14'er Altitude Too Much For My Son....Need Options

[paul109876]

Living in Indiana (800ft) it is hard to fly in 1 day nd hike the next to a 14er summit.
For me, I've learned to wait at least 48 hours once I get to higher altitude 8000 ft+ before tackling a 14er. I will go out and perform some shorter hikes for about an hour or so at 10,000-12,000 ft by driving to some pass so I can get out quickly if needed.

This gives my body time to adjust, plasma levels change in the blood, blood vessels constrict ect. ect.

Then on day 3 I am ready to go. I am a big guy 240 ish and really have to take in some serious calories while gaining a 14er summit. I will burn in the range of 750-900 calories per hour depending on how how many vertical ft per hour I am gaining and hard I am pushing.

My last visit in Late June I tried eating clean foods, fruit, veggies- whole grains while hiking Democrat and crashed bad!!!!
2 days later I did Huron from Winfield and ate, fruit pies, Metrx Jumbo protien bars and MM's and jerky and killed it. Just physically tired when I got back to the car.

So everyone is different on how they react, but from my perspective learning more about myself and how to tweak things for success is part of the fun.

Every hike I record all kinds of details-rest periods before and between hikes- sleeping altitude- water usage, mileage, vertical gain, times, food and calories- blah blah blah to help me figure out what works and what doesn't.

[zinj]

If the attraction of hiking 14ers is the high-elevation brag status (nothing wrong with that), then you have a dilemma. If, instead, you're looking for a sense of accomplishing *something* difficult and even better if there are views at the top, of being above and beyond, then you need to look for mountains which have local prominence, rather than high elevation.

In light of this, my top recommendations would be the volcanos in the Pacific Northwest. Consider Mt. Baker (10,700 ft, with 8,800 feet of prominence!!!). You can avoid Rainier, Hood, etc, and focus on the lower peaks -- they all have tremendous views, but you have VERY different climate than Colorado and will have to deal with snow.

Both Arizona's and New Mexico's high points are well above tree line (so you get the "high" part), but might still be too high altitude (12,000+, 13,000+) if you're dealing with oxygen issues. Outside Tucson, you get "sky islands" - lumps of high country dotting along the surrounding Sonoran desert. The few hikes I've done there have not been technical, but are rewarded with VERY open views and top out at only around 6,000 - 8,000 feet -- IN FOREST, sometimes with a little bit of snow into late spring. You pass through narrow veritcal clmate transitions as you ascend. http://arizonaexperience.org/land/sky-islands" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wyoming has some awesome mountains (no 14ers), some of which are very exposed, but that doesn't sound like what you're looking for.

In the Appalachians, you'd want to focus on ,mountains which are really just high points on ridges (like in VA) rather than ranges or clusters of mountains (like in WV or KY) since none of the mountains are truly above tree line -- you're only going to get unobstructed views if trees aren't in your way on the summit because of local terrain conditions and it helps if you're not in the midst of similarly-high rounded mountains. A ridge means you've got a substantial view space on two sides of your high point. Shenandoah NP (climb "Old Rag" or similar) is good this way.

IF you go farther north, the three tallest peaks in NH are all good choices (and not very high altitude, but super-windy).

But....if it doesn't have to be a mountain, OMG go to Utah. Some of my favorite hikes are DOWN into canyons in Zion NP.

[huffy13]

I might suggest giving 12er Greenhorn Mountain a shot from the upper Greenhorn TH, looks like it wouldn't be too bad. I liked hiking Horseshoe Mountain, in the Mosquito Range, it is mostly road until the last mile or so and the elevation gain is gradual...no super steep sections to deal with. And if summits aren't necessarily a requirement there's always tons of hikes that focus on scenery, lakes, waterfalls and stuff like that.

[aweskamp]

I wouldn't give up on 14ers just yet! You really don't need weeks at elevation to acclimate; to fully aclimate, yes, it takes weeks, but the body makes acute hemodynamic adjustments to hypoxemia in a matter of days. If you feel yourself breathing deeper/faster and peeing more, it is this acute response at work.

If you're still on board for climbing 14ers, I'd recommend picking a hike at a lower elevation (7k to 12k) as a "warm-up" and then hitting the 14er the next day or day after. I often use Chief Mountain as an acclimation hike for flatlander friends prone AMS. In my experience, these individuals feel kinda crappy on Chief but crush the 14er the next day after plenty of sleep and rehydration.

Side note: good aerobic fitness might help performance at altitude, but it certainly won't prevent AMS in a susceptible individual. For better or for worse, it's all about the genes.

Hope some of this helps!

