First 14er with kids

[Bombay2Boulder]

Since you are going to be anyways near Gunnison might want to hit the San Juans! Handies is relatively closer to Black Canyon than the front range options. Besides it is stunningly beautiful in summer in the San Juans, lots of family activities options near Gunnison. Some good off roading options since you will be renting a Jeep. After spending my whole summer there last season I am a bit biased towards the San Juans.

[spiderman]

Exciting to bring kids out here. It was real eye-opening for my son when he was 8 and did a big vacation from Connecticut. We did Elbert and had a blast. It got him further addicted to highpointing, along with 14ers. Check out his picture on my avatar. He became a beast of a mountaineer by the time he turned 13, kicking my ass in the Canadian Rockies.

There are definitely better/more beautiful peaks in the state but getting the highest is something special IMHO. So many other good suggestions have been mentioned. Uncompahgre might be exquisite if we have a moderate or low snow year. Having a jeep makes it into a short hike. Huron is a wonderful introductory trip that is all on trail. The sadistic parent in me wants to recommend climbing Longs so that they can hike until they puke with exhaustion, but I am sure that I will get flamed here on 14ers for such a suggestion .

Good safety suggestions on the sun and weather have been made. We commonly have afternoon thunderstorms so don't have lunch at the peak. Get to a more sheltered are preferably by 2pm (or earlier of the weather is turning). Most importantly, snow and ice are huge dangers in June and July. Get some good/fresh beta before your trip. If you ever get more serious about mountaineering, teach your kids how to be safe (microspikes, ice axes, self arresting). Last year had too many fatal or near-fatal falls on moderately steep snowfields.

[AlexeyD]

Since you are going to be anyways near Gunnison might want to hit the San Juans! Handies is relatively closer to Black Canyon than the front range options. Besides it is stunningly beautiful in summer in the San Juans, lots of family activities options near Gunnison. Some good off roading options since you will be renting a Jeep. After spending my whole summer there last season I am a bit biased towards the San Juans.

The San Juans are wonderful! That said, one very general note of caution is that this particular year, the San Juans are probably more likely to still have a LOT of snow in late June than the other ranges, because of this year's strong El Nino weather pattern that tends to favor heavy snowfall in that part of the state. The Wolf Creek ski area is already at 270", and we're not even in our normal snowy season yet. Of course this is all half a year away, and the San Juans are a big area and not every part of the range will have the same amount of snow, and in any case it's not necessarily a reason not to go, but still something to keep in mind.

[bamagirl]

How much snow are y'all talking about still hanging around by beggining of July?

Thanks to all of you for your awesome suggestions and sharing your knowledge. Some are things I wouldn't have thought of, for sure. I hope to be posting pictures of our first 14er in the next several months!

[AlexeyD]

How much snow are y'all talking about still hanging around by beggining of July?

Thanks to all of you for your awesome suggestions and sharing your knowledge. Some are things I wouldn't have thought of, for sure. I hope to be posting pictures of our first 14er in the next several months!

I hate to give that answer, but...it really depends. First, like I wrote above, some ranges will generally have more snow than others. Of course, it will also depend on how warm June is. Within a specific area, some rules of thumb are:

-North-facing slopes tend to hold snow later than south-facing ones (more shade, less melting)
-East-facing slopes are usually snowier than west-facing ones due to wind loading (wind tends to blow from west to east, scouring the snow from the west sides and depositing it onto east sides)
-Gullies, valley bottoms, and other sheltered/shaded terrain features will usually have more snow than ridge tops or open, exposed areas.
-In heavier snow years, more snow can be found near and just below treeline than in the tundra above (again, because trees provide shade)
-All else being equal, higher=more snow, usually.

Now to answer the question more specifically: in a heavy snow year, as much as half of the route to some of the 14ers mentioned year can be covered in snow around July 1.

