Colorado Trip Planning – Which Peaks?

I am not saying this to be sarcastic, but do you want to check things off your list or have a good mountain experience?

The 14ers are crowded, will quite literally have a queue for the summit photo at times (from what my friends tell me :) ) and feel like a very busy gym with a good view.

Consider the high 13ers instead. Often overlooked, often no trail and often goes through some terrain that is stupendous.

Skip Longs and Hallet (not a 14er, but super busy) and consider something like Chief's Head if you are in the park.
http://www.summitpost.org/chiefs-head-peak/153014

Just my .05 worth :)

Almost 40 years ago, I lived in the Midwest, so I knew nothing at all about high altitude. I knew next to nothing about backpacking at all. So, I went up Mount Elbert. It is the highest of the fourteeners there, but it is probably one of the easiest. I mean, it is a walkup trail. After spending a cold uncomfortable night around 12,000 feet, I made it to the summit and then made it down in one piece. Later, I figured out that I was so stupid that I had only two quarts of water for the overnight event, and there was no running water on the mountain.

Hmmm. Forty years ago I must have been a tiny child.

–B.G.–

You couldn't have hardly picked 3 14ers more disbursed. That means too much time wasted driving around the state that could be better spent in the backcountry. I agree with Paul about the abundance of gorgeous 13ers with no one on them (over 600 13ers in CO). But if you are set on 14ers the Chicago Basin group makes a spectacular trip with the opportunity to bag 4 in a 2-3 day period with stunning scenery.

Or

Base camp at South Colony lakes to get both Crestones, then drive to the Willow Lake TH and get Kit Carson/Challenger.

Those would be my recommendations for a 14er centric trip. And I would recommend 14ers.com for your route research.

Thank you for the replies!

Q: "do you want to check things off your list or have a good mountain experience?"

We're definately open to some 13ers, I haven't been above 8000 feet before so I'm interested to test my body's reaction. As far as experience goes, i just want some great views, maybe a nice cliff too look off. I've been looking for mountains that appear steep/jagged.

"You couldn't have hardly picked 3 14ers more disbursed"

We're there for 9 days so the thought process was to maybe explore some different ranges to compare. Honestly,we pulled alot of these out of Backpacker magazine recommendations. Tried to keep all trips within 4 hours of each other though.

Randy- Thank you really for the recommendation on the south colonies base camp. I like the logic you put in there. How is the difficulty of the crestones compare to longs? For some reason the literature in Roach's Fourteeners makes it sound twice as hard as capitol peak but the elevation and mileage don't seem to be twice as much.

Would appreciate anyone's personal experience on which of these are harder or are they all pretty comparable (assume easiest class 3 route for each).

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Craig:

I am in a similar position as you in that I regularly backpack relatively low Appalachian elevations. I have made a few trips to the Colorado mountains and will share my experiences.

I would agree with Paul that some of the peaks can be a little crowded, but I have not had that experience except on front range peaks and other popular peaks, like Elbert. I did Elbert this 4th of July week and even then I would not describe it as crowded. There were probably 8 others we saw on a broad peak over about a 30 minute relax and lunch. We saw others on the walk too.

Coming from low elevation, I would consider getting an Rx for Diamox. It prevents some altitude sickness. It works. Maybe you will do fine; if not, you won't be climbing any peaks.

I would not be looking at Capitol and Crestone Needle in my first group of 14ers. I would probably do a class 1 climb first and then move up to a class 2, 3 and possibly a4 only after a little experience. 14ers.com is a very good resource. I would read up on the routes before you go. These peaks are really different than Appalachian walks.

I would agree with the Chicago Basin idea. I was there a couple of weeks ago. The train ride is novel. The scenery is stunning. There are class 2,3, and 4 14er routes out of one convenient base camp. Just be careful of the goats.

Given your statement about never having been above 8k ft I definitely would suggest starting off the trip with something easier to gauge your personal reaction to being above 13k ft. Even if you are in great shape altitude can effect people differently. Capital, Crestone Needle and Longs are among the most difficult of all the 14ers and I wouldn't recommend anyone start with those. This is especially true given that they are highly exposed with significant exposure to falls on steep terrain and not terrain I would want to experience altitude sickness on.

I would use Grays/Torreys peaks and/or Quandary Peak (near Breckenridge) as starter peaks with a good trail all the way to the top. Maybe do these on Day 2 of your trip. If you do well then proceed to the Chicago Basin trip. Try to hit it mid week if possible. That's honestly my best recommendation. After Chicago Basin, if you are feeling good and wanting to add on then would go to Lake City and do Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre peaks. Wetterhorn has some nice class 3 scrambling near the top.

I would save Crestone Needle/Peak and Kit Carson/Challenger for a separate trip. I don't feel comfortable recommending that group as a starter group for anyone.

Just got back from my trip, wanted to thank you all for the trip advice. First and foremost the Diamox was a great recommendation. Between that and chugging 3-4 liters of water per day we did not have much in the way of headaches, insomnia etc. Slept just fine at 11k and 12k several nights. Saw some poor other folks hiking out at 3am because they were not fairing as well.

I really appreciated the Chicago basin recommendation. We did not squeeze it in due to not wanting to freak out my travel companions with a complete revamp of the schedule but its at the top of my to-do list for the next colorado trip. Most people I talked to in CO had never heard of it.

We did the Hallet loop (30 mile version) saw a ton of moose, elk etc. Then went and did Torreys, Greys and Longs. Torreys and Grays felt a little like hiking in a kids pack&play but we honestly got some of the best photos there at sunrise so really glad we did it. Longs was a bit tougher, Hail/water/slush made the ledges and narrows pretty intimidating but I now have a healthier understanding of Exposure ratings. I stopped early at the ramp to the Homestretch because it looked like a water slide off a cliff. Would love to have done it on a dry day.

Elevation was really fun and challenging. At around 13.5 and higher it really felt like we were stopping every 20 feet to gasp for air but some how we still managed to keep a good pace for what we were shooting for (29 roach points/hour). Incredible experience.

Thank you again for the last minute help.