Confirmed Peak-Bagging Trip Next Summer

“woot!”

“for those who can make it on friday, i was thinking quandry or grays. grays is close enough to denver that it wouldnt be too much of a hardship to make a run back to the airport to pick anyone up that needed to be picked up”

“so far, heres the situation:

jim and i are arriving friday morning, and will possibly be camping friday eve and climbing saturday, as well as doing the whole of the official trip. meangreen and chowdahead may also be joining us for the "early" climb

toejam is driving up from tejas. he's in for the long haul, also. i dont know if he's going to try to do the "early" hike

roam and doo will be there for at least saturday night camp and sunday climb of elbert. they have to work during the week, but i'm hoping they can get enough time off to make the capitol onslaught. they are also locals who might be able to help with transportation from the airport

precision will also be a part-timer. he doesnt know yet which part he will be able to make

pedxing hasnt said much of anything, nor have the others ive sent invites too. i think birch has expressed some interest, but hasnt really said much. so, i dont figure theyre going

anyone has any updates theyd like to share, please keep me posted
last edited: 1/29/08 7:30:08 AM”

“grays is close enough to denver that it wouldnt be too much of a hardship to make a run back to the airport to pick anyone up that needed to be picked up”

hmmm, doable, yes, but that's one helluva long round trip - depends on where your headed post airport i suppose.”

“well, hopefully, i wont have to do it”

“how long does it take to get from the grays trailhead to the airport? im thinking about an hour and a half?”

“Ok - I'm in. This trip looks both demanding and loads of fun. Not sure if I'll arrive Friday or Saturday morning though. I'm doing Quandary this weekend and spending 8 days on and up Rainier in March - so my skills should be in good order come this trip.”

“Awright! We have peak inflation happening!

I may be able to get up there a day earlier if you guys are trying to squeeze in another mountain. I've climbed the first day in Colorado several times and my head hasn't exploded.

It makes perfect sense to us non-locals to stay in the mountains and have to drive a little further to pick somebody up from the airport.”

“ I've climbed the first day in Colorado several times and my head hasn't exploded.

it wont be the first day for yogi and i. we're flying in on friday, and climbing on saturday”

“prolly a couple of hours Scott from Grays to the airport. From teh interstate up the hill to the true trailhead is 3 miles of kidney jarring, spine shrinking rough road (probably passable in a normal car, but high clearance is your friend). It's probably a 20 minute ride all by itself.”

“if it looks like the saturday arrivals will have a long wait at the airport, i think i will have them meet us at the REI. thatll shave some driving time”

“taxi ride for them! :)”

“No shuttle to Leadville?”

“never looked for a shuttle service to leadville. There's shuttles that run to the ski resorts - but i dunno bout nuthin else.”

“the original posted date for this trip is for saturday, and besides its unreasonable to expect everyone to arrive on friday, so its my responsibility to either pick up the saturday arrivals, or make sure someone else does.

if anyone with a car will be going thru denver on saturday morning, i'd be much obliged if you could pick them up. if not, its not a hassle to go back. grays peak trailhead is not far from denver, and we've got all the time in the world”

“I hope I can get there on Friday. I'm really looking forward to this trip.”

“It's entirely possible that I could assist with Saturday transport.

People that are arriving on Saturday - feel free to contact me and we'll see what we can work out. I'm sure no-one will be left stranded at the airport. :)

My email is in my profile.”

“yea, this is the trip of the year for me. im looking forward to this even more than the 9 day alaska trip in wrangell-st elias. probably because this has been in the making for a few years now”

“What I've learned from this forum after one year of reading and one summer of climbing:

1. Buy the best shoes or boots you can afford.

2. Bring layered clothing for changeable mountain weather.

3. Acclimatize for several days.

4. Hydrate.

5. Set a slow and steady pace.

6. Stay on the trail unless absolutely neccessary.
(I broke that one, and paid- think cornice).

7. Pay close attention to foot placement.

8. Rest a day between strenuous climbs.
(I broke that one too, and paid again).

9. Eat at altitude, even if not hungry.

10. Know how to use a map and compass.

11. Summiting is optional- getting down is mandatory (Ed Viesturs credo).

12. Be off the summit by noon.”

“the thread in its entirety

http://www.14ers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=11739”

“This #&%!$ always drives me crazy.

