Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

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greenonion
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by greenonion »

jibler wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:55 am OK well the trip is booked - but my plan to visit sort of random mtn towns like Redstone or Marble or Creede went out the window.

My mom really wanted to finally get out to Telluride -which no one in my family that has lived here my whole life has done - inc. me - so I couldn't blame her.


But now - the new plan will likely be that they check out the town of Telluride while I get out that one day and bang out some kind of mtn hike.

And as I've never been - thoughts on what is a good simple safe hike for someone to do solo - would be very welcome.


in fact - I am going to have an A, B, C and D plan likely just so that if weather does pick up I have fallbacks.


Some of these peaks don't sound so great for me. Dallas looks like a great position! but I ain't climbing stuff that you'd want a rope for.


But dang it if I don't want to get up as high as possible to see as much of San Juans from that area as possible.


ideas welcome!
You will all love Telluride. One of the top best mountain towns in CO if you ask me. Third class Wilson Peak is soloable if you are ok with third class, some exposure, and loose rock. Be sure to have a helmet. Sneffels can be accessed from Telluride over imogene pass with good clearance vehicle or by going around the Dallas Divide to Ouray and then up to yankee boy basin. Recommend scanning the Sneffels V Notch thread on here. Certainly doable but don’t mess up at V on one side of the entrance or you will pay dearly. Mt Wilson from Kilpacker Basin is not bad at all other than a long day hike. That route avoids the standard route crux. Sorry if I’m going over things you already know. Didn’t take time to review details or your 14er list. I don’t know 13ers well so can’t suggest much there. Enjoy Telluride! Gorgeous and great vibe!
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by Bombay2Boulder »

Lots of good options here. Some other ones if you wanna hike from town proper are La Junta-Wasatch-Jackass trio. Trico and T10 can be done from black bear pass if you are hiking in from Telluride side. You can park at the falls and then hike the road to the pass. T10 is a bit of a chossfest BTW. Oscar's Peak is an unranked 13er that is really mellow and can be accessed from multiple sides. You can also access Bridal Peak from Telluride, there is a user's trail at the pass into Bridal basin.
If you want to drive/hike up Imogene pass, you can do Telluride Peak-T7-T8.
Mendota and T5 on the hardrock trail is another one.
If you don't have the time for peaks, just take the gondola and follow see forever trail to top of chair 14 and then take wasatch connector trail into Wasatch basin. IMO one of the prettiest basins in Colorado, you can take Bear Creek trail back down into town to make a loop.
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by Cygnus X1 »

If you'd like to tag a 14er while you are in the area I'd recommend heading for Kilpacker Basin. Mt Wilson's SW slopes route is relatively easy at 12.5 mi, 4400', and barely class 3. And if you'd like, you can spice to taste by adding El D with or without the traverse.
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by jibler »

Yes I should have said outright


weather permitting- the #1 / A option already would seem to be getting up at Wilson Peak. So long as the road accessing it isn't too rough.


but I'm talking mid-june here - seems like it could be a real crap shoot weather-wise.



I'm not a morning guy and would rather run for my life from a thunderstorm in the afternoon than wake up at 5am for a hike!

and I usually plan my outdoors stuff to happen when I want - i.e. when the weather is ideal.


different now being boxed into a given date and just hoping for the best.
Keep looking up - Jack Horkheimer
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Cereal
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by Cereal »

Others on here have had some great suggestions. I don't know if this fits your bill, but the Via Ferrata in Telluride was great, and only took 2 or 3 hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grCCsvdbR0w

Your parents will enjoy Telluride! Good luck!
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by colluvium »

Bombay2Boulder wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 12:41 pm Lots of good options here. Some other ones if you wanna hike from town proper are La Junta-Wasatch-Jackass trio. Trico and T10 can be done from black bear pass if you are hiking in from Telluride side. You can park at the falls and then hike the road to the pass. T10 is a bit of a chossfest BTW. Oscar's Peak is an unranked 13er that is really mellow and can be accessed from multiple sides. You can also access Bridal Peak from Telluride, there is a user's trail at the pass into Bridal basin.
If you want to drive/hike up Imogene pass, you can do Telluride Peak-T7-T8.
Mendota and T5 on the hardrock trail is another one.
If you don't have the time for peaks, just take the gondola and follow see forever trail to top of chair 14 and then take wasatch connector trail into Wasatch basin. IMO one of the prettiest basins in Colorado, you can take Bear Creek trail back down into town to make a loop.
Like others have said, many many good options in the Telluride area, including these. I'll just add that of the peaks accessible from town, the best views of the range are probably from La Junta peak. It's a good haul from town with a short annoying section through willows near treeline, but the La Junta and upper basins are spectacular.
Another option if you can get a lift toward Bridal Veil falls is "noname"=UN 13510, the peak that anchors the view to the east from Colorado Ave. It's an easy scramble up the s. ridge from just below Black Bear Pass.
The Telluride Mountain club keeps a good trail map on their website.
Hope you and yours enjoy the visit!
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by jibler »

so are those roads east of town usually busy with 4x4 vehicles all the time in the summer??
Keep looking up - Jack Horkheimer
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Re: Plotting an Easy 2-3 night road trip around SW colorado with older parents?

Post by Bombay2Boulder »

jibler wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:30 pm so are those roads east of town usually busy with 4x4 vehicles all the time in the summer??
None of these roads will be open by mid June. Maybe Imogene to Tomboy, but I doubt they partially open that road. And yeah, they get fairly busy in summer.
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