Ben Jenkins is a stickler for detail.
To get ready for an upcoming hike on the Colorado Trail he found and read a miner's journal and a department store catalog from the 1860s. He bought antique glasses and re-fitted them with modern-day prescription lenses. Now, Jenkins and a friend are ready to tackle the 500-mile trail dressed in period clothes and fitted out with vintage camping gear and tools. "There's something so unique and cool," about the era, he said. "It screams early America, the era of the great westward expansion."
Jenkins hopes they'll draw a lot of curiosity from the people they meet on the trail. He wants to share the history of the miners and trappers, surveyors and travelers who walked through Colorado's mountains in the years before Colorado became a state. When the trip is over he plans to make a documentary about what went right, or wrong.
Historical re-enactment is Jenkins' profession and his passion. His uncle was a Civil War buff who piqued his interest in the era. He's now a filmmaker who specializes in filming groups who replicate the battles of the Civil War.
While he's determined to be historically accurate, Jenkins has already made some compromises. Knowing that he'll need major calories to keep his strength up for the walk, he'll pack calorie-heavy snacks from the grocery store. And while most everybody would have carried a gun back in the day, he'll travel unarmed.