What I've learned from this forum after one year of reading and one summer of climbing:

Stuff like this is always posted by out-of-staters with one trip under their belt or people from Denver who can climb 14ers every weekend. They think they are being wise or cautious, but they really don't know what they are talking about. I defy the conventional wisdom based on my experience of driving from the lowlands to climb in the Rockies for the last 14 years. Don't believe me if you don't wnat to, but the conventional wisdom amounts to a bunch of uninformed fear mongering and elitism.

1. Buy the best shoes or boots you can afford.
This is good idea any time, but not necessary.

2. Bring layered clothing for changeable mountain weather.
It can be cold and windy in the summer time at high altitudes. T-shirt and shorts are rarely a good idea. I usually wear a long sleeve synthetic shirt and long trail pants and carry a rain jacket and gloves.

3. Acclimatize for several days.
Who has that kind of time? The truth is that people coming from Denver experience almost the same physiological stress as those coming from the coast. The bigger issue is physical fitness and the manner in which you exert yourself at altitude. If you can run several miles at a time at home and don't push yourself too hard in the mountains, you probably won't have a problem. The more experience you have in the mountains, the more you figure out your limits and the altitude doesn't bother you as bad. Altitude sickness is real, I've had it myself, but it's not a given. Your body can't truley acclimate for several weeks, so waiting a few days doesn't help that much. I maintain that most altitude sickness is psychosomatic from reading crap on the internet.

4. Hydrate.
Always a good idea - don't over-do it.

5. Set a slow and steady pace.
Definitely. If your heart is pounding in your ears, your brain is screaming for oxygen. Stop and catch your breath.

6. Stay on the trail unless absolutely neccessary.
(I broke that one, and paid- think cornice).
I'll interpret this as "don't do anything stupid." You can get off the trail without being stupid.

7. Pay close attention to foot placement.
Again, don't do anything stupid. It's easy to rubberneck up in the mountains. You should prolly stop and catch you breath while rubbernecking.

8. Rest a day between strenuous climbs.
(I broke that one too, and paid again).
This is the issue of physical fitness again. If you are used to exerting yourself on consecutive days, it's not a problem in the mountains.

9. Eat at altitude, even if not hungry.
Yes - gotta keep your energy level up. Don't bring a bunch of healthy crap you don't like to eat anyway. Snickers bars are about as close to optimal snack fuel as anything on the market, but they taste a lot better than most.

10. Know how to use a map and compass.
Duh

11. Summiting is optional- getting down is mandatory (Ed Viesturs credo).
The journey is the goal.

12. Be off the summit by noon.
Exactly why? Does lightning strike at the stroke of 12? No, it starts at 10:00 and usually stops around 6:00 p.m. Of the millions of people outdoors in Colorado every day of the summer, no more than around 13 will be struck by lightning all year, statistically. Very few of those will be above treeline. Golfing and farming are much more dangerous than peak bagging. Afternoons and evenings can be the best times on a summit. You can watch the weather and make intelligent decisions about whether you should be out there. The truth about lightning is it's extremely random and unpredictable. You don't want to be above treeline in a thunderstorm because it's scary, but going down the mountain doesn't afford you any safety. Anytime you are out in a thunderstorm you may be struck by lightning, but the chance of it happening is still really remote. Read the facts and be informed:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/?n=ltg.php

They give you a bunch of guidelines about things that may reduce your risk of getting struck by lightning, but if you read the statistics, you'll see it's all crap. The only safe thing is to stay indoors (where people are still occasionally killed by lightning).

We'll be hiking up a bunch if well used trails. It's not that big of a deal. The biggest risk by far is falling. I won't put myself or anyone else in harm's way. Everybody needs to know their limits, and this assessment should be made intelligently, based on facts, not on the opinions of goofballs on the internet with one season of mountain climbing or Denver residents who think they know all about how flatlanders should acclimate.”

“I'm a team player on group trips, and I'll thoroughly enjoy just hiking in the mountains without summitting. But I won't turn back without a real reason to.

Love you guys! XOXOXO”

“Acclimatize for several days.
Who has that kind of time?

agreed.

Rest a day between strenuous climbs.
(I broke that one too, and paid again).
This is the issue of physical fitness again. If you are used to exerting yourself on consecutive days, it's not a problem in the mountains.

