Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

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rijaca
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by rijaca »

MaxmimumMills4 wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:07 am I’m seeing a lot of recommendations for The Castle on here. Would you recommend rope? I consider myself a fairly good gym climber and have done some tough traverses like the Bells and the Crestone traverse but nothing roped in outdoors.
Roach and MP rate the SE gully on the Castle at 5.4.
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by -wren- »

with it being a little over a year since I started this thread and, 150-160 odd peaks later, only a few weeks since my 300th unique summit, I thought I would revisit my now quite different list, and maybe some new names will see it and throw up their own :-D

14er: dead tie between Capitol and Wetterhorn. least favorite is bross, I was a little disappointed it wasn’t demoted by LiDAR.

13er: I don’t technically have it anymore since the summit moved, but 13655 (now 13656, old spot elev. 13654) takes the cake even as my only unnamed one. Weird that it doesn’t have a name, with its long and joyous class 3 west ridge, charming profile, 6k+ vertical relief, and massive views. least favorite, Pennsylvania - topography matches the name.

12er: Anthracite Range HP, particularly running the whole ridge line with its 4 subpeaks. The West Elk laccolith cluster is incredibly unique and totally gorgeous, especially when the colors begin to turn!! No particular least favorite.

11er: Snodgrass Mountain right next to CB, for its excellent and very accessible backcountry skiing. Least favorite also snodgrass for everything other than its skiing.

10er: Still Thorodin for sure, least favorite (top 5 overall) is the viewless and indistinct Mount Judge.

9er: The Castle still sticks out very clearly in my mind and reminds me I’m a fool for still having not yet ventured past the border of the LCW, which splits its summit. Least is Antelope Benchmark, just a long up and down drive up a god awful road that I’m not entirely sure why I chose to endure…

8er: Green Mountain, but in particular its unranked 5th class subsummit and it’s south ridge. Awesome scramble, although dirty and adventurous to say the least. Least has gotta be 8098 and coffee pot hill. Obscure and pointless scrub oak torture.

7er: The First Flatiron, without question. the least can remain nameless but takes the spot for its “closed open space” accessible only to homeowners in the very wealthy neighborhood beneath it.

6er: Royal Arch in The Flatirons, least is the same exact case as for the 7er.
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by emgordon_II »

I don’t think anyone has said these yet, lucky me!

14er: Kit Carson, for the rock quality and views on north face (I fully expect Little Bear to replace it when I get there)
13er: Rowe, for the glacier view and remote setting
12er: Colorado Mines Peak (Go Orediggers!)

Leaving the state …

10er: Sandia Crest (NM)
9er: Cerro Pedernal (NM)
7er: Emory Peak (Big Bend)
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by Kiefer »

I've always been a sucker for Longs Peak and Thunder Pyramid.
But in general, we're all lucky to live in state like this with so many options! :)
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by Sbenfield »

14er-Pyramid (Eolus close second)
13er-Gladstone Pk (Gold Dust Pk close second)
12er-Mt Zirkel or Trappers Peak
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by bdloftin77 »

I’d add to my list “Pangborn’s Pinnacle” as an unranked 11er favorite. A bit of scrambling near the summit and good views.
https://listsofjohn.com/peak/214896

The Crags to compete with Mt Vigil as an unranked favorite 10er - lots of possible technical summit routes. Recently found the easiest route on the NW side (class 5.0, need to update trip report). Juts way up and has good views.
https://listsofjohn.com/peak/2479

And “Grey Rock” as an unranked favorite 6er. In Garden of the Gods, fun climb. Haven’t done Gate Rock or “South Gateway Rock” yet.
https://listsofjohn.com/mobile/peak/126081
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by KentonB »

Wow! Just saw this thread. I'll take a stab at it. Hard to pick just one... So here are some favorites (subject to change daily):

14'ers: Wetterhorn, Capitol, Crestone Peak, Mt. Wilson - EDIT: Oh! And North Maroon!

13'ers: Meeker, Adams, "Huerfanito"

12ers: East Spanish Peak, "McReynolds Peak"

11ers: "Pangborn's Pinnacle", Mount Rosa

10ers: The Crags, Mt. Vigil, "Montes View Rockpile"

9ers: Kineo Mountain, Point 9111, Dome Rock

8ers: Sheep Nose, Turkey Rock, Cap Rock, Erin's Tower, Raleigh Peak

7ers: Goat Mountain, JCMD 144 Benchmark, Bill Couch Mountain

6ers: "The Pinnacle", Gate Rock, "South Gateway Rock"

5ers: "Fourth Elephant Buttress", "Red Rocks"
Last edited by KentonB on Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by HikesInGeologicTime »

