Most Loved 14er

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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blazintoes
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by blazintoes »

I’ll never forget her saying….”wheeeeeeee!”

So dang cute
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greenonion
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by greenonion »

blazintoes wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 8:34 am I love Pikes. It is a gentle giant and stands proudly in the sky. I see it every morning from my living room window. It’s a known quantity and an awesome training peak. It’s a perfect marathon and a good performance gauge.

Pikes was one of my first snowflakes and my first winter camping ground. There’s fun scrambling on Rumdoodle and Little Pikes. I helped rebolt Bigger Bagger, scaled up the Y col, MTB’d up Barr, raced up the road, biked up with my niece in tow, bike packed from home, camped at Crags and hiked the next day with the AdAmAn group. The Incline of course, biked Ring the Peak (a superb PP circumference ride), and finally it was the first peak I soloed in a very long day post accident that was a huge milestone.

Also it’s the only place in Colorado that I’ve ever seen Dwarf columbines! They are delicately beautiful!
I was harsh on Pikes earlier, but that summit 🙄. I appreciate blazintoes perspective on the bigger picture. Great mountain overall
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blazintoes
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by blazintoes »

[quote=greenonion post_id=757753 time=1638843074 user_id=33735]
[quote=blazintoes post_id=757677 time=1638804846 user_id=32831]
I love Pikes. It is a gentle giant and stands proudly in the sky. I see it every morning from my living room window. It’s a known quantity and an awesome training peak. It’s a perfect marathon and a good performance gauge.

Pikes was one of my first snowflakes and my first winter camping ground. There’s fun scrambling on Rumdoodle and Little Pikes. I helped rebolt Bigger Bagger, scaled up the Y col, MTB’d up Barr, raced up the road, biked up with my niece in tow, bike packed from home, camped at Crags and hiked the next day with the AdAmAn group. The Incline of course, biked Ring the Peak (a superb PP circumference ride), and finally it was the first peak I soloed in a very long day post accident that was a huge milestone.

Also it’s the only place in Colorado that I’ve ever seen Dwarf columbines! They are delicately beautiful!
[/quote]

I was harsh on Pikes earlier, but that summit 🙄. I appreciate blazintoes perspective on the bigger picture. Great mountain overall
[/quote]

Also the views from the top of The Crags have got to be the place where you can see the most mountains in Colorado. I wonder what RyGuy thinks?
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summit2sea
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by summit2sea »

Humbolt: You never forget your first. Also I was fortunate enough to do it before they closed the road, so I have a lot shorter and less painful assent than most.

Uncompahgre: I don't know, I just loved this mountain.
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randalmartin
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by randalmartin »

Best summit views - Uncompahgre

Best Class 3 - Crestone Needle. Broken Hand Pass sucks but the rock quality after is second to none.

Best Easy 14er - Huron. Beautiful views of the Apostles on the way up. Lovely high basin area before the final summit push.

Most overall physically difficult - Tie between Longs Peak and Snowmass. I did Longs Peak using the loft up, keyhole down route. Snowmass done in Spring in a heavy snow year so this takes into account the long approach with a loaded backpack carrying snowshoes, crampons, camping gear etc..

Best overall 14er - Capitol Peak. It has everything and was probably my best day physically in the mountains. Camp at capitol lake is sublime.
Last edited by randalmartin on Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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HikesInGeologicTime
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by HikesInGeologicTime »

San Luis! Great trail, gentle grade, spectacular San Juan scenery, and I only remember encountering four or five other people all day. I'd love to repeat that one at some point.

Also wanted to give a shout-out to Bierstadt. It was my first ever high-altitude peak, my first winter fourteener, and my first five-digit-elevation peak after my fall off Pyramid this past July. It may not be the most exciting, scenic, or remote mountain (though my last four summits were a decent ways outside of peak season, which helps considerably), but it is reliable. :-D
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-wren-
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by -wren- »

The North Buttress on Crestone Peak was the best day of my life. Ludicrously good rock, very extreme exposure, super fun 5.0 headwall and 5.3 traverse at the end. All very hard to protect, so a solo is the way to go since there’s not too much 5th class anyway. Plus Northeast Crestone is arguably as cool of a perch as Crestone itself, and you pass over it on the way. Although with everyone on Crestone’s summit being able to see you on the crux, it can be a little annoying feeling eyes on you while you’re trying to concentrate on the moves, haha!
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aholle88
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by aholle88 »

I’m with Blazintoes, Pikes is hands down my favorite. Rock, snow, ice, mountain bike, road bike, car, train, run/hike. It has everything. You can do 8k vert in 9 miles one way, no other route like that anywhere in the state. The snow climbs and ski descents are as good as they come when the snow is good (a rare thing but there is a few days every year). 7k descent on a mountain bike entirely on sweet single track! The summit house is pretty cool for tourists and family when they come to town. Pikes is the best.

Yeah, it’s not all that inspiring when you summit and see all the people and the summit house, but if your purpose of climbing/hiking is based on the quality of the summit, you are doing it for all the wrong reasons.
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two lunches
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Re: Most Loved 14er

Post by two lunches »

aholle88 wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:00 pm Yeah, it’s not all that inspiring when you summit and see all the people and the summit house, but if your purpose of climbing/hiking is based on the quality of the summit, you are doing it for all the wrong reasons.
if you can't understand that perceived value and enjoyment are subjective, you are arrogant at best and a jerk at worst.
“To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” – Mary Davis
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