Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

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Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Mt. Antero
6
6%
Mt. Bierstadt
0
No votes
Mt. Bross
23
22%
Mt. Cameron
6
6%
Challenger Point
6
6%
Culebra Peak
4
4%
Mt. Elbert
1
1%
Mt. Evans
5
5%
Little Bear Peak
4
4%
Pikes Peak
10
10%
Mt. Princeton
19
18%
Quandary Peak
1
1%
Mt. Shavano
2
2%
Mt. Sherman
4
4%
Other
14
13%
 
Total votes: 105
Dobsons
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by Dobsons »

Princeton's always won the cake on the suckiest for me. Granted I still liked it and better then a day not in the hills but the road is just dry and bumpy, the trail has nothing to speak of other then rocky talus, no stream crossings, not many flowers, east side of the southern sawatch spells for dry and dusty. Just the least cool of the 14ers in my opinion...
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CheapCigarMan
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by CheapCigarMan »

Iguru wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:13 pm Culebra.
Because the "owners" charge a climbing fee. :evil:
I’ve always heard they donate the money to CFI. Is this true?
I should be on a mountain
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by Aphelion »

Pikes. Partly because of how miserable my one hike up it was, partly due to the development on the summit, and partly due to the culinary abomination that they falsely claim is an edible doughnut.
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by nyker »

I wouldn't say I hate any of them but I would say North Maroon is the one I would likely not repeat. With several microwave sized widow makers silently flying down all around us and over our heads, I was really looking forward to getting off that mountain and once off I felt a relief that I really haven't felt on many or any other peak. I've had rock fall on other peaks but maybe it's because of its steepness and the grassy slopes and the silence as the rocks come down made it scarier than others.
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by Trotter »

CheapCigarMan wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:22 pm
Iguru wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:13 pm Culebra.
Because the "owners" charge a climbing fee. :evil:
I’ve always heard they donate the money to CFI. Is this true?
Ive never heard that, but hope its true. I assumed Carlos and the other hands got it as a bonus, to make up for the extra work.


I put down Little Bear. I can't think of anything it has that Blanca doesn't... besides more danger and loose rock.

At least bross is easy. The only reason I don't hate sherman pile of choss also.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by speth »

CheapCigarMan wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:22 pm
Iguru wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:13 pm Culebra.
Because the "owners" charge a climbing fee. :evil:
I’ve always heard they donate the money to CFI. Is this true?
This rumor is more outrageous than the girl in the green Subaru being real.

All I want is to just have fun, live my life like a son of a gun
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sarcasm or not, it's not even funny to post something like this. Not at this time. Reported.
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madbuck
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by madbuck »

For some of these, if you ditch the easiest-checklist route, drive-as-far-as-you-can mentality and add some creativity, the perspective changes:

Pikes via Barr is a tourist sh1t-show up top, but it’s also a marathon run/hike you can do from a town, including a unique stair climb option, with donuts in the middle. Satisfying to look up from town and see what you did. Plus a few bike options.
Princeton is right off the Colorado trail and makes a nice bike/hike lollipop. “Can my car make it to the radio towers?” — yer bike can. Also satisfying to eat/drink/soak in BV after and look up at it.
Antero is also more of a run or (beyond my skill) mt bike. Your drive time vs hike time pays off for a sustained run, some of the easier ones are too short. Humboldt is similar from the valley.
Quandary is busy and short, but is a fun beginner ski.
Most of Sherman from Fairplay side can also be a fun easy ski.
Bross is uninspiring by itself, but a unique end to a loop and a legit fun run descent.
Bierstadt is also uninspiring, peaks across the street are same difficulty but less crowded and better views. It does have Sawtooth (haven’t done). It’s benefit though is pulling off an early summer morning run before work on the Front Range.
Evans via bike via Idaho Springs is an established classic.

