
Includes
- Professional outdoor guides
- Permits
- Group Gear
- Ground transportation
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day
- Spiritual talks, reflections and discussions
Excludes
- Travel expenses to and from Denver
- Personal Gear
Location
The Flat Tops Wilderness Area lies deep in the mountains of Colorado and encompasses over 235,000 acres of land! We will be backpacking a loop that takes us along the Sweetwater Creek, past Rim Lake and down the Shingle Peak Trail. This wilderness area offers wide open skies, aspen forests, and gentle running streams that all combine to make for an unforgettable outdoor experience!
Spirituality
Creatio’s spirituality is focused on strengthening the four relationships: relationship with self, with one another, with nature and with God. We encourage all of our participants to be open to experience a deepening of these relationships while on our experiences. We go out into nature and beauty and hope that along the journey, we encounter the depth of ourselves and those around us.
Friendship and Community
“Community,” “deep conversation,” “friendship.” Many missionaries chose these words when asked to describe their Creatio Adventure experiences in one phrase. Of course, backpacking through the outdoors is a great opportunity for silence, personal reflection, and soul-searching. But we are made for community, made for an encounter, and much of that soul-searching happens in communion with others. Those conversations that happen while preparing dinner, marveling at a mountain top view, or helping someone with their blisters (yes, they’re real) may be the ones that help change our lives. Come prepared to live out the beauty of Community!
Generic Itinerary
*This itinerary is subject to change
Day 1
Meet at St. Joseph’s Church (600 Galapago St.) and we will drive to Flat Tops Wilderness and begin backpacking!
Arrive at Trailhead and hike (lunch along trail) to dispersed campsite along the Rim Lake Trail. Set up camp, eat dinner and hang out!
Includes: Transportation to Flat Tops, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Day 2
Wake up, have breakfast, pack up camp.
Hike (lunch along trail) to next dispersed campsite.
Set up camp, have dinner, hang out/evening reflections
Includes: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, guided hikes & ground transportation.
Day 3
Wake up, have breakfast, pack up camp.
Hike (lunch along trail) to next dispersed campsite.
Set up camp, have dinner, hang out/evening reflections
Includes: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, guided hikes & ground transportation.
Day 4
Wake up, have breakfast, pack up camp.
Hike (lunch along trail) to next dispersed campsite.
Set up camp, have dinner, hang out/evening reflections
Includes: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, guided hikes .
Day 5
Wake up, have breakfast, pack up camp.
Hike (lunch along trail) to next dispersed campsite.
Set up camp, have dinner, hang out/evening reflections
Includes: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, guided hikes.
Day 6
Wake up, have breakfast, pack up camp.
Hike out back to vehicles
Drive back to Denver and attend Sunday Mass in the Evening
Includes: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, guided hikes & ground transportation.
*** Mileage each day will vary: between 4-8 miles ***
Health & Safety Information
Health Information
We recommend you and your group undergo a medical check-up before traveling to make sure you don’t have any kind of medical condition that could obstruct your participation in the backpacking adventure.
This backpacking adventure will be at a high altitude. The highest altitude we will reach is about 11,000 ft above sea level so you must make sure to stay hydrated and not overexert yourself!
Water Purification: Do not drink straight from the streams and lakes we will be crossing! Make sure that you always use water purification systems (will be provided by Creatio) when filling up your water bottle while backpacking.
Wildlife Safety: The Flat Tops Wilderness Area is full of wildlife, including bears. Make sure that you do NOT keep any food in your tent or on your person while sleeping. We will utilize bear canisters to prevent any unwanted visitors to our campsite.
Packing List
This list is subject to change.
Weather change from night to day is more drastic in the mountains. Expect the day time to be hot and sunny. Nighttime and early morning will be chilly so pack extra layers and knit hat.
RECOMMENDED: 60-80L Backpack
- 60-80L Backpack
- Sleeping bag (packable, rated to 30F)
- Sleeping pad
- Water bottles or Camelbak (Recommend 3 nalgene bottles because it will be hot and you’ll need to hydrate! If you do bring a Camelback, also bring a water bottle to use in the evenings).
- Headlamp
- Hiking clothes
- 3 shirts – base layer, we will only need a t-shirt most of the day
- 1 long sleeve/light outer layer jacket for chilly mornings
- 2 pairs of pants or hiking shorts
- 2-3 pair non-cotton socks
- Light outer shell raincoat
- 1 set of light sleeping clothes – t-shirt and shorts
- Good walking/hiking shoes
- Sandals – Chacos, Tevas or Keens or the like
- Camping plate/bowl and utensils (spork)
- Sunglasses/hat
- Toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, travel size items or share)
- SUNSCREEN
- Prescribed and non-prescribed medications
- Rosary or other spiritual items
Optional
- Bible
- Journal
- Camera
- Blister care – safety pins (2), needle, thread, band-aids, first aid tape, Vaseline, moleskin. Creatio will provide some. You can also buy these things along the way if you need them.
- Wrist watch