Trip Reports in Colorado (On Map)

Map Legend

Purple Paddle - Successful peak climb non winter and non technical

Blue Paddle - Successful peak climb in winter months (December - April)

Green Starred Paddle - Successful technical ascent

Red Stop Paddle - Worthy, but unsuccessful attempt

Hiker - Hiking trip with no planned ascents

 Trip Reports in Colorado (List)

September 7th 2008	Mount Evans, Mount Spalding	Front Range
October 4th 2008	Mount Bierstadt from Guanella Pass	Front Range
August 30th 2009	Mount Powell Attempt	Gore Range
September 6th 2009	Drift Peak Villa Ridge	Tenmile Range
September 12th 2009	Iowa Peak North Slopes and West Ridge	Sawatch Range
September 20th 2009	Dyer Mountain, Mount Sherman from Iowa Gulch	Mosquito Range
October 3rd 2009	Point 13,618, Hunky Dory Lake	Sawatch Range
January 3rd 2010	Mount Parnassus, Bard Peak	Front Range
January 5th 2010	Cupid, Grizzly Peak D, Mount Sniktau	Front Range
August 28th 2010	Gold Dust Peak South Face	Sawatch Range
August 29th 2010	Notch Mountain	Sawatch Range
September 5th 2010	Mount Powell, Gore Range Traverse	Gore Range
September 16th 2010	Quandary Peak East Ridge	Tenmile Range
September 18th 2010	Atlantic Peak, Pacific Peak from Mohawk Lakes	Tenmile Range
September 26th 2010	Mount Jackson	Sawatch Range
October 15-17th 2010	Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop Hike	Elk Range
May 4th 2011	James Peak	Front Range
May 5th 2011	Mount Belford	Sawatch Range
May 29th 2011	Mount Silverheels	Front Range
June 4th 2011	Blanca Peak, Ellingwood Point	Sangre de Cristo Range
June 5th 2011	Mount Shavano, Tabeguache Peak	Sawatch Range
June 12th 2011	Challenger Point	Sangre de Cristo Range
June 13th 2011	Mount Sneffels Lavender Couloir	San Juan Range
June 25th 2011	Uncompahgre Peak, Matterhorn Peak	San Juan Range
June 26th 2011	Redcloud Peak, Sunshine Peak	San Juan Range
June 27th 2011	San Luis Peak from Equity Mine	San Juan Range
June 29th 2011	Mount Antero, Cronin Peak	Sawatch Range
June 30th 2011	Twining Peak, Point 13,500	Sawatch Range
August 27th 2011	Grays Peak, Torreys Peak	Front Range
September 3rd 2011	Mount Adams Southeast Face	Sangre de Cristo Range
September 15th 2011	Clark Peak	Medicine Bow Range*
September 17th 2011	Mount Massive Southwest Slopes	Sawatch Range
September 18th 2011	Castle Peak Northeast Ridge, Conundrum Peak	Elk Range
September 20th 2011	Crystal Peak, Peak 10	Tenmile Range
September 25th 2011	Vermilion Peak, Fuller Peak	San Juan Range
September 29th 2011	Fletcher Mountain	Tenmile Range
October 2nd 2011	Casco Peak North Ridge from Lackawanna Gulch	Sawatch Range
October 20th 2011	Mount Edwards East Slopes	Front Range*
October 23rd 2011	Snowmass Mountain East Face	Elk Range
November 27th 2011	The DeCaLiBron	Mosquito Range
December 11th 2011	Mount Huron Northwest Slopes	Sawatch Range
December 25th 2011	Mount Elbert East Ridge	Sawatch Range
January 4th 2012	Mount Belford, Mount Oxford from Missouri Gulch	Sawatch Range
January 10th 2012	Mount Hope East Ridge from Sheep Gulch	Sawatch Range
January 13th 2012	Mount Yale East Ridge	Sawatch Range
January 15th 2012	Lackawanna Peak South Slopes	Sawatch Range
February 4th 2012	Mount Columbia Southeast Ridge	Sawatch Range
February 7th 2012	Loveland Mountain	Mosquito Range
February 11th 2012	La Plata Peak Northwest Ridge	Sawatch Range
February 26th 2012	Rinker Peak, Twin Peaks Northeast Ridge	Sawatch Range
March 3rd 2012	Spread Eagle Peak East Ridge	Sangre de Cristo Range
March 9th 2012	Bull Hill	Sawatch Range
March 10th 2012	Mount Princeton	Sawatch Range
March 23rd 2012	Mount Flora, Colorado Mines Peak	Front Range
March 24th 2012	Missouri Mountain	Sawatch Range
March 25th 2012	Longs Peak Keyhole Route	Front Range
April 6th 2012	Mosquito Traverse (Ten Peaks)	Mosquito Range
April 7th 2012	Mount Oklahoma	Sawatch Range
April 10th 2012	Mount Arkansas East Face	Mosquito Range
April 21st 2012	French Mountain East Face	Sawatch Range
April 22nd 2012	Clinton, Traver, McNamee Peaks	Mosquito Range
May 4th 2012	Humboldt Peak, Obstruction Peak, Columbia Point	Sangre de Cristo Range
May 5th 2012	Mount Ouray West Ridge	Sawatch Range
May 15th 2012	Grizzly Peak A East Ridge, Garfield Peak	Sawatch Range
May 18th 2012	Mount Harvard South Slopes	Sawatch Range
May 20th 2012	Cathedral Peak East Gully/South Ridge	Elk Range
May 21st 2012	Square Top Mountain East Ridge	Front Range
May 28th 2012	North Apostle West Slopes	Sawatch Range
May 30th 2012	Ice Mountain Apostle Couloir, West Apostle	Sawatch Range
June 1st 2012	Mount Lindsey Northwest Ridge, Huerfano Peak	Sangre de Cristo Range
June 3rd 2012	South Maroon Peak South Ridge	Elk Range
June 7th 2012	Stewart Peak East Ridge, Baldy Alto	San Juan Range
June 8th 2012	Thunder Pyramid West Face	Elk Range
June 9th 2012	Pyramid Peak Northeast Ridge	Elk Range
June 10th 2012	Niagara Peak, Jones Mountain, American Peak	San Juan Range
June 11th 2012	Handies Peak	San Juan Range
June 12th 2012	Wetterhorn Peak	San Juan Range
June 16th 2012	Peak C West Ridge	Gore Range
June 17th 2012	Eagles Nest South Ridge	Gore Range
June 20th 2012	Wilson Peak West Ridge, Gladstone Peak North Ridge	San Juan Range
June 21st 2012	El Diente to Mount Wilson Traverse	San Juan Range
June 24th 2012	Arrow Peak Northeast Face	San Juan Range
June 27th 2012	Mount Sneffels Southwest Ridge	San Juan Range
June 29th 2012	North Maroon Peak	Elk Range
July 1st 2012	Capitol Peak Northeast Ridge, Mount Daly South Ridge	Elk Range
August 16th 2012	Jagged Mountain North Face, Leviathan Peak	San Juan Range
August 18th 2012	Mount Eolus, Sunlight Peak, Windom Peak, Jupiter Mountain	San Juan Range
December 29th 2012	Little Bear Peak Southwest Ridge	Sangre de Cristo Range
June 8th 2013	Crestone Needle Ellingwood Arete 5.7	Sangre de Cristo Range
June 10th 2013	Petit Grepon South Face 5.8	Front Range
September 29 2013	Teakettle Mountain Southeast Ridge	San Juan Range
January 14th 2014	Avocado Gully and The Drool	Colorado Ice
January 15th 2014	Hidden Falls	Colorado Ice
May 18th 2014	Mount Meeker Dreamweaver Couloir	Front Range
September 1st 2014	Dallas Peak	San Juan Range
September 26th 2014	Independence Monument Otto's Route 5.9	Colorado National Monument
September 28th 2014	Malemute Peak	Elk Range
September 27th 2015	Vestal Peak Wham Ridge, Greystone Peak	San Juan Range

