Capitol Peak

You may be wondering about my title for this trip report. It alludes to the beauty, and equally, the complexity of this peak - of its terrain, its history, its joys, and its undeniable sorrows. It is truly a diamond, stunning to behold, yet not without flaw, and not without the ability to shatter.

This trip report contains:

• Some information about what to expect of the approach and the climb
• As many details as I can offer about the camping options and specific camp sites
• An accounting of my experience, my opinions of the peak, and some deeper reflections about everything to which it is beholden
• Photos of scenery that took my breath away, and one super adorable marmot

Intentionality

Summer 2026 saw me doing big climbs despite the lead-in being recovery from a super bad (and first ever) ankle sprain and hairline fracture. But of all those climbs, Capitol would be the one that would most echo of genuine awe.

Prior Capitol trips had fallen through for reasons of questioning and conditions, and though that was frustrating I can confidently say it then happened exactly when it was meant to. I've never pursued peaks in a specific order. I've chipped away at the 14ers, and I've done more 13ers than 14ers now - all whilst interweaving my other joys, like national park trips, biking, off-roading, and most especially time with family and friends. My goal is to simply ensure I'm enjoying what I'm doing, not allow it to feel like work, and to focus on what "grabs" me. Curiosity helps a lot with that, so waiting until I was really curious about Capitol ultimately helped me enjoy it immensely.

But Capitol has also always held a weird emotional place in my brain, too. Summer 2017 was very early in my discovery of the 14ers, and that summer saw so much tragedy on Capitol. It was a very impressionable series of events. I'll put a pin in this, for now.

The Approach

My friend Michelle and I drove to Capitol Creek Trailhead and came in a bit of a roundabout way, so we got an east-ish view of Capitol which lends some perspective, I think, to the name the original surveyors gave: Black Pyramid. It's a really cool perspective.

The afternoon was blazing hot, not surprising given the record-setting high temperatures of summer 2026. With heavy packs, we tackled the six mile approach. We were disappointed by the lack of cows but very pleased with the views! Also - we were rightfully suspicious of the lack of elevation gain for the first few miles!

The incredible views begin as soon as you set foot on trail.

The day was so hot that Meatloaf the Marmot couldn't be bothered to move from his full belly-flop on this boulder.

Approaching Capitol gave me a feeling similar to approaching Crestone Needle, a massive edifice rising out of the earth. In some ways, Capitol reminded me also of being in Yosemite, looking up, and having no words for the grandiosity.

There are several creek crossings along the way. All of them had logs or rocks for crossing albeit the logs didn't always feel trustworthy! ;-) But neither of us fell in, yay!

The giant aspen groves you weave through are incredible. Don't forget to look up!

CAMPING OPTIONS: if you're unable to score a Capitol Lake camp site permit, there is a meadow prior to the permit zone boundary where you can responsibly disperse camp. However, the main benefit is just the mileage it cuts off; a lot of the more beefy elevation gain of the approach occurs after this point. If you do score a Capitol Lake camp site permit, here are some things to be aware of:

• Camp site #9 feels far away. If you hope to spend time at Capitol Lake before your climb, it's a fair bit of additional trek getting to/from camp site #9. But if it's your only option, take it. It was not our first choice, admittedly.
• Camp sites #5-8 are clustered together. 5 and 6 looked very cramped. 7 was open and level but still likely only suitable for two two-person tents, maybe three tents if one-person tents are in the mix. Camp site 8 is the largest of these four sites, and it's the site we stayed in since we had three tents. Finding level spots for all tents proved a formidable challenge, however. Two of us were pretty level; the third had a slight angle to it. A fourth tent would be tough.
• Camp sites #1-4 are up a steep little hill. Because of this, we never bothered to check them out, but we have heard from others that these are also small sites. If you have any direct insights about these sites, please add a comment; that could be really helpful to others.

The main takeaway about the camp sites is that the recreation.gov descriptor is a bit misleading. Four people per permit are allowed at a site, but that does NOT mean the site can accommodate four individual tents. We had to do some inquiring of others to determine what site(s) would be right for us which is why I hoped to provide as much insight here as I can personally offer.

Cat and Peter would arrive later, so Michelle and I set up our tents and excitedly headed to Capitol Lake for what would prove to be incredible lighting thanks to the changing clouds, moisture, and calmness of the lake allowing for an intense reflection.

