Summer Trip

[Adventureswithroobs]

Hey y’all. Me and my pup are planning a trip to Colorado this summer to try to tag some 14ers. We will hopefully be there for two weeks at the end of June and beginning of July. Hoping to get about 14 summits in while there. I’ve been looking at some maps and trying to figure out the logistics. I tried to search the forum but was struggling to weed through everything to find similar posts. If anyone has any recommendations or has done anything like this before I would love to hear it. Don’t mind snow on the trail and willing to spend some longer days on the trail. Thanks for the help.

[Eli Boardman]

Hey y’all. Me and my pup are planning a trip to Colorado this summer to try to tag some 14ers. We will hopefully be there for two weeks at the end of June and beginning of July. Hoping to get about 14 summits in while there. I’ve been looking at some maps and trying to figure out the logistics. I tried to search the forum but was struggling to weed through everything to find similar posts. If anyone has any recommendations or has done anything like this before I would love to hear it. Don’t mind snow on the trail and willing to spend some longer days on the trail. Thanks for the help.

It sounds like you're wanting to maximize the number of 14ers you can get in 2 weeks. Nothing wrong with that--some people would suggest taking it slower and visiting a wider variety of ranges or things like that, but there's nothing wrong with just getting a whole bunch of peaks that are close together, either.

With this in mind, your best bet for maximizing peaks per day would be to base out of somewhere near Buena Vista or Breckenridge (Leadville or Salida would be fine too), and do some of the following hikes:

Quandary (good warmup)
Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross (4 in a day)
Sherman (could be done on the same day as Quandary with a drive between the trailheads if you have good weather)
Shavano, Tabeguache (2 in a day)
Columbia, Harvard (2 in a long day)
Elbert (why not get the highest?)
Grays, Torreys (2 in a day)
Bierstadt, Evans (probably from Guanella Pass; a long day unless you scramble the Sawtooth)

That gives you 15 fourteeners in 8 days, maybe less if you manage to combine Sherman and Quandary, or 9 days if you do Bierstadt/Evans separately. That leaves plenty of time for rest days, weather days, turning around, etc. Alternatively, climb fewer peaks, but see more beautiful places: go to the San Juans and do Handies, Redcloud/Sunshine; go to the Elks and do Castle/Conundrum; etc.

Have fun!

[HikerGuy]

Need more info. What kind of vehicle will you be driving? Are you looking at setting up some basecamps or will you car camp at trailheads? Is the number of summits a high priority or is quality of hikes more important?

[peter303]

2019 was an unusual extreme snow year when you would have been postholing snow snow on most 14ers all of July.You also may have been scrambling over 100,000 downed tree avalanches. Several standard 14er access roads would have been blocked to vehicles by downed trees and avalanches.

2019 conditions only happen once a decade. We usually dont know if 2020 will be another such year until May snowfall levels. Be flexible about travel plans.

[ECF55]

I second Peter. Weather plays a huge role and you won’t really know until May. Last year was nuts and the San Juans were still near winter conditions in early July. 4x4 roads were also just opening and high basins were still loaded with snow. Other ranges tend to melt out sooner (Souther Sawatch, Sangres, Pikes Peak). You are just going to have to be flexible.

[SuperiorTrailHiker]

You could do worse than posting up in or near Leadville. Whole lotta tall Sawatchy stuff all over the place.

My go-to base camp spot for the past couple of years (coming from out of state and wanting quick access to a variety of fun places) is the Ridge Loop at White Star Campground in Twin Lakes. I'm only out for a week or so, don't know if you'd want to camp out for two, but it's a lovely spot right in the middle of a bunch of cool hikes, for very little cost.

A few minutes outside of Leadville, and you can walk to the little store and the restaurant/bar in Twin Lakes, so everything you need is available near by.

I'm not as aggressive as you on the scheduling, alternating hike days and hang-out days, so I usually only hike two or three in a week, but it would be easy to do more from that spot.

[SuperiorTrailHiker]

Addition to the above - I defer to the locals on how early summer would affect what you want to do. I am a late July-August guy, so I'm used to dried-out conditions and generally helpful weather in that Twin Lakes base-camp spot.

[huffy13]

Hey y’all. Me and my pup are planning a trip to Colorado this summer to try to tag some 14ers. We will hopefully be there for two weeks at the end of June and beginning of July. Hoping to get about 14 summits in while there. I’ve been looking at some maps and trying to figure out the logistics. I tried to search the forum but was struggling to weed through everything to find similar posts. If anyone has any recommendations or has done anything like this before I would love to hear it. Don’t mind snow on the trail and willing to spend some longer days on the trail. Thanks for the help.

Sounds like fun. If I were planning a trip like yours I would definitely look at making a town like Buena Vista or Salida a base camp. There's a lot of 14er hikes that are less than a two hour drive from there, namely, most of the Sawatch Peaks, The Decalibron loop, heck, even the TH for the Grays/Torrey's combo is right at 2 hours from Buena Vista. Being late June there may still be some snow issues on peaks to the north, but for the most part I've never had troubles in the Sawatch in late June. But if 14 summits is your goal over two weeks, the Sawatch is going to be your best bet.

[Adventureswithroobs]

Need more info. What kind of vehicle will you be driving? Are you looking at setting up some basecamps or will you car camp at trailheads? Is the number of summits a high priority or is quality of hikes more important?

Thanks for the response. I drive an Acura MDX. It's gotten me to some remote places in the PNW but it's not lifted or anything. I guess a combination of both, honestly. I've been to Colorado a few times but have never had the chance to tag some 14ers since I've always been with others. With it being just my pup and I, it gives us a lot more flexibility. I don't mind long days in the mountains. Willing to camp anywhere or to car camp as well.

[Adventureswithroobs]

2019 was an unusual extreme snow year when you would have been postholing snow snow on most 14ers all of July.You also may have been scrambling over 100,000 downed tree avalanches. Several standard 14er access roads would have been blocked to vehicles by downed trees and avalanches.

2019 conditions only happen once a decade. We usually dont know if 2020 will be another such year until May snowfall levels. Be flexible about travel plans.

Unfortunately my travel dates are set. I'm in school and those two weeks are my summer break. I will keep a close eye on the weather though. Thanks for the heads up.

[Adventureswithroobs]

You could do worse than posting up in or near Leadville. Whole lotta tall Sawatchy stuff all over the place.

My go-to base camp spot for the past couple of years (coming from out of state and wanting quick access to a variety of fun places) is the Ridge Loop at White Star Campground in Twin Lakes. I'm only out for a week or so, don't know if you'd want to camp out for two, but it's a lovely spot right in the middle of a bunch of cool hikes, for very little cost.

A few minutes outside of Leadville, and you can walk to the little store and the restaurant/bar in Twin Lakes, so everything you need is available near by.

I'm not as aggressive as you on the scheduling, alternating hike days and hang-out days, so I usually only hike two or three in a week, but it would be easy to do more from that spot.

Thanks for the tip on the base camp. I'll definitely check that out. My dog makes me aggressive. She's a crazy, energetic Aussie who never stops. Plus, if I'm going to drive that far I want to make it worth it.

[Adventureswithroobs]

TH access really wasn’t an issue but out of 27+ 14ers hiked last year, I can only remember a handful where I didn’t encounter snow at one point. Mt. Democrat July 23rd of last year for reference. Yes that’s a man wearing a kilt playing the accordion about an hour before a hailstorm hit, luckily I did the loop in reverse.

Love this. Would actually prefer for there to be snow. We love it. Thanks!