EDITED: to give you a better sense of what conditions people have encountered during the time frame you're looking at, you can use the Peak Conditions reports. Once you decide on a peak (let's say Mt. Sherman), you can click on that peak's main page on the left-hand sidebar, and then click on the "peak conditions" tab from the left-hand menu on the peak page. This will give you a list of condition reports, in chronological order, just for that peak. You can then scroll down to the approximate dates of your trip from various previous years, and compare. When you get closer to the trip, you can also click on the "condition reports" tab from the bar at the top of the main site page, and that will give you a list of recent reports from all of the 14ers. Yet another reason why 14ers can be easier to plan for when visiting out of state, and why 14ers.com is awesome

[aweskamp]

Handies and Huron were two of the easier and most scenic climbs I've done. They both have similar elevation gains compared to your training routine.

Bierstadt was my first but I wouldn't suggest it in the summer; it's a 14,000 foot ant hill. I'd shy away from Sherman too. It's easy but not aesthetically pleasing unless you liked the scenery from The Martian.

[fahixson]

How much snow are y'all talking about still hanging around by beggining of July?

EDITED: to give you a better sense of what conditions people have encountered during the time frame you're looking at, you can use the Peak Conditions reports. Once you decide on a peak (let's say Mt. Sherman), you can click on that peak's main page on the left-hand sidebar, and then click on the "peak conditions" tab from the left-hand menu on the peak page. This will give you a list of condition reports, in chronological order, just for that peak. You can then scroll down to the approximate dates of your trip from various previous years, and compare.

In addition to AlexeyD's suggestion, you can also do something similar with Trip Reports. In the Trip Reports Advanced search box, select the 14er you're considering and turn off all the months except June and July. You'll get a list of trip reports from those months and likely to see pictures of conditions that you may encounter. If you're sticking to the standard routes on the 14ers suggested (e.g., Sherman, Huron, Handies, etc.), I would expect to travel across some snow on or around July 1, but wouldn't expect it to be a major deterrent (even for folks that haven't hiked here before). Hiking poles and microspikes are good things to consider and then make your final gear list decisions when you have updates like AlexeyD mentioned in the days before your hike.

[rpdawes]

It is always very important to be able to read cloud formation. If it doesn't look good, it's a time to turn around even if a summit is within your reach. A lightning bolt can hit you even if it is 15 miles away.

Keep in mind that a mountain is open with no trees above 12,000 feet altitude so you are more susceptible to a lightning hit. Last summer at Mt. Yale a lightning killed a hiker and injured three others when they were at 12,500 feet altitude.

[Cruiser]

Like others have said, your options may be limited due to snow at that time of the year. But all things being equal, I'd encourage you to try out Handies as opposed to the any of the front range peaks. It is exceptionally beautiful there and the hike up, especially from the American Basin, is one of the most straightforward and least strenuous of all the standard 14er routes.

[3rdGenNative]

My concern is your timing. Two years ago there was a TON of snow in American Basin in June. If you can make it to the TH, Handies is an excellent choice. We did our first family 14er there the 3rd week of July, 2014. It was spectacular.

[derekesq]

Given your final destination, and target of hitting Gunnison, have you looked at coming in to Albuquerque, NM and hitting Alamosa or Salida/Buena Vista. I'll defer to the natives on more specific details, but coming from far DEN rental car rates are about double ABQ or SLC and having done a loop from DEN - > Breckenridge -> Alamosa - > Colorado springs and back to DEN last year driving the center of the state has a lot to offer.

[Dakota]

We also plan to hit the Black Canyon, down in Gunnison, which is pretty close to Paonia.

Black Canyon is down in Montrose more so. It is a short drive for you guys from Paonia for sure. I am biased to the Western Slope, but unless you just really want to see Denver, I might suggest flying to Grand Junction or Durango, and then going from there. It is a relatively short drive to Glenwood Springs, Paonia, Montrose, Ouray, Telluride, Gunnison, Lake City..... I would suggest visiting hot springs, maybe hiking Handies as a 14er, driving Yankee Boy basin is a fun experience for the first time. Well, every time.