End to Columbia scree fest?

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Tory Wells
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by Tory Wells »

planet54 wrote:Who in the heck decided to dupe the masses and designate the scree fest route as the standard route?
I think GeezerClimber answers that question above when he states it is the shorter of the three routes. The things people will do on 14ers (read: Antero, Columbia, Pikes) to save themselves some hiking distance. :roll:
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nyker
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Re: Ho Columbia scree fest?

Post by nyker »

MountainHiker wrote:
14erFred wrote:Nyker: You mentioned that one should "watch for bears" in the upper basin of Frenchman's Creek. Did you see bears there during your climb, or did you hear from others about bear activity in the upper basin? I'm hoping to camp above timberline in the upper basin this summer. Bear canisters may well be in order. :o
We saw half of a baby deer next to the path along Three Elk Creek. We were guessing a mountain lion had the other half and was near by. We didn’t touch it. We didn’t want to trigger a possessive response from what ever was responsible. I suppose it could also have been a coyote.
Wow, a half of fresh deer would have caused me to pause also...

14erFred, I saw a few bear scats around the area where the marshy area is. Also, depending on the time you plan to be there, I imagine with the water you will have some mosquitoes if you're going it in warmer months. During the fall when we did it, we ran into two bowhunters also - one sitting in a treestand and the other walking on the trail.
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wineguy
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by wineguy »

jsdratm wrote:It is good to see this moving forward. I am planning to do Columbia via the more scenic southeast ridge route this summer since the standard route looks so unappealing.
It was a couple of years ago that I tried this route. Unfortunately the advertised "cairne" marking the turnoff from the main trail did not exist, so I went a little off course. So be prepared for some routefinding. Not much of a trail, so routefinding was also a challenge on the return. Now that I've got a GPS and always lay down a track on any sketchy routes I wouldn't have a problem. Still, it was a quiet and pretty route.
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14erFred
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by 14erFred »

Thanks very much for the insights and advice, nyker and MountainHiker. I'll plan for active wildlife and be ready for bear visitations--better safe than sorry. Muchas gracias! :)
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semitrueskerm
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by semitrueskerm »

Columbia: Is there any 14er more loathed? I think not.
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sheller
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by sheller »

My son has been asking me to repeat this one and take him up it, now with the new proposal I can finally say yes.
Doug Shaw
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by Doug Shaw »

semitrueskerm wrote:Columbia: Is there any 14er more loathed? I think not.
Bross.
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SnowAlien
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Re: End to Columbia scree fest?

Post by SnowAlien »

SW gully is a nice alternative if one wants to avoid the scree fest. It is a fun snowclimb later in the spring.
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