[rio nueces]

I met two brothers at the Denver Gun Show, Texas boys, who had been in Colorado a few years looking for gold. They had a table loaded with knives, leather, silver coins and old Single actions.
They showed me some nice gold nuggets they'd picked up in the mountains.
They said you'd be a fool if you did not have a handgun around at all times in the mountains up there. For various reasons of course. A handgun is about all the firearm you can carry scrambling around and hiking up there.
Then there's my brother. I know for a fact he led a troop of Boy Scouts up to the Continental Divide with nothing more than a Boy Scout folding knife. ( I bet he had the aluminum cook kit and the knife/fork/spoon set that clips together but lets not go there)
Anyway, no gun for him. They did OK.

http://www.durangotrain.com/wilderness-access
(you take the train to the trailhead)

I don't know. I guess you just make your decision and then leave it up to God's Will.

[bcp280z]

You could go hiking w/o a gun, but where's the fun in that? ;)

[Shadow 7D]

Ask yourself
WHY

and that will answer it for YOU
if you want to, do
if you don't, don't

But realize that a handgun is just another 5# to lug around, or it's not.

[mes227]

I don't know. I guess you just make your decision and then leave it up to God's Will.

The vast majority of people hiking around the hills are unarmed, and by every statistical measure the most dangerous thing they did was drive to the trailhead.