It was here, in the quietness, looking up, that the emotional place about Capitol in my brain tugged at me. This is the peak with the gully that claimed The Five; the rocks that took Her a few years later; and the Young Man forever at rest under Capitol's watchful eye. Capitol's notoriety as a dangerous peak is hard to ignore especially in light of such tragedies over the years, and it is sobering to contemplate the deaths of people I didn't know. But it is not surprising that my brain and heart went there because in the past several years I haven't felt terribly separated anymore from 14er tragedies. I am climbing the same dangerous peaks; I could make mistakes; or the mountain could decide for me. I have profound respect for all of it and have never so deeply felt that as I did here.

This is also the one 14er my father was so worried about me climbing that I said I wouldn't step foot on it in his lifetime. I acknowledge how selfish this sport can be; what we do doesn't occur in a vacuum. So I couldn't do that to him. I figured he'd eventually grow comfortable with the idea because he was so good at seeking understanding and knowledge of what I was doing; it's how he got comfortable with my class 3 endeavors, too. He wanted to support, just needed to get there, thoughtfully, and I always understood, respected, and appreciated that. But since God called him home three years ago, I'll never know if he would have eventually been "ok" with Capitol. This aspect to my story comes into play later.

Our evening time at the lake was astoundingly beautiful. I just can't even put into words the grandiosity of the peak and the beauty of the entire area. Cat and Peter arrived, as did a little bit of rain followed by an incredible sunset.

The Climb

The next morning, we set out very early and made good time getting to the Daly saddle.

It would still be dark for a while, so we were unable to see the full extent of the boulders. (Maybe that's a good thing!) We probably made the second gully crossing a little more difficult than it needed to be, but it wasn't problematic; just kinda crappy and loose.

As civil twilight progressed, now we understood the extent of the boulders. Haha! Wow.

Sunrise was gorgeous, though, casting the most lovely glow on Daly.

Then we made the right turn to head up toward K2, and what do you know, more boulders upon boulders upon boulders. Tedious but not problematic. And, trust me, K2 also looks deceptively non-problematic from this aspect.

I was just as curious about K2 as I was about Capitol because of all the stories over the years - including incidents, close calls, etc. We planned to go up and over, not around, and thank goodness for that. I would *never* recommend going around K2 after seeing what looseness that entails. In theory, you're doing Capitol already having solid scrambling skills, so in my opinion there's no reason NOT to go directly up and over K2. (And, frankly, I thought it was pretty fun scrambling.)

K2 is certainly deceiving, though. As you approach it from The Endless Boulders, it looks like nothingness incarnate. But then as you're going up, you look down the other side and realize it's more spicy than it seems. The downclimb side is certainly a longer scrambling endeavor, as well. So you come to realize it feels a bit like its own peak (albeit unranked). But the "wow" moment for me was as soon as I started walking past K2 onto Capitol's ridge, the big sheer wall is mighty impressive.

By the way, honorable mention: Satan's Ridge. Holey moley. This was super cool to see in person finally.

Some of the most fun I've ever had on a 14er was about to begin! But first, let me say this: there are people doing Capitol who have no business being there (yet). That was a little jarring to me, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. However, I would personally wish for folks to really dig deep in considering when this peak is right for them. Banking on luck vs. a thoughtful skill- and experience-build isn't the way to do it. I am somewhat in wonderment that there aren't more incidents, but I found myself wondering about close calls.

I digress!

And here we go with the "famous" part. :-)

The exposure along the ridge is undeniable. Woof! I felt super comfortable with all my moves, and the ridge has a ton of great rock (to still be tested). I had a blast! The knife edge certainly delivered in its notoriety, and I was pretty thankful this wasn't the first time I'd crossed one; but it was certainly the most sustained and most exposure. (I'm not even sure I ever looked down on this first crossing of it, to be honest.) I was able to walk alongside a decent stretch of it due to good footing and handholds. I did, however, hop onto the knife edge straddle-style when the footing seemed less certain. Unsurprisingly, I bruised my inner thighs doing so because this fair Irish lass never stands a chance when it comes to making contact with rock!

The knife edge gets all the talk, but I really felt like all the features along the ridge were quite fun. Big fan.

