DISCLAIMER – SCRAMBLES IN THE MOUNTAINS HAVE
INHERENT RISKS AND THE MATERIAL PRESENTED HERE IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE
INFORMATION TO HELP A SCRAMBLER AVOID ONLY SOME OF THE
RISKS. VARIABLE WEATHER, CHANGING ROUTE CONDITIONS, POOR DECISION MAKING, ILL
PREPAREDNESS ETC. CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SERIOUS INJURY, EVEN DEATH.
SCRAMBLERS USE THIS MATERIAL AT THEIR OWN RISK AND THE
AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENCES THAT COME ABOUT IN
SCRAMBLING THESE PEAKS.
E-mail me here
Rocky Mountain National Park trip August 19 to August 26,
2011
Mt. Richthofen,
Ypsilon Mountain and
Hallet Peak Flattop Mountain climbed
I have done 27 fourteeners including Longs Peak but had never
really taken an interest in RMNP. After some research on the internet a number
of hikes and scrambles drew some interest. Mt. Richthofen, Ypsilon Mountain and
Hallett Peak had favorable reports. I only had one week that I wanted to spare
so how to get there also was an issue. My frugalness kept me for awhile from
considering flying to Denver and renting a car. But in the end if I wanted
something other than a "staycation" it was the only real alternative.
So I get to the airport and go through all the rigmarole that
I had missed for all these years of driving and not flying. I am in this line
to enter the area for US customs and as I get closer I notice everyone has an
extra piece of paper, the declaration form for what you are bringing in. I
head to the counter and fill one out and then pass by the checkpoint into the
customs area. I am in this long long switch backing line for like 20 minutes and
a moment of paranoia hits me. I check all over and can't find my cell phone???
So I leave my bag in the line and run back through the security door and lo
after 20 minutes my cell phone is still on the table where I filled out the
declaration form! A moment of divine preservation for me that it was still
there!
Things went smoother after that and I found myself in Denver
trying to figure my way around this gigantic airport. I finally made it to the
baggage area and went to grab a cart which was not coming free from the others,
oh you want $4, they are free in Calgary. So forget it, I shouldered my duffel
bag with my camping gear and headed over to the Alamo car rental bus which will take me over to the car
rental place. That was a good experience over at Alamo National car rental. A
friend had said to keep it simple get your local insurance to cover you for car
rentals which I did. Then at the car rental place rather than having to fill up
the car on the return just pay for a tank of gas at the car rental office and
then have a no hassle drop off later. Did that also.
Once the paperwork is done you are taken out to the lot and
given a choice of whatever SUV is in that section. Had about 12 to choose from,
from full size to crossover SUVs. Went with the smaller 2011 Jeep Compass as
preferred the better mileage and the smaller size for going up Old Fall River
road in RMNP. I quite liked the Jeep Compass after having it for a week. They
offer a trail rated model with their Freedom 2 drive now and improved
suspension. The RAV4 has dropped a notch for me due to their moving it more
towards just a car rather than a "recreational adventure vehicle". I think
Toyota has lost focus on the RAV. They should do a trail rated version also.
So I am off to Fort Collins in the Jeep Compass. I don't have
to stop on the toll road as all the rental cars are setup to be scanned and
charged the $4-6 fee automatically. Hits your credit card in a few weeks from
the car rental company. Stop at a Mexican place by the University for a green
chili burrito and onward west on Highway 14 to Crags Campground for the scramble of Mt Richthofen. Again a little divine help. I arrive at the spot where you pay and
there are 2 cars of people looking for some change to stuff in the envelopes. I
happen to have lots of change but no pen or pencil and its dark. So I help them
and they help me! They also were targeting Mt. Richthofen the next day and we
all aimed for a 7am start. As it it turned out it was more like 8am, I lost time
going up the trail and realizing I had forgotten my camera, so back to the car
wasting another 20 minutes. You get a little paranoid and hasty about things
when you know you need to be off the summit by noon or risk your life in a
thunder and lightning storm. The others still hadn't shown up and we didn't
connect until the summit. They were about 20 minutes behind me. It was tough
flying to altitude and hiking with no acclimatization. It took a lot of
perseverance to summit this one with all the off trail elevation. It was very
steep the last third to the saddle. I can only say that my scrambling in the
Canadian Rockies surely helped even though I was only going to at most 9,000
feet like on Mt Fairview. I thought I would need 2 days off after this one but
an Ensure drink at the trailhead and a good meal at Mexican Chipotle Grill in
Loveland helped greatly. Back to my schedule of every second day.
