Tenmile traverse

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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James Dziezynski
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by James Dziezynski »

Might I suggest saving it until September or October? I've done the full range twice, both times when colors were in full bloom and weather was less a concern. Scouting out a good parking area at Breckenridge is a good idea too (you could be tacking miles of road walking on to an already long day).

Or stash a bike :)
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KudzuKard
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by KudzuKard »

Saw this posting and was wondering about the Tenmile Traverse from Frisco - Peaks 1 thru 10. My biggest question is camping. I have no issue on the camping in or around Frisco/Dillon, but was more curious about camping along the ridge there, near the flatter tundra parts especially in the saddle between 9 and 10. Is this allowed?
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jomagam
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by jomagam »

Most people doing the traverse tackle it in one day. AFAIK it's national forest land, so the usual rules apply, but there's no water up there (unless there's snow to melt). I would not want to lug up camping gear and extra water.
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justiner
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by justiner »

Yeah - planning to camp is probably a not so good idea. If you start on Peak 1, you can then figure out bailout points after Peak 4-ish. You'll run into the CO Trail, which will take you pretty easily down back to town in the East, or to Copper in the West - but at least to treeline. After that, you can probably just nimbly go down into the ski area. You may want to even see if the gondola is operating!

This is probably a route you wanna go fairly light and fast on. Getting caught in a storm on the ridge would be no bueno. All that camping gear would slow you down, and be awkward with the traverse from Peak 1 - 4. Def. try to get to Peak 4 well before noon and then just watch the weather.
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KudzuKard
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by KudzuKard »

Appreciate the input. Was curious, but my friend thinks it may be too much for his wife, so we are looking at doing the entire thing and as you said opting out after 4 if we need to OR hiking up to the saddle between 4 and 5 (saw something about that) and then heading to 10 that way. Of course we may also just do the easy paths (lines where the lifts cut through) and tackle 8, 9, 10. These are basically to prep us for doing our first 14er and would not be attempted until we acclimate a bit. Thanks again.
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Bean
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by Bean »

KudzuKard wrote:These are basically to prep us for doing our first 14er and would not be attempted until we acclimate a bit.
Everything you're proposing is harder than an appropriate "first 14er" would be. 14ers are largely trade routes, while 1-4, or 4/5-10, or 8,9,10, or particularly 1-10 are very much non-trivial.
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justiner
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by justiner »

IMHO, the tenmile traverse is much harder than doing, say, Quandary, which is only 9 miles away.

A good acclimation hike - if you are worried about actual elevation, would be just simply: Peak 1. Nice good grunt up to start, and then you've got a lot of little sub peaks to mark progress on. Tops out at 12 thousand, something-or-other.

The last push after the "saddle" is slightly technical and the views at the top are pretty sweet. I'd say the going is harder than Quandary: the start is steeper, the middle is more exposed, and the end is more technical.

The other option you're thinking of: starting out on the CO Trail and up to the ridge, and then going South would be pretty nice. If you're running out of time, you could just do the entire traverse over the range, east to west and take the bus from Copper, back to Frisco-ish. There's a bus stop just a few hundred feet from each of those trail portals, and the bus is free.

The accessibility to these peaks is pretty incredible, especially when it comes to bailout options that don't leave you stranded.

Good luck!
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AndyJB444
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by AndyJB444 »

I did the traverse once where I had my g/f drop me off at the Frisco trailhead, while she drove to Breck and hiked/ran up 4'oclock trail to the top of pk 8 where we met up again. We then knocked off 8/9/10 together and dropped back down to beers and the car in Breck.

No waiting for busses or anything, and everyone got to get their workout and views in their own way. Just a thought...
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KudzuKard
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by KudzuKard »

Well we have decided since not everyone in the group wants to deal with the technical aspects of traversing Peak 1 to Peak 4, we may do the Miner's Trail (I think that is what it is called) instead where it crosses between 5 and 6 with a much more gradual ascent. If we are doing well then, we may opt to add Peaks 7, 8, 9, and 10. Yes, Quandary is going to be our first 14er to summit. I don't have acclimation issues but my party may. Guess we'll see come summer...
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davebobk47
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Re: Tenmile traverse

Post by davebobk47 »

FYI, it is possible to bail from the saddle between Peaks 3 and 4. This past summer an early storm rolled in and we had to bail from there. It wasn't pleasant but it was only Class 2, steep at first then some boulder hopping. Hit the Miners Creek trail back to Frisco.
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