14000 footer from the Collegiate Peaks Loop.

[Shae]

Greetings. Heading out from Twin Lakes on Aug. 23 and doing the Collegiate Peaks Loop clockwise. Would like a bag at least one 14,000 footer along the way. Any recommendation(s) on which one(s) to do? One that wouldn't alter our schedule too much. Thanks.

[colorado_rob]

Huron. Hands down. Right off your trail, near the end of your hike.

Info here:

http://14ers.com/route.php?route=huro1&peak=Huron+Peak

One other option would be Elbert, SE ridge route, after you finish your loop. Easy access from Twin Lakes.

Holler if any questions!

[bearcreek]

Mt. Princeton is easily accessible from the trail. 4500' of climb or so.

[colorado_rob]

Mt. Princeton is easily accessible from the trail. 4500' of climb or so.

True, but Huron is a much more scenic (views of the Apostles) and a much more pleasant climb, and finally, the OP will be more acclimated after he swings around to the west side.

Princeton is probably in my bottom 5 or 10 14ers in terms of enjoyment, and I've done all 55 of them twice, some many times (like Huron). Antero, just south of Princeton is my hands down least favorite 14er.

If you want a decent pair of 14ers, and a killer workout, Shavano and Tabaguache (pronounced tab-a-wash) are also easily accessible, further south of Princeton.

Heck do 'em all! There are 15 14ers in the Sawatch range.

[ddanko2]

Colorado_rob, Do you know what the mileage is from the CW to Huron Peak and back?

[colorado_rob]

Colorado_rob, Do you know what the mileage is from the CW to Huron Peak and back?

6.5 miles, 3500 feet of elevation gain.

[colorado_rob]

Colorado_rob, Do you know what the mileage is from the CW to Huron Peak and back?

Sorry, meant to say that's 6.5 miles, roundtrip.

[bearcreek]

If you are feeling adventurous, this is another idea and you can bag 5 14's in about the same time frame. I am guessing, but I think it shortens the loop by about 10 miles or so. Instead of starting at Twin Lakes, start at Missouri Gulch trailhead, which is on the road up to Winfield. Go up the Missouri Gulch trail a few miles and camp. Then get up early and summit Missouri, Oxford, and Belford in a single day, and continue up and over Elkhead Pass to the Pine Creek Trail. (It's not too hard, and is soooo impressive when telling stories.... ) Then follow the Pine Creek trail down to the CT and pick up the CT at mile 14.2 of the loop. From there you can pick up Mt. Princeton as described previously. Then do Huron on the return. When you get to the Sheep Gulch intersection, turn right and drop 1/4 mile down to the Clear Creek road and hike 2 miles back to your car.

[magic_game03]

Huron +1

Fewest # of People and the best views. You might actually get the summit to yourself (but don't count on it.)

[saltysack]

Damn this loop keeps getting longer!!! I need more than 10 day!!!


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[magic_game03]

Sorry, meant to say that's 6.5 miles, roundtrip.

Are you sure about that? I thought it was 3.4 miles from the ATV road (old CDT) and about 5 from the CDT/CW. Double those distances for RT.

I'm not saying you're wrong C_R, just pointing out some changes in the reroute that may change the distance.

[colorado_rob]

Are you sure about that? I thought it was 3.4 miles from the ATV road (old CDT) and about 5 from the CDT/CW. Double those distances for RT.

I'm not saying you're wrong C_R, just pointing out some changes in the reroute that may change the distance.

I actually hiked right thru there today, I'm doing a 5 day leg stretcher, I think my GPS was on, when I get home Tuesday, I can tell you exactly how close CW is to Huron trailhead.

I like bear creeks scheme.... More later.

[colorado_rob]

Are you sure about that? I thought it was 3.4 miles from the ATV road (old CDT) and about 5 from the CDT/CW. Double those distances for RT.

I'm not saying you're wrong C_R, just pointing out some changes in the reroute that may change the distance.