[bryan-whitesel]

Might be worth checking out the Wasatch mountain range outside of Salt Lake City. Plenty of options and all peaks are under 12,000 feet.

[spiderman]

Knocking off a thousand feet of elevation makes a big difference. Try Wheeler Peak, the highpoint in New Mexico @ 13,161. For a bit lower and an easier climb, attempt Humphreys Peak in Arizona @ 12,633. Your highpoint in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, is only 8749' and can be combined with a visit to Carlsbad Caverns. As you can tell, I am a bit biased towards state highpoints...

[TallGrass]

Rather than just "resting," you could do other activities for the first day or so like renting a 4x4 and doing the Alpine Loop or anything else where you get up in altitude without much physical activity but can sleep closer to 8,000 feet at night.

[rob runkle]

I had a similar trip with my 9 yo daughter, and my neighbor and his 8 yo son. We did Bierstadt in July. I also took the same crew up Handies last year - plus my 6 yo son. In both cases, my kids (9 yo and 6 yo) started crashing hard around 12,500 or 13,000 ft. Bierstadt is a longer hike than people give credit. In our case, this year on Bierstadt, we were getting pounded by 15-20 mph winds from 12,000 onward. And that took alot out of the kids.

For my daughter this year (also for both kids last year), I was able to carry them on my shoulders for much of the last 1000 ft. Probably not an option for you.

Having said that, I think that the real trick is doing something shorter the first day. Again, Bierstadt might be relatively easy, but it is definitely not easy. Especially if the wind is beating on you. My daughter and I did Sherman 2 days later from the upper TH, and she did it all by herself, and had a lot more fun. I think a big reason for this is because that is such a short route overall (5 mi RT). I'm sure that extra days at elevation helped also. But, I really think that if we had done something more like 5 miles on the first day, everyone would have been better off. Consider something like Evans from Summit Lake, and see how that works out.

[AyeYo]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Bear Peak in Boulder. That one felt like a class 2 14er climb, but without the altitude. I think it tops out around 8500ft. There's a supposed "class 3" short section near the summit, but there's nothing class 3 about it. Just some careful walking around large rocks with no meaningful exposure.

I'll also second Mt. Washington from Tuckerman's. This is class 2 with only one very exposed, but very short walk through section towards the top of the headwall. The RT length is only 8.5 miles, but you're climbing about 1,000ft per mile on the way up. Tuckerman's is also one of the most scenic areas in the Whites and North Conway is a cool town with good food and beer. Your good weather window is very short if you want summer climbing conditions (pretty much just July, maybe last couple weeks of June have more rain, August starts getting cold again). I've done Washington twice, in mid-July and mid-April (which was largely a snow climb via Lions Head winter route). The weather up there is unpredictable and often crappy. Forecasts more than 24 hours out almost always seem to fall apart. I like to head up there for 3-4 days with no set day to climb, check forecast every afternoon and head out whatever following morning the forecast looks good.

[Rollie Free]

As a previous poster suggested, don't give up on it.

Beings it was a first time experience it may simply be a psyche thing. I remember my first 14er, I had no idea of the effort it was going to take. I wasn't mentally ready for it. I thought it was just like a hike. Well, for an out of stater (I live at about 1,500) it was two things I didn't expect, the altitude and the effort it took to climb/hike for hours on end.
That all being said, I now know what to expect and have the mentality this is going to be arduous. In any endeavor mental preparation can make all the difference.

One foot in front of the other.

[scottaskinger]

Rather than just "resting," you could do other activities for the first day or so like renting a 4x4 and doing the Alpine Loop or anything else where you get up in altitude without much physical activity but can sleep closer to 8,000 feet at night.

+1 on this advice. Day 1 is always tough, even walking up stairs leaves me winded. However, you could drive to the top of Mt. Evans, hike the last bit and tool around up there. You can do a short hike like Mt. Spalding, or any other hike in the Front Range.

I feel that getting "acclimated" is not only a function of time but probably more importantly your fitness level coming in. Water is so important too...coming off of the plane, sleeping in a hotel and then hitting high elevations the next day leaves you very dehydrated. If I don't drink A LOT of water the day before, the morning of and all during my hike, I will start to feel sick at some point during my hike. Once you feel this way it is hard to feel better again because you don't feel like eating or drinking anything at that point. IMO, dehydration coupled with the physical activity causes flatlanders to feel sick just as much (or more) than the actual altitude.

[derekesq]

As others have stated CO is full of lower hikes - if you want to summit at lower elevations there are trails up Vail and Breckenridge ski mountains, and i believe both have cable/ski lift cars down if you wanted. alltrails.com is good for starting point info. page for the aspen area: http://www.alltrails.com/us/colorado/aspen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;