FRISCO — This summer, if you hike Quandary Peak south of Breckenridge or Grays and Torreys, the two fourteeners just east of Summit County, an unblinking eye will be watching you.
Infrared sensors placed near the summits by the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative counted thousands of people last summer. The nonprofit that protects Colorado’s tallest peaks from environmental degradation is experimenting with a new way to discover how many people hike Colorado’s 54 mountains taller than 14,000 feet above sea level.
The information will help determine priorities for trail maintenance on the fourteeners, said Lloyd Athearn, executive director of the nonprofit, and the infrared sensors give more reliable counts than other methods, like trail registers or volunteer head counts.
“Our goal is to protect the resource, keep these areas open, make sure the ecological process is working well while still allowing people to have those great experiences in nature,” he said.
Read more of the article at SummitDaily.com.