OK, so I did turn on my GPS just after I turned off the main trail that continues north to the Huron trailhead. Said another way, I was hiking north on the CDT/CW trail. I camped maybe a half-3/4 mile south of the Huron trailhead. Before you would get to the Huron trailhead, the CDT/CW trail branches off to the west. Just a bit, maybe 5 minutes after I made this turn I turned on my GPS, so I don't have an exact waypoint of where this turn is. However, looking at google Earth with my track superimposed, I think I can see the trail junction, and if I have it right it's only about .3 miles from this turn to the Huron trailhead.

Bottom line, add about a 0.6 to 0.8 miles to my original 6.5 miles roundtrip, call it 7.25 miles roundtrip to climb Huron from the closest point along the Collegiate West (CDT) trail.

If you want to climb Huron, as with any high peak, you would want a squirrelly-early start so you can summit and be coming down before the common early afternoon lightning storms. So a good scheme would be to camp near this junction. There are a ton of really nice camps along the CW trail just south of this junction, like the one I used, maybe a half-3/4 mile from the Huron trailhead. Or you could actually camp right at the Huron trailhead, or very close. The last time we used the Huron trailhead area (to climb the apostles), we car camped right there. I think this might be what you are calling the "ATV road", basically a dirt road to the Huron trailhead; my truck makes it there no problem, about 2 miles up from Winfield.

Get up early, climb Huron, return to camp, pack up and be on your way. Or even: back to camp, take a nice rest sitting out the afternoon t-storms, then on you way later or even camp another night there.

[ddanko2]

OK, so I did turn on my GPS just after I turned off the main trail that continues north to the Huron trailhead. Said another way, I was hiking north on the CDT/CW trail. I camped maybe a half-3/4 mile south of the Huron trailhead. Before you would get to the Huron trailhead, the CDT/CW trail branches off to the west. Just a bit, maybe 5 minutes after I made this turn I turned on my GPS, so I don't have an exact waypoint of where this turn is. However, looking at google Earth with my track superimposed, I think I can see the trail junction, and if I have it right it's only about .3 miles from this turn to the Huron trailhead.

Bottom line, add about a 0.6 to 0.8 miles to my original 6.5 miles roundtrip, call it 7.25 miles roundtrip to climb Huron from the closest point along the Collegiate West (CDT) trail.

If you want to climb Huron, as with any high peak, you would want a squirrelly-early start so you can summit and be coming down before the common early afternoon lightning storms. So a good scheme would be to camp near this junction. There are a ton of really nice camps along the CW trail just south of this junction, like the one I used, maybe a half-3/4 mile from the Huron trailhead. Or you could actually camp right at the Huron trailhead, or very close. The last time we used the Huron trailhead area (to climb the apostles), we car camped right there. I think this might be what you are calling the "ATV road", basically a dirt road to the Huron trailhead; my truck makes it there no problem, about 2 miles up from Winfield.

Get up early, climb Huron, return to camp, pack up and be on your way. Or even: back to camp, take a nice rest sitting out the afternoon t-storms, then on you way later or even camp another night there.

Rob, pardon my ignorance with the lack of knowledge regarding the afternoon thunderstorms, but do you (and others) typically pitch your tent and wait storms out in your tent? Or do you wait the storms out in other well-protected areas (dense forest, etc). Thanks!

[colorado_rob]

Rob, pardon my ignorance with the lack of knowledge regarding the afternoon thunderstorms, but do you (and others) typically pitch your tent and wait storms out in your tent? Or do you wait the storms out in other well-protected areas (dense forest, etc). Thanks!

mostly the latter (wait it out in a dense forest), sometimes I go ahead and make a camp, reasoning it might not clear up and I'll just stay there for the night. depends on a lot of things, sometimes I just trudge on if the next bunch of miles are well protected in the trees. But if there is high above treeline ground ahead and storms are brewing fast, I'll hunker down one way or another. FWIW, I don't think a tent affords any protection whatsoever, other than of course from the rain. Try to stay in the middle of a stand of average trees, staying away form the largest trees.