5 14'ers in 7 days. the 2 hardest ones will have rest days the day before. i think i've planned this well enough that barring mishaps or inclement weather, it is in the realm of possibility that we can nail all 5, as long as we're in good shape. i have put a lot of thought into this trip

dont bring a bunch of healthy crap you don't like to eat anyway

when i was thru-hiking the AT, i made a point of eating as much "real" food as possible, mainly for the mental aspect. it's really hard to enjoy clif bars and ramen for six months solid”

“i thought the 12 o'clock turnaround time was kinda wonky myself. if the sky is crystal clear and the sun is shining brightly, i'll be up there til i get sick of it. that said, ya gotta turn around some time”

“toejam mentioned doing the southwest slopes for massive, as well as the standard east slopes. i like that idea, however, after having looked at both profiles, if we do both trails, i'm going up the southw est slopes, and down the east slopes. the southwest slopes are steeper, and my gimpy knee doesnt like the sound of that. but i do like the idea of a shorter route to the top. the east slopes seem to take the long way to the top, whereas the sw slopes get right to it and start climbing right away.

i'll look/ask around on 14ers.com for opinions on the sw slopes”

“hey roam! you want i should invite wmharper? he sounds like a funguy!”

“I'm dreading buying gas for this trip! It will be worth it though.”

“maybe someone can ride with you and split the gas. i got dibs on yogisan and meangreen!”

“yeah, what toejam said - a lot of the peeps on 14ers.com take themselves way way too seriously - most of those guys are "hiking" not climbing - there's a difference. Not to belittle, but the obsession with checklists and such drives me nuts.

Lightening - better take it seriously, but just pay attention to whats going on around you.

I witnessed one of the most massive lightenting storms I've ever seen last summer on Mt. Elbert and Massive - I was safely in Leadville and watched the show. It was impressive and scary - one man got struck by ligthening (and lived). They saw the storm coming in, pushed for the summit and turned around when the storm broke.

Trust me - you don't want to be exposed above treeline when the thunderstorm that you #&%!$in saw approaching hits the mountain.”

“i actually started a satirical thread on 14ers.com, because from the grays trailhead to the summit is "only" 2990 feet of gain, and therefore breaks the 3000 foot rule

that said, im still making checklist. i really hope to be +6 as of 8/15

good times”

“LOL

you'll prolly be ahead of me.

If ALL i wanted to do was tick off 14ers, that be one thing, but there are just too many other places to go adn things to do out here.

14ers are cool - some are simply spectacular.

But so is downhill skiing, couloir climbing, rock climbing, bagging quiet unassuming 12ers and 13ers, long remote backpacks in one of the many wilderness areas, etc, etc, etc, etc.

:)

it's all good! But, I won't live long enough to bag all 54 14ers. :)

I'll have a helluva lotta fun though!”

“hey, maybe i can get back out there later this year and we can do all that stuff”

“come out anytime you want man!”

“I have some issues with the list of 54 fourteeners, so I’ve come up with my own. The official list includes North Maroon, which shouldn’t count because it doesn’t have a 300’ drop the saddle between it and Maroon, and doesn’t include Challenger, which qualifies in every way. I guess when the list of 54 was made Challenger didn’t have a name, and everyone who climbed North Maroon thought it should count because it’s beautiful and more difficult than most.

So I add Challenger to the list because it’s the right thing to do, and I keep North Maroon because I’ve climbed it. Therefore my list must include other named peaks higher than 14,000’, which would be Conundrum, a worthy crag on Castle Peak, and Cameron, between Democrat, Lincoln & Bross. Cameron is really cheating because it’s just a bump on the trail, but the guideline needs to be consistent, which is named peaks higher than 14,000’. A ton of people have been over Cameron anyway, so they shouldn’t mind being able to add another 14er to their bagged list.

The east knob on Kit Carson was recently named after the space shuttle Columbia. I don’t know if that’s an official name, but pieces of that shuttle landed all around me one beautiful Saturday morning that I will never forget, so add it to the list!

The latest USGS survey put Sunlight Spire at 14,002’. This is a 45’ vertical piece of rock with the thinnest crack in the face rated at 5.10. Very few people will ever climb it so it will never make the official list, but it’s on mine even though I will never climb it.

And I don’t count Culebra as a protest of greedy rich bastards locking up national treasures behind patrolled fences. I will never give them my money, which means a lot more to me than it does to them, to climb their private boring peak. The only thing challenging I see about Culebra would be bagging it illegally without getting caught. I could see myself trying that for a lark after I’m too old and feeble to climb like I do now.

So there’s my list – add 5 and take away one – 58!”