Of the listed options, then, I guess I’d go with Challenger (haven’t done LB or Culebra though). At least it extends your day in a pretty area though.
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by blazintoes »

[quote=madbuck post_id=757004 time=1637750570 user_id=12411]
For some of these, if you ditch the easiest-checklist route, drive-as-far-as-you-can mentality and add some creativity, the perspective changes:

Pikes via Barr is a tourist sh1t-show up top, but it’s also a marathon run/hike you can do from a town, including a unique stair climb option, with donuts in the middle. Satisfying to look up from town and see what you did. Plus a few bike options.
Princeton is right off the Colorado trail and makes a nice bike/hike lollipop. “Can my car make it to the radio towers?” — yer bike can. Also satisfying to eat/drink/soak in BV after and look up at it.
Antero is also more of a run or (beyond my skill) mt bike. Your drive time vs hike time pays off for a sustained run, some of the easier ones are too short. Humboldt is similar from the valley.
Quandary is busy and short, but is a fun beginner ski.
Most of Sherman from Fairplay side can also be a fun easy ski.
Bross is uninspiring by itself, but a unique end to a loop and a legit fun run descent.
Bierstadt is also uninspiring, peaks across the street are same difficulty but less crowded and better views. It does have Sawtooth (haven’t done). It’s benefit though is pulling off an early summer morning run before work on the Front Range.
Evans via bike via Idaho Springs is an established classic.

Of the listed options, then, I guess I’d go with Challenger (haven’t done LB or Culebra though). At least it extends your day in a pretty area though.
[/quote]


Agree! Add a bike and make it a duathlon.
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by cedica »

Haven’t tried La Plata Peak via the standard route, but I believe that there are no redeeming qualities on Southwest Ridge. After climbing out of the ditch, mud in the willows awaits, then the headwall with "class 3 dirt" eroded trail, then large flat area beneath Sayres Benchmark. I guess that it might look better under snow cover, but in average September it looms above just like Mount Doom. And then the talus starts, endlessly, endlessly pulling you into the future for the next couple of hours. Kind of talus that doesn’t shift under your weight trying to kill you or break your limbs, just plain, unexciting talus. After topping that first false summit and seeing the rest of the hike, I’ve seriously considered turning back. Couldn’t fathom what could be there on the summit to justify such dull misery.

But the views from summit turned out to be fair enough for Sawatch, maybe a bit better than Elbert, certainly worse than Huron or Yale. Just one-and-a-half star views, “you forgot the color film” views, views that wouldn’t have inspired Captain Borodin to defect.
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by Reg0928 »

CoHi591 wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 4:08 pm Gotta be Evans. I might change my mind if I did Tour D'Abyss, but I've only done Evans from Guanella Pass both as an out and back alone, and via the Sawtooth, both of which obviously have the unpleasant willow bashing, and annoying crowds on top.
I did the Tour D'Abyss, and it was a really fun route, but definitely not cool enough to make up for the chaos and crowds on the Evans summit
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by andrew85 »

Princeton by far! It's the only 14er that took me three attempts to summit. Mind you those were all winter attempts, but after failing it the first time I felt I was defeated in winter so the only way to even the score would be to get it in winter and it took me two more attempts to finally be successful. It wasn't just the winter failures, the trail is just bland or exceedingly rocky overall and pretty mediocre in terms of scenery compared to just about any other 14er. All the others that I had less than ideal experiences on had some redeeming qualities at least, Princeton had none. Lol if I must say something positive, I saw a cool turkey crossing there once! But barring a second round of the 14ers, Princeton is the ultimate one and done as I have zero interest in driving all the way out there to give it another chance from a different route or a different time of year.

Wentzl wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 7:51 pm Maroon Peak.

Why this? The parking nightmare first.

And then? The 3,000' of suck.

Is there any other peak that has a reputation for just being tedious? It was not the technical difficulty that caused death, but the monotony that has literally killed people. And it is not much fun, up or down.

I wholeheartedly agree with your first two points, but after the 3,000' of suck I found Maroon to be absolutely glorious! That stretch up through the summit was easily one of the most scenic and fun stretches of a 14er standard route I can remember! The moment I saw that view of Fravert Basin I was like this must be what Will Erickson has been referring to all this time. :lol:
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Re: Which is your least favorite/most hated 14er?

Post by desertdog »

Poor Mount Princeton, but yes it's my least favorite as well.
The summit is a source of power. The long view gives one knowledge and time to prepare. The summit, by virtue of the dizzying exposure, leaves one vulnerable. A bit of confidence and a dash of humility is all we get for our work. Yet to share these moments with friends is to be human. C. Anker
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