This last trip I was in a bit of a bind, and I made a classic mistake... I had reservations at the Twin Lakes Inn for Sunday night. so here it was, Saturday early afternoon and I'm south of Lake Ann pass about 1pm and the sky was blackening fast.... if I didn't make it over Lake Ann pass that afternoon, I would have had a HUGE day to make it to Twin Lakes by Sunday evening (and a shower and a steak and a few beers....). So I sat there at treeline hunkered down... lo-and-behold a big hole of blue sky appeared and I went for it, "sprinting" (a relative term at nearly 13,000 feet) over LA pass. Sure enough, the blue-sky gap quickly closed up and flash-booms started happening right when I reached the pass. down I flew over very rough terrain trying to not face-plant and trying to not get Char-broiled! Needless to say, I made it into the trees unscathed, but I should have waited as two hours later the skies were quiet and it would have been a much safer pass-crossing. I made it to a camp by 5pm (near the Huron trailhead), would have been fine to make it there by 7-8pm instead.

Don't mess with CO lightning storms! Or do, but of course it is a risk. Every year a couple souls lose their lives. CO is in 3rd place, behind Florida and Texas in lightning deaths at 17 in a recent 10-year period.

The rule-of thumb for climbing peaks is to summit before noon, heading down by noon. some days it can get electric earlier than that; I've been chased off as early as 8:30am, but this is rare.

[Shae]

mostly the latter (wait it out in a dense forest), sometimes I go ahead and make a camp, reasoning it might not clear up and I'll just stay there for the night. depends on a lot of things, sometimes I just trudge on if the next bunch of miles are well protected in the trees. But if there is high above treeline ground ahead and storms are brewing fast, I'll hunker down one way or another. FWIW, I don't think a tent affords any protection whatsoever, other than of course from the rain. Try to stay in the middle of a stand of average trees, staying away form the largest trees.

This last trip I was in a bit of a bind, and I made a classic mistake... I had reservations at the Twin Lakes Inn for Sunday night. so here it was, Saturday early afternoon and I'm south of Lake Ann pass about 1pm and the sky was blackening fast.... if I didn't make it over Lake Ann pass that afternoon, I would have had a HUGE day to make it to Twin Lakes by Sunday evening (and a shower and a steak and a few beers....). So I sat there at treeline hunkered down... lo-and-behold a big hole of blue sky appeared and I went for it, "sprinting" (a relative term at nearly 13,000 feet) over LA pass. Sure enough, the blue-sky gap quickly closed up and flash-booms started happening right when I reached the pass. down I flew over very rough terrain trying to not face-plant and trying to not get Char-broiled! Needless to say, I made it into the trees unscathed, but I should have waited as two hours later the skies were quiet and it would have been a much safer pass-crossing. I made it to a camp by 5pm (near the Huron trailhead), would have been fine to make it there by 7-8pm instead.

Don't mess with CO lightning storms! Or do, but of course it is a risk. Every year a couple souls lose their lives. CO is in 3rd place, behind Florida and Texas in lightning deaths at 17 in a recent 10-year period.

The rule-of thumb for climbing peaks is to summit before noon, heading down by noon. some days it can get electric earlier than that; I've been chased off as early as 8:30am, but this is rare.

Thanks for all the great info Rob. One more question - we are hiking the loop the last week in August and first week in September. Any lessening of the afternoon thunderstorms that time of year? Some of the info seems to indicate that but I certainly trust your feedback. Thanks.

[colorado_rob]

Thanks for all the great info Rob. One more question - we are hiking the loop the last week in August and first week in September. Any lessening of the afternoon thunderstorms that time of year? Some of the info seems to indicate that but I certainly trust your feedback. Thanks.

Yes, a definite lessening, but it is still significant in August, drops greatly in September. So end of August should be down significantly.

Here is a great page with monthly stats, even hourly stats. the hourly data is confusing because they use "Zulu" time, showing the peak strikes at 22 Zulu, which is 4pm.

http://www.weather.gov/pub/LightningFlashCounts

[aaronthebugbuffet]

Yes, a definite lessening, but it is still significant in August, drops greatly in September. So end of August should be down significantly.

Here is a great page with monthly stats, even hourly stats. the hourly data is confusing because they use "Zulu" time, showing the peak strikes at 22 Zulu, which is 4pm.

http://www.weather.gov/pub/LightningFlashCounts

I was out for 3 weeks last year peak bagging in August. Got really lucky and didn't hit a single thunderstorm the whole time.