I hesitate to post this, seeing as how I seem to have brutally murdered Diane’s thread by mentioning this there.
Between August 11 and 14 (length of trip subject to change depending on final plan), my hiking club is making a trip to Colorado to hike a 14er. I’m well aware that CO has rainy afternoons at that time of the year, but we’re also less likely to run into snow on top of the mountain. As you can probably tell, at this time I’m in the early planning stages of the trip. I would, however, like to invite any Dopers who would be interested in joining us to email me or post here. (If I don’t hear from anyone, I’ll still “bump” the thread occasionally)
I’d also like to ask for your feedback. Our plan so far is to go somewhere fairly close to the 4-corners area (we’re coming from AZ, and it’s a long drive). If you can, please suggest any 14ers nearby that wouldn’t require any special equipment (i.e. no crampons, pickaxes, etc.) to hike. This could be a backpacking trip, or we can just camp out (in which case we would probably get a higher attendence) and day-hike to the top. We’ll work out all the details through email to be safe. God forbid that some axe murderer, or, worse yet, Serlinel, would surprise us by showing up on this trip.
(Only 2 days old and this thread is already on page- freakin’-4, fer Chrissake!)
Thanks, techchick. If Alpine (where are you?) doesn’t post here, I’ll at least hit her up for some suggestions, seeing as how she lives very close to where I want to do this hike.
Glad to see you’re interested, kinoons. I’ll be sure to include you on correspondence leading up to the trip.
Ms Techchick is absolutely right. We gots all kindsa peaks for you to climb in my area. Yes, it could rain on you, but if you get up early enough, you can probably make it. And we’re about 2 weeks ahead of schedule in the summer department, so snow will likely be mostly gone.
Some non-technical suggestions in the Telluride (West San Juans) area: Wilson Peak, Mt Sneffels… I live right underneath the Wilsons, but Mt Wilson and El Diente are technical. You’d probably be better off checking a 14er guidebook to find your tailor-made climb. “Colorado’s Fourteeners”, for example. There are definite possibilities for a camp-out/dayhike deal. Here’s a link to the Colorado Fourteeners organization. There are simply scads of beautiful mountains here - you might not want to rule out peaks under 14000, depending on what kind of experience you want.
If non-mountaineering Dopers want to make the trip, there is tons of outdoor stuff to do w/o getting up at 4am (I’m not kidding) to do a peak. Personally, I prefer mellower hiking experiences. Remember the altitude factor!
Anyway, feel free to email me. The tentative dates look good, but I’ll warn ya that the following weekend I’ll be out of town (8/18 - 22), and no you can’t use the showers while I’m gone!
techchick - now Glenwood Springs I could make it to! Hot springs, beautiful town, only 4 hours away…
Thanks for the input, Alpine. I found that web site to be very helpful. My friend’s parents have a cabin North of Dolores, so I’ve gotten some good input from him as well. I actually made an attempt on Wilson’s Peak last June. We backpacked up to Navajo Lake and tried to hike up Wilson’s Peak from there. Unfortunately, the snow hadn’t melted enough yet and a significant portion of the trail was still covered. If another friend of mine, Herb, had been there instead of the person I was hiking with (a 50-something-year-old lady), we probably would’ve been stupid enough to make it to the peak.
If any of you other Dopers are interested in camping in Southwest CO during that time frame, but don’t necessarily want to hike, please weigh in here. Although I have final say (I am the trip leader) on the plans, I don’t want to alienate so many people that I’m the only one who makes the trip.