Well, on a Saturday night it is not quite so easy to find a
camping spot. I went to Boyd State Park in Loveland at around 8pm, almost dark,
and "well the writing was on the wall" (that's from the book of Daniel
by the way), we don't have any spots. I know in
Canada almost everybody keeps a couple of spots available for late night
arrivals or will make a spot for a tent but I didn't want to bother pointing
that out to the attendant. Where to now? Well, RMNP is only 45 minutes and they
have like 500 sites in there but no showers or laundry. I arrive in the dark at
the entrance booth, it is closed and a sign says everything is full except on
the far side of the park over their 12,000 foot Trail Ridge road. Well no, I am
not driving that far on a winding high altitude road in the dark to get there.
So I had noticed this quite full RV resort about a mile before the entrance with
the odd tent along the west side. So pulled in there, office was closed but they
had a box with what was left in the resort, the price and you just pay in the
morning. That worked out great, picked T19, went down to the washroom for a
shower and all was good. Next day made the Elk Meadows Lodge and RV Resort my
base for the rest of the stay. One mile from RMNP, 2 miles from Estes Park's
main street, worked out very well!
Here is the nice view of Longs Peak from the RV Resort

My site, could use some trees for shade but oh well. During
the day either hiking or downtown.


Estes Park is similar to Banff. The Library is on the main
street ( East Elkhorn Avenue) with a large free public parking lot. Free use of
the computers there for the internet and e-mail. Across from the library
was my favorite three spots, Starbucks, Ed's Cantina, and Kind Coffee, well
Subway was close by also. Behind
the business's on the east side of main street is a patio boulevard with a small
river running by. Very nice atmosphere and idea! Here are some pictures.





There are a number of high end outdoor gear shops in Estes
Park. There is Estes Park Mountain Shop at 2050 Big Thompson Avenue, sells both
climbing gear and clothes. There is another one on Moraine Avenue which carried
Lowa boots and Marmot gear but the name escapes me and I have not been able to
find online. A few smaller hiking shops on the main street as well. Of course
less than an hour away is Boulder Colorado with gear stores like REI, The North
Face, Montbell, Patagonia, Neptune as well.
Overall a really good trip if your not into Colorado 14ers
only!
Colorado Fourteeners – Trip 4 August
9 – August 18, 2008
Victoria is going to do a write up of our
enjoyable and jam packed trip. Good scrambles, good Mexican food and good gear
stores! Highlights were camping at the radio towers and doing Mt Princeton as
well as Mt of the Holy Cross. Visited the Bent Gate in Golden and Tommyknockers
Brewery and Pub
in Idaho Springs.
A few photos in the mean time.

Denver's Downtown Flagship REI

Chipotle at Loveland

Near Buena Vista

REI Boulder

Tommyknocker Brewery and Pub at Idaho Springs

Mini Haagen Dazs not available in Canada!
Colorado Fourteeners – Trip 3 August 13 – August 25, 2007
It certainly seemed that this year circumstances were
against a trip to Colorado. In November of 2006 I watched my Dad pass away
at the age of 86 after a month in the hospital. Yikes, make sure you get
right with God before you face your own inevitable demise. That payment that
the Lord made in God’s courtroom on your behalf is available for you.
