Good 13er in Front Range

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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blaze96
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Good 13er in Front Range

Post by blaze96 »

I am coming to CO with the goal of hiking a 14er on Sat, Oct 4th. You can see my post about this potential trip at http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15079" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. On Friday, I would like to hike a relatively easy 12er or 13er that would be about 4-5 miles to help with acclimatization. I am going to be renting a house by St. Mary's Glacier and I don't know much about James Peak or other routes in the area. Your opinions would be welcomed.
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USAKeller
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by USAKeller »

You should check out Mt. Sniktau (13,234') from Loveland Pass. It's a short, easy hike that will get you above treeline for a few hours. I think it's around 4 miles and 1,700ft. of elevation gain.
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KeithK
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by KeithK »

USAKeller wrote:You should check out Mt. Sniktau (13,234') from Loveland Pass. It's a short, easy hike that will get you above treeline for a few hours. I think it's around 4 miles and 1,700ft. of elevation gain.
Agreed. Check out Summitpost.org for the James Peak route, as well as Sniktau, Flora or other accessible 13ers around the area.
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rijaca
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by rijaca »

James, Parry, Bancroft, and Eva are all close to St Marys glacier, probably a little longer than 4-5 miles but easy hikes nonetheless. Colorado Mines and Flora are off Berthoud Pass (less than 30-45 min away) or you could go the other direction off the pass towards Stanley Peak. Sniktau and Grizzly are off Loveland Pass. The Herman Gulch TH (exit 218 on I70) provides access to Pettingill, Woods, Parnassus, and Bard. Dry Gulch (next drainage to west) gives access to Hagar and the Citadel. Considering the time you plan on being out here (early Oct), the trails may have snow on them (didn't last year, did the year before). All the THs for these are paved roads or passenger car friendly.
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Layne Bracy
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by Layne Bracy »

All the suggestions above are good. Let me give a plug for low 13er Boreas Mountain, accessed from Breckenridge. It's about 3 miles RT from Boreas pass, which is well above 11000'. Also, with any luck, you may get some wonderful aspen views along the drive to the pass.

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock ... ntain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Jim Davies
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by Jim Davies »

If you do Boreas, look for a trail paralleling the ditch that leads off to the left from the station house area. It leads to the Boreas/Bald saddle with less willow-whacking and talus hopping than going straight to the ridge.
Berthoud or Loveland passes are closer to where you'll be staying, though, unless you want to visit Breckenridge.
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elkheart22
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by elkheart22 »

I have done Boreas several times just for this purpose, short hike just
to get the legs warmed up. Plus there is a herd of Mt. Goats that you can
occasionally see up there.
Personally, I like going straight up to the ridge, but just a personal preference.
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leavit2stevit
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by leavit2stevit »

I have hiked Mt. Audubon (13,223') last year and South Arapaho Peak (13,397') this past Saturday. Both are in the Indian Peaks Wilderness of Boulder County, and the former is a bit easier than the latter, which has more elevation gain. Both have excellent views from the top.

Believe it or not, I saw one guy going up the last 700' of S. Arapaho Peak barefoot, while his hiking companion had either flip-flops or sandals. :shock:
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gurlyclimber
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by gurlyclimber »

HA! They must have been Ned heads from Nederland :lol:
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by leavit2stevit »

gurlyclimber wrote:HA! They must have been Ned heads from Nederland :lol:
Well, they did kind of look like hippies. :)
Westerngal
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by Westerngal »

USAKeller wrote:You should check out Mt. Sniktau (13,234') from Loveland Pass. It's a short, easy hike that will get you above treeline for a few hours. I think it's around 4 miles and 1,700ft. of elevation gain.
My vote is also Mt Sniktau!! :)
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GBH64
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Re: Good 13er in Front Range

Post by GBH64 »

Mt Sniktau worked for me as a warmup in August. High enough to acclimate, without being too stressful. And there was no one else up there. I did Evans and Bierstadt on subsequent days, my first 14ers. I thought that was OK for a 65-year-old from Minnesota.
-Ben
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