Recommendations for the beginning of June

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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Alex
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Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by Alex »

We plan to be in Colorado during the first week of June and would like to hike, preferably higher in the mountains. I guess, it should be a lot of snow at this time of year. So, my questions are:
1. Could anyone advise any easy 14er, 13er, or other mountain doable without any special gear under normal conditions at this time of the year?
2. What about any other day hike?
We would consider the area from Front Range in the East to Sawath in the west.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
The only thing better than mountains are mountains to which you have never been!
pseudoghost
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by pseudoghost »

Alex wrote:We plan to be in Colorado during the first week of June and would like to hike, preferably higher in the mountains. I guess, it should be a lot of snow at this time of year. So, my questions are:
1. Could anyone advise any easy 14er, 13er, or other mountain doable without any special gear under normal conditions at this time of the year?
2. What about any other day hike?
We would consider the area from Front Range in the East to Sawath in the west.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Define special gear. Do you include snowshoes as special? If so, you're probably not going to have a good time in the first week of June... But, don't fret, there are still plenty of mountains that will be doable. They just might be extra painful (re: postholing) on the descent.
Alex
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by Alex »

Well, I understand that snowshoes are necessary.
Under special gear I mean crampons, ice axe, ropes, and so on, as well as any avalanche gear.
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randalmartin
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by randalmartin »

For early June you will probably be fine on most peaks in the Sawatch or Front Range (except Longs Peak) without technical gear. Micro spikes might be useful in some cases going up in spots in the morning (icy sections). The more important gear would likely be waterproof gaiters (OR Crocs) and footwear.
Alex
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by Alex »

What about any particular trails, not necessary to the summit, but doable and beautiful?
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Jim Davies
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by Jim Davies »

Almost anything below 11,000' should be OK at that point. Colorado is a big place...
Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
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randalmartin
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by randalmartin »

Alex wrote:What about any particular trails, not necessary to the summit, but doable and beautiful?
I would recommend the Buffalo Peaks wilderness just south of Fairplay. There is a short 11mile loop starting at Rich Creek TH. It's an easy hike in the 10-11k ft elevation range. You can optionally summit two 13ers (East and West Buffalo Peaks) but that would add about 6 miles RT to the loop and be a very long day. I would do that in 2 days if you decide to include those peaks.

Here is a brief writeup from http://longrunsolutions.typepad.com/lon ... trail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Rainier_Wolfcastle
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Re: Recommendations for the beginning of June

Post by Rainier_Wolfcastle »

I climbed Mount Ouray (13,971 ft, beautiful centennial at the southern end of the Sawatch with sweeping views of the Sangres, Sawatch, etc.) two days ago with only the use of micro-spikes. No snowshoes, no post-holing, no ice axe required. I carried snow-shoes and axe all the way, but there had been a lot of melt since mtnfriend's trip report. In 3 more weeks or so, I would still probably prefer to have the micro-spikes, but they may not be required. Here is a short route description, with a link to TH directions: http://www.summitpost.org/east-ridge/157250

Also, the southern Sawatch 14er Shavano looked to be melting out pretty fast. With its higher 14er traffic, snowshoes may not even be necessary on its standard route come early June. I got a good look at Princeton's standard route, and it still looked pretty loaded.

Lastly, when I was starting out and didn't have the gear, at this time of year I would always look for gentle southern approach ridge routes.
Shawn
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