Make sure you count the cost though so its real. Next,
I was injured and trying to recover from December until May 2007. Thought
hiking and scrambling was out for sure at one point. Then the shock of
hearing that "Talusmonkey" a young energetic man who had climbed all the
Fourteeners in only 2 seasons had died in a fall on Humboldt. I still shake
my head when I think about that. Next, my 14er companion Victoria went to
train as a camp counselor for 6 weeks at Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp and came
back a little exhausted and didn’t want to do a trip to Colorado.
So things looked a little bleak but in June and July I
did begin to do a few hikes to test the body and each hike seemed better
than the one before so I began to have some optimism that a trip was
possible but solo? In many circumstances going solo can be boring and
depressing and lonely but when I weighed the type of trip I was planning to
do I felt that I wouldn’t really be doing much outdoor stuff alone as there
would be many people on the trail so I decided to go and shoot for 5 peaks,
Mt Evans, Huron Peak, Missouri, Yale and Longs Peak. My surmising proved
correct.
On Mt Evans I met Rachel and Mark on the trail and Cory
at the Echo Lake campground. I had good conversations with them. On Huron
peak I walked the 4x4 road with Andy. On Missouri I met and hiked with Lance
and Aaron and we went to Coyote’s Cantina for food afterwards. On Yale I met
Greg and gave him some beta on the Harvard/Columbia double that he
appreciated. On Longs Peak I met Reinar from Germany in the campground and
then climbed Longs Peak with about 50 other people with quite a bit of
socialization on the route. So, yes, a solo trip can work and be quite
enjoyable to Colorado.
Now as for beta on planning your own trip I scouted out a
few more areas. Still went to Chatfield State Park in south Denver to camp
for a night to do laundry and have a shower. Found an easy route to get to
the downtown REI. From Chatfield I went north on Federal Boulevard with a
right on West 23rd Avenue which goes under I-25 becomes Water
Street and plunks you right into the parking lot of REI.
Checked out the REI Quarterdome tent but it was too
cramped for a 2 man tent IMO, more a one person tent with gear. The listed
length and width are exaggerated perhaps a listing mistake. I did pick up a
Sierra Designs Microlight nylon wind shell for $32. Nice drawstring and hood
and proved to be a very good piece for some of the windy parts of my hiking
vacation. In fact I was able to wear it most of the time with just a hiking
shirt underneath without heating up too much. Good all round use shell much
like my Marmot Driclime jacket.
In Denver I tried out the "Mexican Chipotle Grill" on
Colfax Avenue but I was not overly impressed. I would give it 6.5 out of 10.
I had the shredded beef burrito. The salsa seemed a little bit too harsh in
flavor. I may have to go back and try another entrée and different salsa.
On a day off between the Missouri and Yale scrambles I
went to Aspen to Ute Mountaineering and picked up a really cool 20 litre
Camelbak pack that comes with its own rain cover for $90. The model is
called the Asymetrix 20, comes with 100oz bladder. Also picked up a pair of
Tecko Ultralight crew merino wool socks for $17 that were thin but just right
for my hiking boots. Did I mention Chalk Creek campground near Nathrop just
south of Buena Vista? A good place to stay for showers and laundry. I also
made a visit to Salida which is 23 miles south of Buena Vista. There is a
great café in Salida next to Absolute Bikes called Bongo Billy’s Salida
Café. They have a nice patio right next to the Arkansas River. Salida also
has a Burger King on the main strip coming into town from the east.
