Front Range 13ers

[nmg5038]

Hey all,

This summer I'm attempting to scale all of the Front Range's named or socially accepted 13ers and 14ers in hopes to raise money for the Boy Scouts of America. I'm currently planning the sequence of peaks I should take.

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the sequence? Which ones do you feel are better to climb in early summer (May-June) and late summer (July-Sept)? Suggestions

Thanks!

[Toni Marie]

Before giving advice, are you planning on doing these climbs/hikes yourself, with other experienced climbers, or with inexperienced people? Are you going with larger groups or just 2-3 people? How many peaks are you planning on doing per week? Let me know, and I'll send my two cents your way!

[Matt Lemke]

ugh...why the Front Range??? In summertime the Front range is one of the worst places in Colorado. Solitude is something people laugh about in the Front range during summer

[Chicago Transplant]

Scheduling some of the peaks will depend on your ability with an ice axe and crampons, some of them make for great spring snow climbs! Others will depend on when certain roads open up and become accessible, and others will depend on the summer thunderstorm season. Some can be combined into some nice long ridge runs, but those should be saved for post-monsoon in September.

Not sure how much research you have done yet, but all of the 13ers and 14ers in the Front Range is a major undertaking. There are 6 14ers and 59 13ers with 300' of prominence, but a few named 13ers with less prominence you could theoretically add. Doing 65 peaks above 13k in one season is not very common, and most people who hit those numbers do so by climbing them in all 12 calendar months. If you have the entire summer off from work/school it becomes more realistic, it would be tough to get 65 peaks over 13k on just summer weekends. You may want to target a different elevation cut off. Maybe all the peaks above 13,500' (23 peaks) or something like that if you are only available summer weekends.

Other than that, the best advice I can give is to find peaks that are clustered together and clean them all out at once. Traverses will be your friend! Look at trip reports and see what others have done before, some of the traverses that look good on a map have 5th class connecting ridges despite the ability to do them separately no higher than 3rd class. Also there are 2 peaks that are in the Boulder Watershed and are off limits, they are patrolled and they do prosecute trespassers, so you would have to get creative on those.

[ajkagy]

ugh...why the Front Range??? In summertime the Front range is one of the worst places in Colorado. Solitude is something people laugh about in the Front range during summer

are you kidding? you won't find a person on the summit of 90%+ of the peaks in the front range unless of course it's a 14er. Then again maybe you haven't been to some of the more remote peaks in the indian peaks/RMNP

[mennoguy]

Having climbed most of the FR 13ers last summer I know that it is possible, you just have to have a specific order and goal. I climbed them in a more methodical fashion and was left with about 8 unclimbed summits when the snow got to deep in October. Being in really good shape helps a lot, I was able to climb the entire Evans group last June minus Beirstadt in just under 10 hours. Start south and head north. You want to climb the shorter distance wise peaks during the monsoon season and the longer distance wise peak in late August and September like those found in RMNP.

I felt like the most difficult summits were those in the Wild Basin, long approaches and stiff bushwhacks equal very long days. Expect to spend 10-12+ hours a day in this area.

[william thompson]

Hello nmg5308,
You can find my contact information at http://www.mountainfitnesspt.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; if you would like some advice with this challenging mission. I can give you a ton of data on this objective but it will be too much information to write in this thread. As per the previous thread this is a challenging objective but the boy scouts are worth the effort! If you want to read about the current conditions on Mt. Audubon you can read my post on it from a few days ago. Audubon would be a good start to your mission.
Thanks,
Pat

[Matt Lemke]

ugh...why the Front Range??? In summertime the Front range is one of the worst places in Colorado. Solitude is something people laugh about in the Front range during summer

are you kidding? you won't find a person on the summit of 90%+ of the peaks in the front range unless of course it's a 14er. Then again maybe you haven't been to some of the more remote peaks in the indian peaks/RMNP

I have been to some of those Indian Peak Wilderness peaks and saw people everywhere. Even on the 13ers and I have heard nothing except people everywhere from many of my climbing friends who have done a lot in the Front Range. My definition of solitude may be different than yours though. Just because there isn't anyone on the mountain you are climbing, doesn't mean it has solitude.

[ajkagy]

ugh...why the Front Range??? In summertime the Front range is one of the worst places in Colorado. Solitude is something people laugh about in the Front range during summer

are you kidding? you won't find a person on the summit of 90%+ of the peaks in the front range unless of course it's a 14er. Then again maybe you haven't been to some of the more remote peaks in the indian peaks/RMNP

I have been to some of those Indian Peak Wilderness peaks and saw people everywhere. Even on the 13ers and I have heard nothing except people everywhere from many of my climbing friends who have done a lot in the Front Range. My definition of solitude may be different than yours though. Just because there isn't anyone on the mountain you are climbing, doesn't mean it has solitude.

i've hiked + skiied almost every peak in the Indian peaks and the only "crowded" peaks are Audubon, Toll (in spring), South Arapahoe and maybe pawnee. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody else on the other summits even on a weekend in the dead of summer. I've also backpacked in the remote areas of RMNP on holiday weekends and not seen a soul for several days...there is plenty of solitude to be had, you just have to stay away from the tourist trap peaks

[lordhelmut]

I've had similar experiences as Ajkagy re: Front Range 13ers. A lot depends on the day you do them, but if you could elaborate on "everywhere" that might give a better idea of your definition of solitude. The IPW and certain basins throughout RMNP are far from crowded, atleast when you get on the high peaks. I can count, on one hand, the number of people I've shared a summit with in the IPW alone and have summited a RMNP 13er with exactly 2 other people (not in our group) on McHenry's Peak of all places. I didn't look at this as a bad thing, cause they were interesting people.

To ensure you don't run in to "anyone" on the trail or the peaks, check out Wild Basin, give the Mummy Mania loop a shot, check out Gourd Lake and the surrounding 12ers on the western side of the IPW (or Hell's Canyon w/ the Hiamovi Group), Lost Creek Wilderness I hear is pretty empty or the Never Summers up North near Cameron Pass. Aside from being a complete recluse who simply hates people in general, whether on the trail or along a city street, these will give you some solitude.

To the original post, I'd definately do these later in the summer and like Chicago Transplate mentioned, link them up via ridge traverse. Since they are all on or near the Continental Divide, logistics can be relatively straightfoward. You could start from Grays/Torreys along with all surrounding 13ers within earshots, then on to Berthoud Pass/St.Mary's region, hit the James Peak Group, head to Nederland, hit the Arapahoes from 4th of July (don't forget Old Baldy!), head north to Brainard Lake, hit the Apache Massif (Apache/Navajo and those 2 guys to the South if you are stealth enough, along with the Audobon/Paiute which can be done in a quick day). Ogallala is tough for a day trip, but a fun overnighter, combined with Elk Tooth as a traverse. From there, it gets less complicated, but more physically demanding, as you have Copeland and Alice from Wild Basin, Longs and Meeker, then, depending on your experience with ropework, you could clean out a handful of 13ers and 12ers via the Glacier Gorge Traverse (Pagoda to Flattop). Next stop would be Mummy Mania (Chiquita to Mummy) and aside from Evans Group and Pikes, I can't think of any other 13ers/14ers in the Front Range (aside from Bard/Parnassus region and Herman Gulch region, which can be done in a day from Hassell to Golden Bear).