Outlaw Backpacking: Cuchara Canyon

“Unwilling to wait for mankind to improve, the outlaw lives as if that day were here.” — Tom Robbins

South of the familiar routes and beyond the managed wilderness lies Cuchara Canyon. This is a quiet landscape of creek bottoms, cottonwoods, and long bends where the map loosens its grip and the days stretch out.

This will be a 3-day / 2-night outlaw-style backpacking trip, built around movement, presence, and flexibility rather than milestones. We’ll walk into the canyon, make a good camp, and let the place tell us what comes next.

The Anti-Plan (updated)
Day 1: Waking from the Sleepwalk
We drive south from Colorado Springs (~2 hours). We’ll stash vehicles down canyon (Kenner Ranch) and start at Sheep Crossing, hiking north down the canyon, camping somewhere mid-way where the creek runs and the walls close in.
Day 2: Rearranging the Nightmare
We explore deeper down the canyon, wandering as we go, raising the exhilaration content of the universe. No trophies, no finish lines. You decide what it means to be an outlaw. If the canyon whispers the right way, we step off the polite trail and drift north past Wilson crossing, for a proper outlaw camp on night two.
Day 3: Sailing Against the Flow
Hike out through Wilson Crossing— explore the ranch if you want, checking maps that lead to outlaw treasures along the way. We’ll recover the vehicles we hid and roll toward Walsenburg, it might just be a mosey in the morning though. Beans and burgers wait, but that also means civilization where your outlawing looks more like daydreaming.

Notes from the Edge

• Mileage: Total mileage will land somewhere around 10–20 miles, with plenty optional. We care about the line we choose, not the distance.
• Conditions: Expect off-season reality, where badgers toilet: cool nights, mud, patchy snow, open skies. The outlaw boat sails against the flow.
• Water: Available in the creek.
• Crew Size: Group size capped at 10. “All outlaws are photogenic” but only when crews stay small.

This is about living beyond the spirit of the everyday rules—slowing down, choosing our own line, and refusing to be a victim of the mundane.

You will be put on the waitlist before being approved. Those meeting the first two below-required actions will be moved off the waitlist in the order in which they RSVP'd.

Required actions before trip:
1 - Fill out waiver: https://forms.gle/71SPiqc4iyqDmD8Y7
2 - Complete a qualifying hike, including any +1. Check the calendar regularly for upcoming opportunities - we post qualifying hikes once a month in April, May, June, get it while it's hot.
3- Attend a pre-planning Google Hangout meeting one or two weeks before the trip.

“Outlaws are can openers in the supermarket of life.”

Let's go.