Ok, I'll freely admit regarding the next picture that I wasn't a fan of this several feet of slab further along the ridge, but I believe I made the mistake of looking down before I made my way across, and my brain went, "I'm sorry, what are you about to do?" Haha! I know it looks like I'm hanging on for dear life, but at that point I was over a nice ledge, so I was just watching Michelle and cheering her on.

I truly was feeling confident and comfortable, and the day was just spectacular - and with this crew!! Amazing people. We are all friends, but as climbers we also mesh so very well.

Then we carried on and made our way up to the pivot across the east face. [insert ominous music here]

After the ridge is a whole other story. I would like to repeat Capitol someday, but the east face sure gave me a lot of pause. Nothing says "good times" like so much looseness over so much exposure. I enjoyed 0% of it. And just to illustrate how focused I was, I took zero pictures on the ascent of the east face.

Picking your way through the east face, there are game trails and social trails everywhere. We stuck to the .com route as best we could especially to get onto the ledge section (highly recommend) which was marginally better-looking than anything else. But - good hand holds, awful footing. In other sections, you have good footing, awful handholds. If you get lucky, you may experience moments where all your holds feel good - haha. The east face is very attention-grabby, for sure.

So, the next picture is of the final pitch to the summit ridge, which contains a fabulous surprise of sudden extreme exposure as soon as you top out. Ha! Quick little side-step to the left, and you're good.

SUMMIT! The summit was stunning. The forecast had been holding. We were in absolute awe of everything, and we were lucky enough to get to hang out for a while.

But we did also notice a bit of cloud buildup. I requested an updated forecast via my InReach, for good measure; we should be okay, certainly and especially getting back across and past K2 before any concerning build-up.

The ledge we're on below is your final breather before you turn and start navigating your way across the east face again. To say I wasn't looking forward to it would be an understatement.

It somehow didn't seem as bad on descent, but I can also still count on only two fingers how many times I looked down. I was absolutely fixated on every single step and hand/foot placement. And because I didn't really want to look down, I still wasn't taking pictures. Michelle took the one below.

VERY IMPORTANT: it is extremely easy to get into each other's fall lines while making your way across this face, so we were very attentive to that. Given how loose everything was, it wasn't hard to kick rocks, though overall we did an extremely good job of not doing so.

Well, once I was back to the spot where you can breathe a sigh of relief, THEN I took a picture looking back!

And then, I was standing at the top of the gully. THAT gully. :-( And it really is incredible how visually appealing it is. "The lake is right there if I just go this way!" While I try to understand falling prey to that, for a variety of reasons I truly don't actually understand. But it is definitely sobering to see that spot in real-life. Like I said much earlier, those incidents left an impression on newbie Mary.

We had fun again making our way back across the ridge, taking some different pictures than before, and the lighting was changing now that there were clouds. I think I mentioned earlier, there are other fun features along the ridge. The one below is one of them.

I looked down a bit more on the return across the ridge than I did initially, and while it wasn't lost on me that you are absolutely gone if you fall, the exposure didn't bother me the way I expected. So apart from the east face, the entirety of the climb was truly pretty comfortable - comfortable as in "I felt good about it", not comfortable as in "easy". ;-)

Time to go back up and over K2! I reiterate: that's the way to do it.

Once I was officially off K2, I unexpectedly burst into sobs (which has never happened on a peak). I turned to Michelle and said, "Apparently I'm having a moment." The moment was this intense feeling I can't even articulate other than the words that came out of my mouth were, "I am only here because he [my dad] is not." It was like a weird blend of sorrow and sense of privilege, if that makes sense? Like that it was ok I did this now but kind of sad why I was able to. I wasn't thinking about anything that would have triggered it, and it's funny it happened as soon as the hard part was all behind me. I resigned myself to hopeful thinking that maybe it was a heavenly hug of approval.

I started bumbling down the boulders getting rid of the remaining sniffles, although I wanted to now cry because of how boiling hot it was and that there was 10,000 miles of boulders to cross, haha.

It truly was another super hot day up high; this summer was like none other on the peaks! The descent across the boulders drained the life force out of me. I was doing good on water but knew I'd probably have barely just enough. I also believed there weren't any exposed water sources, so I had not bothered bringing my filter along. You hear water under plenty sections of boulders, but you never see it, and it sounds deep below.

But, lo and behold... coordinates 39.15597, -107.07098.

Surprising to see flowing water coming out of the rocks! Dang it, why didn't I have my filter?! An ice cold drink of water would have been spectacular. Oh well.