The area that I had not been to before was Boulder, Longs
Peak and Estes Park. I only spent an afternoon in Boulder but I did mange to
visit a couple of really good outdoor shops, gear head that I am. The Mont
Bell shop on 28 Street and Canyon Boulevard (Burger King right here as well,
mmmm Angus burgers) is a must visit as well as Neptune Mountaineering which
is on South Broadway in the Table Mesa area. From here it was back to the
Longs Peak area as I had paid for a couple of nights ($20/night no showers)
at the Longs Peak campground which is only 1/8 mile from the Longs Peak
trailhead. Public showers are available 2.8 miles down the road at the
Meeker Park Lodge only $3. My other rest day I visited Estes Park which is
only 11 miles north of the Longs Peak area turnoff on highway 7. Estes Park
seems like a typical touristy mountain town with lots of T-Shirt shops and
restaurants. I went to Starbucks in the morning and toured a couple of
pretty good outdoor shops, Trailridge Outfitters close to Starbucks and the
Estes Park Mountain Shop Outlet Store on Big Thompson Avenue. Starbucks has
a nice patio with a creek or some say river flowing by. I tried Penelope’s
World Famous burger place. The burger was only average at best but the fries
were great, a little pricey at $8.
So, that’s a wrap on another good trip to Colorado with
lots to see and do. Longs Peak is a classic and I see why people keep coming
back to this mountain.
Colorado Fourteeners – Trip 2 July 24 – August 14, 2006

My daughter Victoria on the Summit of Mt
Sherman with Mt Sheridan (13er) behind her
Well, by God’s grace we made another safe and enjoyable
trip to Colorado and 14er land. It’s around 1,100 miles to Denver from
Calgary. We drove it in 2 days heading SE through Great Falls, Montana, on
secondary highways 87, 191, 3 to Billings, Montana. From there we headed
south on Interstate 90 for a short distance before I - 90 heads east, but
keep going south on highway 25/87 which goes all the way to Denver. The
first 1,000 miles of the trip was through fairly flat and mundane terrain
which is easier to drive then mountainous twisty terrain. We did not really
see mountainous terrain until 100 miles north of Denver. On this trip
starting on Monday July 24th I drove over 900 miles the first day to just
past Casper, Wyoming. We stopped at a "Rest Area" and crashed in the car. It
seems that this is common at these rest areas. Truckers, cars, and even the
odd motorcycle can be found here all going low budget on the sleep
accommodations. When I woke up and went to use the washroom I observed a
biker using his elbow as a pillow and sleeping on a hard bench in just his
leather jacket and jeans. His Harley was an older model which I am sure was
a bit of a boneshaker and just wore him out. That’s roughing it!
So, on Tuesday July 25th we avoided the famous
Denver rush hour traffic and headed west on I-70 out of Denver for half an
hour to take the Georgetown exit to Guanella Pass for the trailhead to Mt.
Bierstadt. From this trailhead you can do both Bierstadt and Mt. Evans via
the Sawtooth ridge. From the summit of Bierstadt I was tempted to do Mt.
Evans also but have just driven 1,200 miles and realizing that there was a
long trek back from Evans through the swampy willows I deferred to another
time. I did not want to do myself in the first day I got there.
We planned a day of shopping at REI in Denver so we
picked up a map of Denver and looked for a place to camp and sleep low then
do some shopping the next day. Coming back into Denver on I-70 you can take
exit 269a which is on the west side of Denver and hop onto Wadsworth
Boulevard heading south. Wadsworth Boulevard runs south for a long ways
right into Chatfield State Park where you can camp. Just follow Wadsworth
all the way and it will take you into Chatfield. As we drove down Wadsworth
we spotted the south REI store and a Starbucks, our stops for the next day.
Chatfield itself is a reservoir setup for use by boaters and the roads
throughout the park seem to draw a lot of cyclist’s. The amount of trees
weren’t up to what I thought should be there but for a one night stop it had
good washrooms and a central shower building. With the amount of water there
a lot more trees need to be planted. Anyways, a good location for visiting
the south REI and any other store (Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart etc) for
that matter along Wadsworth. We were happy to spot the south REI as it
simplified going into and out of Denver and we didn’t have to try and get
downtown to visit the REI store there. So we had a leisurely day shopping.
Vicky picked up a very nice green Marmot Precip Plus jacket at REI. The
Precip Plus in addition to the DWR coating on the outside has a waterproof
breathable barrier on the inside as well but you pay a bit more which I
think is worth it. The regular Precip has just the DWR coating which would
need to be regularly redone.
