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The Sawatch you say? A range in Colorado?

justiner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:11 pm The Sawatch you say? A range in Colorado?

Aye, lush rolling hills, and the peat, aye the peat.

SchralpTheGnar wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 12:13 pm

justiner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2024 8:11 pm The Sawatch you say? A range in Colorado?

Aye, lush rolling hills, and the peat, aye the peat.

Yer bum is oot the windae, gae us a wee swally.

Revisiting this thread as a non-AI bot I have pared down / shored up my plans for the first couple weeks in July, and in no particular order: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/picshare ... 742cb8c62e

That said, I had a few final questions for the crowd:

1) On any of the approaches that state '4x4 trail saves X amount of miles / elevation at start of the climb', how bad are we talking? Like Jeep crawler level, or doable in a Tacoma with a savvy offroad driver? Ex: Huron, Antero, etc.
> Sub question to the above - does it make sense to bring a bike and either push or pedal for some of these approaches to save time & energy?

2) What's the status and plausibility of car camping overnight at trailheads, especially if you plan on an alpine start to beat the crowds?

3) My elevation and mileage for Missouri / Belford / Oxford does not include Missouri. Can't find good beta on how much that adds - but seen several pages stating to do one night overnight to add Missouri. Thoughts?

4) Given the list, any particular order make sense? That's the last part of planning I had not gotten to yet. I was mostly going to sort that via weather, or balance things via length / elevation - and start with Sawatch / finish with Mosquitos north to south.

5) Any preferred GPS app for these routes? I do not pay for but like Onyx, have dabbled with GAIA, and know there are others


Appreciate responses, and looking forward to visiting your great state in 1mo!

I would check some of your stats, some of them look off. For example Holy Cross is 12 miles/5600 gain per this site.

1) It depends. Look at the 'trailhead conditions' on this site when it gets closer for an idea of road conditions. Most people will say what type of vehicle they are in. You can also look at past years reports, although do note roads can significantly change year to year.

2) I would recommend not camping directly in the trailhead lots. People will be coming and going all hours of the night slamming car doors, talking etc. Many lots are now also posted "no camping", and while highly unlikely to get a knock from a ranger, its technically still camping if you are sleeping in your car. Almost all of the Sawatch Peaks have plentiful dispersed camping within walking distance of the trailhead, and more within a quick drive.

3) Depends on your fitness and weather if its doable or not. Would be about 15 miles/7500 gain for all 3 via the recommended descent of Elkhead Pass after Belford/Oxford. Play around with Caltopo online. Very useful tool to make your own route rather than trying to find something online.

4) Working directionally makes sense just based on minimizing driving but I don't think there is a "wrong" way. Not sure what time of year you settled on, but things will melt out south to north a tiny bit faster generally. Do plan in rest days just to relax, explore some of the towns, do different activities, etc. Feeling "chained" to a schedule/list is a good way to have less fun than you otherwise might.

5) Gaia is very pouplar. Caltopo also has a mobile app now as well. Whatever you choose just make sure to test it out before your trip so you know how to use the features, make sure offline maps are downloaded etc.

Davis' reply is excellent, and I'd like to offer some additional input on questions 1 and 5:

1) The only standard 14er trailhead I can think of that specifically requires rock crawling is Lake Como to access Blanca/Ellingwood/Little Bear, and I don't think that is on your agenda for this trip. In regards to the two trailheads you asked about, if you have a Tacoma and are a competent off-road driver you should have no issues getting to the Huron trailhead. You should also theoretically be able to drive up the Antero road. You can always drive up as far as you feel comfortable, there are many pullouts along the way to park. I do recall the initial section of the road as being the most challenging.

5) The 14ers app is an excellent free resource that allows you to view 14er routes and your real-time location relative to them offline. It also has helpful route descriptions and photographs available for download. Another great and free app is COTrex, which will also show trails and your location - just make sure to download the blocks you want available for use offline ahead of time.

Not sure why I never closed the loop on this thread, but I did post a general follow-up on a 14ers Facebook group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/8233844 ... 2/?app=fbl

This included the following stats:

Total elevation gain estimate: 22,650
Total elevation change estimate: 43,700
Total mileage: ~60
Total peaks: 9.75

This was climbing a Monday to a Monday, after getting turned away 1,000 ft shy of the summit of Holy Cross due to weather, and with taking two zero days. Trip cut short out of necessity for my elderly dog having a medical event that ultimately resulted in her needing to be put down at the end of the second week I was planning on being there : / ended up climbing with two really good friends, having mostly stellar weather, and lots of good fishing in between. Tons of nosebleeds due to high elevation and that Rocky Mountain dry air.