14ers.com

Hi All

Well, somewhat to my surprise, I finished the 14ers last summer, and decided to devote my time to another pursuit this summer; but, as my annual month-long visit to Colorado approaches, I realized that the mountains are beckoning once again. With my other commitments and the call of the wild both confronting me, I'd like to tackle about 5-7 of the "100" (i.e. the top 45 or so of the 13ers). My preferred climbing areas would be the front range, Collegiates / Sawatch / Mosquitos, Elks. The peaks I'd like to tackle would be ones I could use in preparation for my 10th Pike's Peak double - class 1 or 2; reasonably good trail surfaces; plenty of elevation gain is OK. Greys-Torreys, Cameron-Bross (etc) , Bierstadt come to mind among the 14ers as good examples of what I'm looking for. Peaks or groups that could be done in one day by a fast hiker.

I guess the first question is whether there is an on-line list which groups the 13ers / Colo. 100 by difficulty. If not, I welcome suggestions about peaks to look into.

Thanks!

Off the top of my head I don't know of any Online list that groups the top 100 peaks by difficulty but there probably is one... you may just have to dig around on Google a bit.

With the exception of the Elks all the ranges you mention have 13ers that are Class 1-2. Castlebra in the Elks is the easiest Centennial 13er and it is Class 2+/3 (not to mention 19 miles round trip! ). So I would recommend focusing your efforts on any of the other ranges you list. My personal favorites are the peaks in the 10 Mile/Mosquito Range as they are all pretty accessible, quiet, and climbable in a day. Check out Bill Middlebrook's sister site http://www.breckenridgeclimbing.com for info on those peaks. Many people combine those peaks as day climbs for example Fletcher/Drift, Atlantic/Pacific/Crystal, Clinton/Traver, etc.

My other Class 2 favorites include Mount Hope and North Apostle in the Sawatch and Mount Edwards in the Front Range.

Gerry Roaches book Colorado's Thirteeners: From Hikes to Climbs has also been an indispensable reference to me when climbing these peaks.

Happy Trails!

kaiman

If you are looking for medium gain, but good distance above say 13K with a relatively good surface (Class 2 tops) maybe look at starting at Horseshoe Peak (13,898' #72), head north on a ridge walk over Peerless (13,348'), over Mount Sheridan (13,748' #126), then to Mount Sherman, then on to Gemini Peak (13951', soft summit), and Dyer Peak (13,855' #81). Starting and finishing in Four Mile Creek at the Leavick Mill, according to TOPO! is 14.75 miles RT (starting at Horseshoe, north then west to Dyer, back over Gemini and Sherman, down past the Hilltop Mine, and back to Leavick,) and a total of 5,960 feet in elevation - and over 8 miles straight above 13,000 feet.

That's a 14er, 2 Centennials, a soft-centennial, and a total of 3 ranked 13ers.

If you are a glutton, you can run south of Horseshoe about 2.5 miles and Get Ptarmigan Peak (13,739', soft summit.)