When I hiked in the West Elks this time of year a few seasons back, there definitely were some hunters. "Crawling" seems a bit strong, though. Successful hunters have to pack out their meat, so they don't like to get too far in (unless they have horses, but even so). I'll bet you see a lot of folks near the trailheads, but not too only a fewfurther out. If it were me, I'd go for it, but definitely bring the blaze orange. The West Elks are awesome, especially this season.

The Rocky Mountain Forum at Backpacker.com has lots of folks willing to answer questions for you.

IMHO the glory of Colorado is the Sangre de Christo Range. You might run into a FEW sheep hunters up S. Zapata, Upper Sand, or Groundhog Basin. I've spent a weekend at Willow Lake, simply one of the most spectacular places in the Universe, and not heard a shot during a rifle season. A point to point combining some of the Crest with Westside trails might just be the greatest thing your feet ever do for you.

Whatever you do have a wonderful trip.

The south and west sides of the W Elks would be a good choice, but not the NE, too close to Crested Butte. I did three trips ( 2 day, 1 backpack) into the W Elks in May-June of 2010. Some thoughts:
- Expect a lot of deadfall on the trails, to the point some trails cease to exist.
- Horses can't do deadfall, so if theirs no way around, then end of horse trail, hence more solitude.
- Very scenic with lots of aspen, open meadows and volcanic hoodoos
- On my three trips I never saw another hiker, and on the BP, not even foot prints.
- Big game hunting does not begin until mid-Oct. so no worry about gun hunters.
- Archery/Muzzle load may be in season, go to the Colo DOW website for dates and areas.

If you're willing to consider the La Garita, then pop over the CD on FR 17FF, no further than the Stewart Ck TH, and access the La Garita from one of the Rio Grande TH's.

I did a 3-day mid-Aug, 2009, out on the Halfmoon Trail and back via the Middle Fork Trail. Never saw a soul for 3 days. Camped at 12,500' Machin Lake one night. Lots on big peaks, 13,500+ just west of the lake. Those two TH's are less than a 1/4-mile apart. Many bigger loops available.

Comparing the W Elk and La Garita, WE is much greener/wetter whereas the LG is more San Juan volcanic with big high mesas instead of hoodoos.

My WE BP was from Big Soap Park and up the Coffee Pot Trail. When I drove into Big Soap Park I scattered 200 elk, still there 2 days later. You'll need 4WD to get to Big Soap Park, not so much for the LG.

I can't help you with Colorado beta, but I can say welcome and tell you that this site is just as much a Hiking or backpacking site as it is a climbing site.

Don’t let some of these hard core trad climbers push you around. They just feel inferior to us Backpackers since we understand the true spirit of the mountains.

5-4-3-2-1...

I agree that both the West Elks or the Sangres will do fine during the fall. Most hunters are not going to venture deep into the Wilderness Areas.

Matt
http://www.100summits.com

PS --

One of my favorite photographers has some stunning photos on this site of the west elks in the fall:

http://www.summitpost.org/album/455653/ ... -2008.html

Kane rocks!

Just look at some of those images! Sheesh!