Best 13er Scrambles & Link-ups

[zootloopz]

Helllllllooooo everyone!

I'm currently researching ridges and link-ups between bicentennials and I was curious... does anyone have any favorite / recommended 13er combos or routes from the non-centennial 13ers?

I'm a big fan of class 4 / low 5th. Exposure is fun.
If it doesn't include scrambling, I'm still a big fan of tundra walks with flower potential and summit views.

These do not have to be bicentennials -- any ranked 13ers connecting to any other ranked 13ers would be great to learn more about. Especially less traveled ridgelines and wilderness areas.

[k_fergie]

Peters Traverse fits the bill. Remote wilderness, good flowers, scramble factor doesn't push into the 5th class realm, though. Super cool rocks are a great substitute. An excellent reason to go in to Rock Creek and you could also get bicentennial Oso (which I thought was a terrible talus fest and certainly wouldn't do again) while you're there. I wrote a short TR on it this fall. Supranihilest wrote a great one.

[cottonmountaineering]

trinity traverse was one of my favorites

[GregMiller]

Helen -> Father Dyer -> as far as you feel like going.

[Mtnman200]

Here are a few combos that I thought were fun; some include bicentennials and some are lower 13ers:

Deer Mtn. to Mt. Champion: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=20496
Hunts Peak to Bushnell Peak: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=21257
Virginia Peak to 13253: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=21199
James Peak to Colorado Mines Peak: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=21199
Grizzly Mtn. to Carbonate Mtn.: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=19905
Bent Peak to 13581: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=19711
V4 to US Grant to V2: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=18929
White Dome to Peak Three: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=18924
De Anza to Silver Peak: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=17527
Horn Peak-Fluted Peak-Little Horn Peak: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=17050
Peak 10 to Atlantic Peak: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=16652
Pear Peak to 13472: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=21858
Trinities Traverse: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=19048

[seano]

Peters Traverse fits the bill. Remote wilderness, good flowers, scramble factor doesn't push into the 5th class realm, though. Super cool rocks are a great substitute. An excellent reason to go in to Rock Creek and you could also get bicentennial Oso (which I thought was a terrible talus fest and certainly wouldn't do again) while you're there. I wrote a short TR on it this fall. Supranihilest wrote a great one.

Seconded. Also Storm King - Nine - Silex - Guardian, which you could do from the same basecamp.

[Jorts]

Here's some Goreganzola for you:

UP (Rockinghorse Ridge)
CDEFG (Ripsaw)
VW (Punchbuggy)
XYZZ'
LMNO
QRST

Northern Gore is more solid than southern me thinks. And west approaches are shorter than east. Oh, and no clue what's ranked and what is not... it's all pretty cool.

[Scott P]

No 13ers, but the best Ridge scramble I have done in CO is probably the Sawtooth Range Traverse.

[yaktoleft13]

-Billy traverse (Williams Group)
-west apostle to north (skip the standard route, take the lake ann trail to the pass, then run the ridge all the way to wear from there)
-thatchtop (12er) to Powell to McHenrys
-hassell to pettingell to citadel
-Trinities
-vermillion to golden horn to pilot knob
-Monitor to thirteen to animas

Watching this thread too, always love to see what other people recommend to get some ideas

[daway8]

Haven't actually done this one yet but an obscure one that got added to my to-do list after stumbling across it while researching possible winter 13ers in the Sangres is:

Little Horn - Fluted - Horn (3 ranked 13ers).

supranihilest has a TR about it here:
https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=20099

[supranihilest]

So this is still very much a work in progress, but try some of the 4- or 5-star routes I've got on my master 13er spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing. Date will dictate snow or dry conditions. Some are snow routes and scrambles.

[zootloopz]

Hi all,

Thank you all for your suggestions and feedback! There are some excellent options in here!

@k_fergie -- Peters Traverse looks excellent. Was planning to hit Oso in a day from Pine River via seano's suggestion in one of his trip reports, but might have to pack in so to get at some more peaks in there.

@Mtnman200 -- I very much appreciate the trip report links. Very much looking forward to the Island Lake peaks.

@Jorts -- Everything in the Gore is high on my list. Haven't been out there yet so I'm excited for a brand new range! Will probably start with Ripsaw.

@yaktoleft13 -- Billy Traverse wasn't even on my radar, but now it isssss

@daway8 -- I've seen this mentioned multiple times now so consider my interest piqued. Especially if I can combine this while I'm down that way with the Music Pass 13ers and/or Cottonwood to Electric.

@supranihilest -- Thank you especially for the detailed spreadsheet with reflective ratings. I will be aggregating the 3+ star routes and taking a closer look. Your trip report on hitting Silver & 13,681 is what inspired this thread.