A Summer Of Stoke: My 14er Quest
As the winter season draws to a close in the front range of Colorado, and my Birkenstocks start to make an appearance on a regular basis, my excitement for summer adventures has been growing at an exponential rate. Route research, planning time off, and training for adventures has consumed every free space in my brain.
This upcoming alpine season, I will be channeling my inner Frodo and carrying my giant hobbit feet all around the state of Colorado, checking off the most challenging summits of my trail career.
Fueled by stoke and Epic Beef bars, me, my nine essentials, and a GoPro will frolic around the state of Colorado documenting trail stories for both your entertainment and to satisfy my soul’s call of the wild (minus the death part).
I’ve done a handful of technical routes already, so I’m excited to add extra challenges and gain experience. In the meantime, here's a list of Colorado's most difficult 14er routes (not including the Class 3/4 ones I’ve already summitted - Mt Wilson, Wilson Peak, El Diente, and Snowmass).
These are the 8 class 3/4/5 routes I hope to do this summer, in no particular order:
Capitol Peak - 15.9 miles, 5032 total vert
Little Bear Peak - 17.5 miles, 6387 total vert
Crestone Needle (combining with Crestone Peak) - 11.2 miles, 4320 total vert
Crestone Peak - 13.5 miles, 5741 total vert
North Maroon Peak to Maroon Peak to Pyramid Peak - 19.5 miles, 11814 total vert
Longs Peak - 16 miles, 5534 total vert
Kit Carson Mountain and Challenger Point - 13.5 miles, 6364 total vert
Sunlight Peak to Windom Peak to North Eolus and Mount Eolus - 38.4 miles, 10741 total vert
Total Anticipated Mileage: 145.5 miles
Total Anticipated Vert: 55,933 feet climbed
Bonus Mountains/Routes:
Wetterhorn Peak to Uncompaghre Peak - 17.5 miles, 6371 total vert
Mount Sneffels via Yankee Boy Basin - 5.5 miles, 2775 total vert
Mount Bierstadt to Mount Evans via the Sawtooth - 10.2 miles, 4048 total vert
Collegiate Region Run - no idea, this would be for funsies