The REI store I think has lost their focus a bit on the
type of items they carry. There seems to be less hard core mountaineering
items and hard core name brand stuff. Like, I couldn’t even find a clothing
item made with Goretex XCR. Their shoe selection also seemed a little on the
lite side. I would have been really tempted if they would have had La
Sportiva Glacier boots in grey.
Our next stop was the Mt. Quandary
trailhead. We scrambled Quandary with many others
as well as Horton the Quandary Wonder Dog. Horton
is a gold lab who lives at the base of Quandary
and attaches himself to hikers and their dogs and climbs with them. I had
seen mention of him at www.14ers.com but did not expect to meet him. Horton
likely has the all time record for summits of Quandary.
From there it was on to Mt. Sherman to enjoy camping in the basin at 11,700
feet. Chips and salsa went well as we sat around the fire enjoying the views
in the basin of Mt. Sheridan and Mt. Sherman. Quandary
and Sherman are very close to Breckenridge so on our days of leisure we
wandered around the famous ski town looking for food and bargains.
After these 3 scrambles it was off to the Sawatch Range
which holds 15 fourteeners from the town of Salida
to Buena Vista to just north of
Leadville. This would be our area of concentration. On our way there
we stopped in Buena Vista and had a meal at
Coyote’s Cantina. Definitely recommend a stop there, their beef and steak
burrito’s with green chili are awesome. Give it a try. Our first scramble in
the Sawatch range was a combo called Shavano/Tabeguache. Long and tough are
my memories but successful with our 5am start. Nearly all
our starts were 5am to 6am to ensure getting to the summit and off by noon
to avoid potential lightning storms. From here it was up to Leadville
and the Sugar Loafin’ RV Campground for 4 days as we needed a shower and to
do our laundry. We had done the face cloth shower with a bowl of soapy water
prior to this. I highly recommend Sugar Loafin’ for its shaded tent sites,
hospitality, hot showers and laundry. While at Sugar Loaf we scrambled Mt.
Massive from the shorter SW slopes and La Plata Peak
from highway 82 paved. Victoria and I did some free road building on
the North Halfmoon Creek high clearance road for West Mt. Massive in order
to get my 1998 RAV4 all the way to the trailhead. Ended up hiking the
mountain with Justin who was on a solo tear through the 14ers until he went
back to school in Durango. La Plata Peak was another social climb as the
parking lot was full. Spent quite a bit of time talking with Stuart and
Hattie on the way down.
Our next move on the itinerary was the Belford/Oxford
combo. We were going to try and backpack up the Missouri basin and do all
three mountains (Belford/Oxford/Missouri) but my cheap used backpack did not
adequately fit me when fully loaded so we had to scrap that idea or risk
serious injury on my 52 year old body. So, we slept at the trailhead and
successfully completed the Belford/Oxford combo in spite of hearing a pack
of coyotes in the basin on the traverse between Belford/Oxford. I had a
hunting knife and ski poles but wondered where I would get the energy if
that pack came up to the ridge. The Belford/Oxford combo is 5,900 ft
elevation gain and 11 miles return!
Next was our toughest combo, Harvard/Columbia. We did a
really lite backpack with our Deuter daypacks to get to the tree line of the
Harvard/Columbia basin the night before. We took our tent (thank God, the
mosquito’s were out in full force at tree line, we originally toyed with the
idea of just a tarp), one sleeping bag, one sleeping pad, energy bars, and a
can of Ensure meal replacement drink for supper and breakfast. In our haste
we forgot the water pump which proved to makes things tougher on the next
day. So, we packed in 3.5 miles and 1,700 ft. This is a popular backpacking
area and at least a dozen others did the same. The next day, in spite of a
poor sleep like only a few hours we got a 5:30am start and had an enjoyable
scramble up Mt. Harvard. That was the good part, the bad started as we cast
our eyes upon the 2.2 mile traverse across to Mt. Columbia with the claimed
loss of elevation of 1,200 to 1,300 feet. You look at it and your mind says
it’s not that far but it is. I would say the elevation loss is closer to
1,700 feet and it takes nearly 3 hours to get to the summit of Columbia.