14er: San Luis Peak. Scenic, remote enough not to be claustrophobic, just enough checklist enthusiasts and/or Continental Divide Trail thru-hikers (depending on your route) to avoid feeling like you’re the last human being alive, well-maintained trail going up a nice, gradual slope.
Honorable mentions: All three of the fourteeners I’ve skied (Quandary, Grays, Bross) are unremarkable at best in dry season(s) but super fun when you can make turns down them. Grays especially has a sweet little slope just below its saddle with Torreys. Also a shout-out to Bierstadt, which I have yet to ski but which I find to be a reliable go-to when I want to get some time at altitude (as long as I avoid peak season/hours, that is).
Least favorite(s): Where to start...I do not enjoy scrambling, so just about every 14k’ peak I’ve climbed in the past 2-3 years could be on this list, tbh. But a special shout-out goes to Pyramid, which I wouldn’t have liked even if I hadn’t had a season- (and nearly life-) ending fall off it last summer; it’s steep, loose, and the routefinding is, uh, not intuitive. But since I fell on the way *up*, it’s got an asterisk by it, so for my least fave that I’ve successfully summited, that’d be Challenger, host to the deservedly infamous gully.
Honorable mention to Crapitol, which I would now dislike for different reasons (namely, Pyramid reset my exposure tolerance to zero), but as I was at the top of my game at the time, I just thought it was tedious. I found every section of it excessively long and feel like I kept saying, possibly out loud, “Are we there yet?!? How ‘bout now? Okay, now?!?”

13er: “Golden Bear.” Super easy access to some fun, season-long avy-maintained skiing when Loveland’s open and allowing access; still a pretty easy skin even after they close for the season.
Honorable mentions: GB is the only thirteener I’ve skied, but I do have a special affection for the short Class 1-2 peaks in the Front Range, especially those along the CDT: Flora, Eva, James, Wilcox (not CDT, I don’t think, though neighboring Argentine is)... the more “boring,” the better!
Least favorite: Teakettle had no redeeming qualities to it, imho. Honorable mention: Dallas, which at least had the Sneffels Highline Trail going for it.

12er: Lulu and Thunder Mountains on the west side of RMNP. Absolutely gorgeous section of the Park.
Honorable mention: Highland Peak, highpoint of Highland Bowl.
Least favorite: Haven’t done much scrambling below 13k’ that I can recall off the top of my head, so I think I can stop adding this category. :lol:

11er: Pretty sure this isn’t so much a peak or even a point as a pile of rocks that happens to be above 11k’, but I have a lot of fond memories of “exploring” the area around the partially-collapsed Needles Eye Tunnel by Rollins Pass with my dad when I was a kid.

...

7er: Grand Canyon South Rim. Breathtaking views, of course, but also my ego really enjoyed being the pacesetter for everyone hiking back up from the canyon bottom the day I did it.

6er: Castlewood Canyon East Rim. Neat little loop with the Creek Bottom Trail if you only have a couple hours to devote to a hike.

5er: The Capitol. The building with the specially-marked step, ofc.

...

2er: Great Allegheny Passage high point at the Eastern Continental Divide. Only sort of Continental Divide I’m likely to be able to bike both ways.

0er: The 827’ high point of the Torrey C. Brown, formerly known as the Northern Central Railroad Trail, formerly-formerly known as just the Northern Central Railroad. Another gem of a bike trail, especially for those of us who kinda suck at biking.
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by daway8 »

Ok, I'll play but since I haven't paid much attention to anything under 13k my list will be short...

14ers: Northeast Crestone (ok, so technically it's a sub-summit - part of the list of 73 - but at 14,251ft it's higher than some 14ers and with either class 4 (and more than just a couple moves!) or class 5, depending on how you approach, it's a lot more fun than the regular, standard 14er routes)

13ers: The Citadel - totally loved that class 5 chimney coming over from Pettingell plus other good scrambling around the peak!

Points below that: Rocky Mountain National Park - tons of great hikes at all sorts of elevations there (along with Longs and a bunch of 13ers...)
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Re: Your favorite __er in CO (14er, 13er, etc.)

Post by mijoflynn »

14ers: Longs, Castle. Holy Cross via the Halo Route was my fav for awhile (and was simultaneously my least favorite while going over Halfmoon Pass at the end of a twelve-hour day).

13er: Belleview, no contest. Fun ridge, and my favorite views ever (and only 100 summitters listed here, so criminally underappreciated!). The suckfest that is North Apostle just took over my least favorite 13er, btw. I’d rather roll a peanut up Peerless every day for a year than climb that thing again.

12er: Bison, in the Lost Creek Wilderness. Hike up is meh, but I could roam that summit plateau all day.

11er: Twin Sisters West, for the view of Longs.
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