Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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aholle88
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by aholle88 »

Bull Hill is neat, cool mining stuff.

Galena is a relatively easy day and starts at timberline lake trailhead.

Windsor lake is nice, a bit steep and watch for the creek crossing so you don’t end up on hagerman tunnel trail (or just do both)

Hope pass/Hope or Quail

Lost man lake off Indy pass is nice and you can add Geissler and Linkins lake, get 3 lakes and a peak on a short hike

Twining is a short outing off Indy pass

Huron is one of the easiest 14ers with great views

Atlantic west ridge/mayflower gulch area

Those are all relatively popular destinations (aside from Bull and Galena) and not too difficult hikes.
SuperiorTrailHiker
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by SuperiorTrailHiker »

Great stuff, folks, and I appreciate the time you took to relay them. I would not have rounded up 80% of this information by clicking around, so thanks again.

Let me ask this - the couple of us who've done several 14ers before were looking at the DeCaLiBron as a sorta must-do, but there more I look and read, is it kind of just a slog?

We're not really concerned with "bagging" X number of peaks of a certain height - more so concerned with having good, fun days out, with the type of scenery we don't have at home.

For context, again, to us Longs was really fun. LaPlata was really fun. A couple others were fun, but not as fun as Longs and LaPlata. Elbert by the standard route was a boring slog, but still not mad that we did it. Despite having 4 peaks, the DeCaLiBron kinda looks Elberty from this vantage point. Wrong?

One of the days is going to be for the 14er guys, and we're not super worried about some exertion. We want to be heads-up and not get silly, but ease isn't our primary concern for that day. Huron looks great as an option for one of the days with the rest of the group - would Mt. Hope be a good day for people who hike a lot and have been comfortable on 14ers so far? That picture is a big lure to go have a look around there.
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two lunches
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by two lunches »

SuperiorTrailHiker wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:18 pm Let me ask this - the couple of us who've done several 14ers before were looking at the DeCaLiBron as a sorta must-do, but there more I look and read, is it kind of just a slog?
the basin is very beautiful, but the hike is not especially interesting after Democrat. if you enjoyed the challenge of either Elbert or La Plata, i'd say this group is substantially easier- i wouldn't call it a "slog" but i wouldn't rank it in my "top 100 colorado hikes" either.

probably an unpopular opinion, but i liked where you were going with either Harvard or Columbia. the traverse might be a tall order for your group, but either one is stunningly beautiful and much more eventful than the 4-pack
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mtree
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by mtree »

Decalibron isn't exactly a slog. Its pretty easy. Scenery is so-so. Kite Lake is gorgeous!

Huron or Missouri are good choices nearby. Harvard is along the effort of La Plata... maybe even a bit more. Its a real pretty area especially if you venture off trail down to the lakes and such. And as mentioned, most 13ers are usually great due to lack of crowds and interesting scenery. I don't think you can go wrong with all the options presented.
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Above_Treeline
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by Above_Treeline »

SuperiorTrailHiker wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 2:09 pm Howdy - coming back for my third trip into the Leadville area in a couple weeks. We're camping for a week at Twin Lakes.

We've done Mts. Elbert, Massive and LaPlata in the area. (For context, we thought LaPlata was fun and really beautiful; Massive was kinda fun and beautiful, and Elbert wasn't fun but sorta required to do).

I'm doing plenty of reading and trip report checking as well, but I figure it never hurts to ask this crowd:

So much in that area. Yale and Denny Creek TH . Browns pass. Kroenke lake, hartenstein lake . We kinda trucked off from cottonwood pass to some lakes to the south. Can also go the other direction. East Ridge up Yale is really cool. CT and CDT in the area if you just interested in hiking

Huron is great there's a lake and the apostles in the area up the valley. Virginia on the other side of the valley.

Sherman is right there from Leadville.
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by SuperiorTrailHiker »

14ers.com never lets you down - sincere thanks for all the great information, everyone.

Generally when I visit CO, it's with one or two other guys who want to do exactly what I want to do - this time around, I was a bit concerned with figuring out ways for it to be a good time for everybody. With the options and info here, that will be no sweat.

I especially appreciate the comparison info, measuring stuff we might want to do against things we've already done.
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by ltlFish99 »

+1 on the Huron recommendation. it is a wonderful hike, and the views from the summit are great.
mtngoatwithstyle
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Re: Favorite Leadville Area Hikes?

Post by mtngoatwithstyle »

Hope Pass,Little Willis Gulch.Beautiful views and great hike.
Big Willis Gulch too,TH is by Twin Lakes.
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