Combine that with no trail up the slopes of Columbia and a hot day, a long
descent down Columbia to tree line with water running out, picking up your
tent and gear and hoofing it another 3.5 miles to the trail head and you get
the picture. I remembered the tired and gaunt looking face of a hiker coming
off the trailhead the day before and now I knew! Such fun and memories!
Our trip was winding down 11 Fourteeners done and only
Castle Peak near Aspen left on the schedule which would make
nearly 40,000 feet of hiking
and 12 Fourteeners from July 26 to
August 12th. Ah, and I was losing some weight too! Victoria and I
enjoyed a nice drive to Aspen on highway 82 over Independence Pass at 12,095
feet, camped just before Aspen at Difficult campground, and shopped a bit
around Aspen. Our last scramble was probably the most eventful. Castle
Peak/Conundrum Peak sits in a very enclosed basin and has a permanent
snowfield below the saddle between them. There is a 4x4 road which goes up
to the basin and a small parking lot at 12,800 feet. I only took the Rav4 up
to 10,300 feet just before the creek crossing. The next ¼ mile past that
looked pretty rocky so I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. In hindsight
the road past that spot another 1.7 miles up to the Pearl Pass junction was
actually pretty good, oh well. From this junction it’s another 2.5 miles up
an old mining road to 12,800 feet. We hiked up the 1.7 miles in the morning,
another 5am start and ran into Jon from Colorado Springs who regaled us with
his adventures and misfortunes in Colorado’s mountains. Vicky and I enjoyed
his company and also that he hiked up and down with us the rest of the day
even though he was faster. We hiked the NE ridge to the left of the
permanent snowfield, dropped 450ft down to the saddle between Castle and
Conundrum then 240 feet up to Conundrum then back to the saddle. We did not
want to climb back the 450 feet back over Castle and descend the NE ridge
again so we descended down from the saddle to the steep steep snowfield. Did
I say it was steep? Gerry Roach in his guide recommends an ice axe and I
could see why. As Jon mentioned a good chance for a high speed descent with
a few rock enemas possible. Jon went first and made it down with a few
scrapes and bruises here and there. I have a pair of Black Diamond
Expedition poles that will telescope down to a small size like 60cm. One for
Vicky and one for me, our improvised pseudo ice axes. Vicky made it down
with style but I was almost immediately turned every which way but managed
to dig my pole in above my head and with very little style slid rapidly down
the slope on my front side. We had picked a rock free part of the snow slope
so all survived. A member of a party behind us slid down with no brakes but
the heels of her feet and by her screams as she picked up speed we knew
someone could easily get seriously hurt. She survived with a scare and a few
bruises but this route definitely needs an ice axe.
Jon who had driven up to the Pearl Pass junction gave us
a ride down the 1.7 mile section and our adventure ended with thanks and
smiles at a successful though cloudy day summiting both Castle Peak and
Conundrum.
From here it was a leisurely drive back to Calgary. We
stopped at Glenwood Springs just 40 minutes north of Aspen where they have a
great looking outdoor water park. They wanted $15US
to enter but since we only wanted a shower we passed on the cost, maybe next
time if we can stay for the day. From there it was another "Rest Area" stay
then onto Jackson Hole for Mexican food. From Jackson it was over to I-15
then up to Missoula, Montana. We went through
Missoula so we could drive through Glacier National Park and the "Going to
the Sun Road". It amazes me that humans would build such a road on the side
of a mountain, very popular with motorcycles, cyclists and tourists. The
only drawback that we encountered was being gouged at the West Glacier park
gate for a 7 day pass ($25US) when all I was doing
was passing through the park to Calgary. Perhaps a day pass for $10-15 would
be more reasonable.