“several weeks ago, toejam mentioned the possibility of going for crestone peak in addition to the needle. i doubted i would want to do it, since we were to be hiking out and driving to capitol creek trailhead the same day

now, im thinking that it would be better to spend a second night at crestone. so, if we do that, then anyone who wants to do the needle and peak has plenty of time to do it. i got to looking at the profiles and the route descriptions, and its only about 5 1/2 to 6 miles to do both. thats if you go back to broken hand peak after summiting the needle, continuing on west to cottonwood lake and the rest of the standard crestone peak route. highly unlikely i will try the traverse

that brings the number of potential 14ers to 7 in 7 days

good times, yo”

“I would recommend doing Crestone Peak first since it's a lot more difficult, then if there's gas left in the tank when you get back to Broken Hand Pass you could try the Needle. I attempted that but got scared off by clouds when I got to the granite gullies of the Needle, but it would not have been too hard. The difficulty of Crestone Needle is overrated - it's a lot of fun though.

Humboldt Peak is an easy bag from South Colony Lakes, and I would love to try to climb Kit Carson Peak from there. The 4x4 road to the lakes was improved a few years ago - there were Ford Explorers, etc. going up there when I went.”

“for personal reasons, the needle is much more important to me. i'll explain more when we're all together”

“im thinking maybe replace massive with humboldt on the itinerary. humboldts a class 2, has great views of the crestones, and would give us 1 more day in the backcountry instead of car-camping, and we should defineitely see less crowds”

“There will be a small crowd at South Colony Lakes, but a lot less car traffic. Staying a few nights there would seem to make the drive out there and the 5 mile hike up the 4x4 road more worthwhile. It's really beautiful up there.

Which ever way you want to go is fine with me.”

“i plan on making it to the 4wd trailhead, so we only have about a mile and a half hike in. if not, we can leave for capitol a night early. we'd still have two nights in the sangres”

“tj, my roach book is at home. you mentioned going from humboldt to kit carson. what is that route like, and how far?”

“Its the long way to Kit Carson. Here is S. Colony Lakes basin. The trail to Humboldt is up the saddle on the right, follow the ridge right to Humboldt and left to Kit Carson.



The ridge ends at a shelf between Humboldt, Crestone and Kit Carson called Bears Playground. I wanted to go on to Kit Carson but the conditions made me chicken out, so I want back and climbed Humboldt.



Here is Kit Carson from the shoulder of Humboldt. It's a hike, but it would be doable on a clear day. It was late August when I was there.



Obviously the conditions got better.
last edited: 3/27/08 3:28:51 AM”

“i looked at the topos. it didnt look doable to me. not saying youre not capable of doing it, im saying i probably wont attempt it. maybe if you led the way, and we have almost-perfect conditions. maybe

the standard class 3 route sends you over challenger point first. i dont know how youd tackle it from the other direction.

is a humboldt to kit carson route described in roach? if so, i'll read up on it when i get home
last edited: 3/27/08 5:34:01 AM”

“[img]The ridge ends at a shelf between Humboldt, Crestone and Kit Carson called Bears Playground.[/img]

thats the trick, innit? getting from bears playground to kit?”

“It's climbing down from Carson's east peak, Columbia Point/Kat Carson, that's the crux. It's listed in Roach's book as class 3, but it sounds like a badass class 3.

Here is a thread from 14ers.com:

http://www.14ers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11400

Here is a picture of Kat from Kit (courtesy 14ers.com):

”

“maybe the east peak would be a good intermediate goal, then

on the needle, how difficult is it to locate the switch from the east gully to the west gully?”

“I thought it was real obvious - the gully changes shape where you leave it and there's a unique-looking horn on the rib where you climb to the notch and cross over. Check out photos #11 & #13:

http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=cnee1&peak=Crestone%20Peak%20and%20Crestone%20Needle

Finding the bottom of the east gully can be tricky if you don't know what you are looking for. I had a little trouble finding the top of the west gully from the summit since we were completely socked in with clouds and it's solid granite so you can't follow a trail. I was glad there was another guy up there to second check me. Earlier he'd missed the bottom of the east gully and I'd talked him back to the easy route.”

“i saw on one trip-report something mentioned about a stone looking like a sharks tooth when switching from east to west gully”

“That's the one you see in photo #13.



I guess Roam can't post here anymore?”

“he got banhammered. probably temporary. if not, he can still post as doof”