An Idea (Fantasy) Forms...Opinions?

[JTOlson26]

As I sit and ponder when my next opportunity to head west to the Colorado Rocky Mountains will be, I nonchalantly peruse random trip reports which have been generated, seemingly, to entice and tease me. This seems to be an everyday, vicarious, adventure for me, but one that never gets old. With 6000+ trip reports made available by some of the most esteemed adventurers in this great country, one could, literally, never exhaust them all. As i continue to flip through reports from all over the state, i stumble upon an array of novel-like descriptions of an area which really makes me yearn to immediately transport myself 1400 miles west, amongst the wilderness and solitude of the Rockies. Slowly, an idea akin to fantasy (although a fantasy within my grasp, i think) begins to brew. I quickly begin to use the map functions Bill has so conveniently made available to attempt to reinforce my to far distant, and fledgling, plans for a great excursion. Ok, so it probably isn't that great by most people's standards, but with my limited time at this point in my life, it is the best i could come up with!

So, without running the risk of boring any of you to the extent of ignoring my request for information and opinions, here is what has materialized in my puny little thinker. There are eight peaks which i would like to link. I would like to link them in a loop, or at least a loop resembling something my 3 year old cousin would produce when trying to draw a circle. The eight peaks are as follows: Cosgriff, South Elbert, Elbert, French Mountain, Frasco BM, Casco Peak, Unnamed 13660 B, and "Lakawanna." Now that i look at it again, the shape these peaks seem to make in the google maps function from 13ers.com very closely resembles that of Australia, but i digress. Getting back to the topic at hand, has anyone ever done this "Australian loop" or something similar to it? It seems that there are a few different trailheads i could start from, but the goal would be to start from a point with as little rehashing of ground as possible. To those of you who have explored this area before, what kind of obstacles may prove the most difficult in attaining this goal? I hiked Elbert on a cold, rain filled, miserable day some 14 years ago, but have since not ventured in that area as the closest i have gotten, geographically, since then was Massive. So, what does everyone think? Feel free to provide any information as well as opinions! Thanks to all, and happy hiking, climbing, skiing, riding, adventuring, et al!

JT

[GreenHorn]

It seems reasonable to do this from Half Moon Creek TH or from Upper Lake Creek TH on Hwy 82 (although it would likely involve about 3 miles of road walking) by combining the route described below with a climb up the Elbert group using the Echo Canyon route (or Black Cloud) and descending the Northwest slope of Elbert.

http://www.summitpost.org/frenchcawanna ... cta/340111" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The major obstacle looks to be that it is a long day with a lot of time on the ridges, but it sounds like a lot of fun!

[JTOlson26]

It seems reasonable to do this from Half Moon Creek TH or from Upper Lake Creek TH on Hwy 82 (although it would likely involve about 3 miles of road walking) by combining the route described below with a climb up the Elbert group using the Echo Canyon route (or Black Cloud) and descending the Northwest slope of Elbert.

http://www.summitpost.org/frenchcawanna ... cta/340111" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The major obstacle looks to be that it is a long day with a lot of time on the ridges, but it sounds like a lot of fun!

That sounds pretty good. It wouldn't even necessarily have to be done in one day. It would be nice just to take it "easy" and soak everything in.

[Jim Davies]

Elbert-Bull Hill-Casco-Frasco-French form a natural loop starting at South Halfmoon Creek. Layne Bracy says that doing French to Bull Hill (link) was no worse than class 2, and likewise Bull Hill to Elbert is straightforward. Roach lists an alternative Elbert route that he calls the "north-northwest ridge", and might be a good choice for this loop, although his description starts at the normal Halfmoon TH. Starting further up the road might be possible, but crossing the creek could be tricky at some times of the year - there's a log at the South Halfmoon TH that looked pretty scary when I was there one June day, suspended four feet up over a rushing creek.

[JTOlson26]

Elbert-Bull Hill-Casco-Frasco-French form a natural loop starting at South Halfmoon Creek. Layne Bracy says that doing French to Bull Hill (link) was no worse than class 2, and likewise Bull Hill to Elbert is straightforward. Roach lists an alternative Elbert route that he calls the "north-northwest ridge", and might be a good choice for this loop, although his description starts at the normal Halfmoon TH. Starting further up the road might be possible, but crossing the creek could be tricky at some times of the year - there's a log at the South Halfmoon TH that looked pretty scary when I was there one June day, suspended four feet up over a rushing creek.

Thanks for the info. As of right now, the crux of the idea seems to be the best starting point. Ideally, i would like to add a one night camp out there so i guess that would factor into the equation. All the possibilities are encouraging though.