Acclimatization
Our acclimatization was minimal on this trip as we hiked
Bierstadt right away with no ill effects. I was in better shape than the
year before as I had done 6 scrambles in the Canadian Rockies. As long as we
kept hydrated and ate well to recover we seemed to suffer no ill effects
from the altitude. I think being fit, hydrating and eating well help a great
deal in minimizing altitude effects. Last year’s trip was much tougher as I
had been injured before the trip. The other surprise was being able to
scramble all the Fourteeeners on the schedule that I made up. I contribute a
lot of it to eating immediately after completing a Fourteener. We brought
along cans of Ensure meal replacement drinks and quaffed them down right
away at the trailhead. They seem to rapidly replace muscle glycogen if
consumed in the first 2 hours after exercise and it minimized muscle
soreness. Then we would try and have a good meal within
the next couple of hours.
Other Trip Highlights
The REI mountain store in Denver is awesome to browse
around.
The Cloud City Coffee House in Leadville has great
ambience, coffee, food and salsa. It also has the internet for a small fee
to e-mail your friends back home.
I highly recommend Coyote’s Cantina
on highway 285 near Buena Vista for their
beef/steak burrito’s with green chili.
The Merry Piglets Mexican Cantina in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. Awesome Burrito’s and Salsa. Try the Green Chili Chicken or Beef
Burrito. Work up an appetite first in order to finish it all!
Colorado Fourteeners -Trip 1 September 1 -
13, 2005
Well, I finally was able to make a scouting trip to
Colorado and climb a few of their 14’ers. Hopefully I can go back again for
an extended trip and further this venture so others can organize some good
trips down there. There’s a really good web site for researching a trip
called the Colorado 14ers. Web address is
https://www.14ers.com. I didn’t
buy a guide book until I got to Denver’s REI store (similar to MEC). The
guide book I purchased is "Colorado’s Fourteeners from Hikes to Climbs
Second Edition by Gerry Roach" It has both scramble and climbing routes.
Thank you Gerry!
My daughter Victoria and I made the trip September 1-13.
We had an enjoyable time preparing to head down. Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC)
picked up some of my hard earned cash. Bought a new 4 season tent, the MEC
Lightfield, new down sleeping bag, the MEC Raven, new headlamps, the
Princeton Yukons, as well as other assorted goodies. In the spring of 2005 I
had purchased a 1998 Toyota RAV4. It’s AWD but a fairly high clearance
vehicle. That would be a key ingredient for Colorado, a high clearance
vehicle or a 4X4. I went with the RAV4 because it gets 35mpg highway and
30mgp city. That’s Canadian gallons for you Americans. Ours are bigger up
here.
Anyways, it’s around 1,100 miles to Denver from Calgary.
We drove it in 2 days heading SE through Great Falls, Montana, on secondary
highways 87, 191, 3 to Billings, Montana. From there we headed south on
Interstate 90 for a short distance before I - 90 heads east, but keep going
south on highway 25/87 which goes all the way to Denver. The first 1,000
miles of the trip was through fairly flat and mundane terrain which is
easier to drive then mountainous twisty terrain. We did not really see
mountainous terrain until 100 miles north of Denver. Not to mind though,
Victoria and I were excited about our adventure and it seemed as if time
sped by. We did not weary of the drive at all, quite the opposite.
In hindsight, provided you don’t mind the risks of
hitting deer on the highway at night I would be tempted to drive as far as I
could the 1st day even 900-1,000 miles. Or another way would be
to knock off 200-300 miles say Calgary to Great Falls the evening before
your longest day of driving.
Much to my surprise Denver also has a "Deerfoot Trail"
experience for the faint of heart. Calgarians will relate to this only the
speed limit is 75mph or 120kmph. About 50 miles north of Denver on highway
25 on a Friday night you hit 3 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic traveling
at 75mph and above. Anyways, harrowing would be a good adjective. In the
last days many will be rushing to and fro.