I wouldn't ever bank on having a water source up there when we're past surface melt-off, but maybe the coordinate above was not just a one-time surprise. Who knows. I figured I'd mention it, just in case, but again ... I wouldn't bank on it.

Back at the Daly saddle, dark storm clouds had finally settled in over the summit, but it was all blue sky above us. We finished our descent to camp and reveled in our decision to have booked the site for two nights! (HIGHLY recommend!!) It was extremely wonderful not only to not have to pack up and out immediately, but we really wanted some extra time in such a beautiful area. So we napped, ate, got some rain, and ultimately slept extremely well.

Next morning, Michelle and I went to the lake to wait for official sunrise. Such a nice leisurely start to the day. This truly is one of the most beautiful places I've been to in Colorado, I think, and not just because of what Capitol adds to the landscape, but really because everything about this landscape is so lovely.

We missed peak wildflower season for this area, but there was still plenty of random bursts of color to be had - and some semblance of autumn coming into the mix.

Funny story... on the hike out, we encountered a large, suspiciously-neatly furled tent right next to the trail. Michelle and I recognized it as a big tent that was in the field before the permit zone. But we weren't near that area, so how'd it get here?! We assume wind. Doesn't make sense anybody would have dragged it here. But being right next to the trail and so neatly furled, we just kind of stared at it scratching our heads. And then I said, "Ugh, I have to!" and started poking at it end to end with my hiking pole whilst thinking, "Please don't be a body, please don't be a body..."

The last mile to the parking lot was absolute brutality. The heat was so intense because of being in the direct path of the sun, but it also felt like the shorter vegetation was holding and radiating the heat tremendously. It was like hiking in a 350-degree oven. I was in sufferfest hell when we got stopped by two ladies out for a stroll. We were close enough to the vehicle at this point that in my head I was sobbing, "You're the only thing standing between me and air conditioning!!!!"

Seeing my truck was the best thing ever. I moved it to a shady spot so it could cool down, and we could escape the sun while we changed into normal, clean, non-sweat-laden clothes. That was the best baby wipe shower of my entire life, I have to say.

Cat and Peter had already taken off. Per tradition, Michelle and I raided CP Burger in downtown Aspen where I made the mistake of ordering mine with a second patty - having totally forgotten how big the burger is just with one patty. Oops.

The burgers there are always great, but there is something about ice cold root beer after these big, hot Elk days that just really transforms me. We also always follow the burger devouring with an architectural tour through the hills (at least the areas we can legally access). Michelle is an architect and designer by trade, and I am a professional critiquer. Bahaha! On this particular tour, the highlights were a bear and one heck of an ugly entrance gate that probably cost more than my home. Beautiful homes with ugly gates is a trip report for another day; I'll spare you my soap box on the matter.

Final Thoughts

For me, North Maroon felt far more hazardous and taxing (physically and mentally) than Capitol. But perspective is a fickle friend! Some people think Capitol is overhyped, especially the knife edge, while others find it to be the most challenging 14er of all of them. All perspectives are fair on a personal level, so I think it's important to acknowledge that. But where I get frustrated is when people project personal perspective rather than true objectivity in discourse with others. So...

...objectively, K2 to the summit and back is dangerous for its sustained exposure, for the scrambling skills required, for the sheer looseness of the east face, and for route-finding. Ascent is hard enough. On descent, you're doing all those same things again but with the addition of fatigue and the high of summit success behind you. For the elements that Capitol is beholden to, mitigation of as much risk as possible is, in my humble opinion, found in skills and experience. I contend this is not a peak to "just send it".

On a softer, more reflective note...

Partners. I am truly grateful to have shared this experience with fellow skilled climbers, and good friends, Michelle, Cat, and Peter. We have actually only ever done class 4 peaks together! But it makes sense because we make for a good, consistent, reliable, and fun crew. Having confidence in your partners on terrain like this is worth its weight in gold. (Bonus: they took amazing photos, many of which I stole for use in this TR. Thanks, you guys!)

Of mountains and meaning... All the mountains we grace deserve our respect, whether it's Capitol or otherwise. But I certainly found that Capitol drives home this point in a very compelling way. Our mountains are awe-inspiring monuments. May we all be grateful guests who find ourselves humbled in their presence and never failing to recognize the privilege of safe passage.