Having finally arrived in Fourteeener Land, I have
accumulated a few recommendations. Early starts (6-8am) are recommended in
Fourteener Land due to afternoon lightning storms. In keeping with this a
lot of people camp at the trailheads or near by campgrounds. Most trailheads
require a high clearance vehicle, refer to the recommendations on the
Fourteener web site or guidebook. We even did some road repair on the
Democrat, Lincoln, Bross trailhead to get my RAV and a Suburu Outback all
the way up. The trailheads we visited had a non-smelly, yes you heard that
right, outhouse. What a pleasant surprise compared to the foul smelling gut
turning outhouses we have in our Canadian Rockies. Parks Canada and
Provincial Parks should be ashamed! Talk to the Americans please!
Acclimatization
This is an area you will have to monitor as to how your
body is adapting to the high altitude. For me it is hard to give a
definitive assessment. I had a patella knee tendon injury mid June and was
out of commission till mid August. In the last two weeks of August I did two
scrambles to see if my knee would hold up. I gave it a passing grade but
wasn’t in the best shape going to Colorado. I found it hard to sleep at
altitude. At the Gray/Torrey and Democrat/Lincoln/Bross trailheads the
altitude was 11,230 ft and 12,000 ft respectively. At the Mt. Elbert
campground it was around 10,000 feet. I was getting stuffed up at night and
bought a nasal spray which helped some in sleeping. My recommendation would
to take a few days longer perhaps sightseeing in the area before scrambling.
As for actually hiking you definitely huff and puff more when you pause to
catch your breath. Victoria seemed to adjust well and hardly huffed and
puffed at all during the hiking. You’ll definitely be slower so take that
into account when planning the time for scrambling.
Road Route
From Denver we headed west on I-70 where two popular 14er
combinations are close by within 35-60 miles of Denver. They are Mt.
Evans/Mt. Bierstadt and Grays Peak/Torreys Peak. Both outings can bag you
two 14ers in one day. On our trip we chose Grays/Torreys and hope to do
Evans/Bierstadt next season. From Grays/Torreys we headed west again on I-70
for around 20 miles and took exit 203/201 to highway 9 south for 30+ miles
to Alma passing through upscale Breckenridge along the way as well as Mt.
Quandary near Hoosier pass. West of Alma is the Kite Lake campground and
trailhead for the Mt. Democrat/Lincoln/Bross 14ers. These three 14ers can be
done in one day and you get to enjoy some long scenic ridge walks. Hope to
scramble Mt. Quandary next season. From here it’s 40 miles south on to Buena
Vista and then 37 miles back north on highway 24 to Leadville. The Buena
Vista area has a number of 14ers such as Mt. Princeton, Antero, Yale,
Columbia Harvard, Missouri, Belford, and Oxford. However Leadville was our
goal as this area has Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado as well as
Mt. Massive and La Plata Peak. From Leadville we began our tourist mode
heading on highway 82 to Aspen. Highway 82 is quite amazing as it hits
12,000 feet at Independence Pass. Just west of Aspen is Snowmass Mountain,
Capitol Peak, Maroon Peaks, Pyramid Peak and Castle Peak. Then north to
Glenwood Springs then onto Dinosaur National Monument. From here into
western Wyoming to Jackson Hole, the Teton's, and Yellowstone National Park.
As you can see a repeat of this route next season will afford no shortage of
14er opportunities.
Other Trip Highlights
The REI mountain store in Denver is awesome to browse
around in as well as the Starbuck’s next door.
The Cloud City Coffee House in Leadville has great
ambience, coffee, food and salsa. It also has the internet for a small fee
to e-mail your friends back home.
The Merry Piglets Mexican Cantina in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. Awesome Burrito’s and Salsa. Try the Green Chili Chicken or Beef
Burrito. Work up an appetite first in order to finish it all!