Sawatch Range

Sunlight Spire and Windom Peak

Sunset over Mount Princeton

Sunrise over Vermilion Peak and Golden Horn

Little Bear Peak in Winter

The Grenadier Range

Aspen foliage at Winfield

Capitol Peak Northeast Ridge

Cathedral Peak Spires

Descending Rinker Peak

Fall over Chimney Rock

Overview

Sunrise in Rocky Mountain National Park in the Front Range

Mount of the Holy Cross in the Sawatch Range - Photo by Jack B

Crestone Needle from S Colony Lakes in the Sangres

The Maroon Bells in the Elk Range

Peak C in the Gore Range - Part of the Greater Park Range

Arrow and Vestal Peaks in the San Juan Range

Colorado is a state that revolves around the outdoors. Many world class climbers and mountaineers call this place home and for a good reason. Colorado makes a great training ground due to the often sunny weather and great ice and rock climbing crags. The cold and windy winters offer great cold weather, big mountain training and the high altitude requires one to be in great shape. Colorado has it all however some key features are lacking. Colorado doesn't have any glaciers which is a huge problem for those looking for crevasse rescue training. Despite this, Colorado is a great place to live and offers 300 sunny days a year. The main hub is Denver and in many ways is dangerously similar to Seattle, the main hub for the state of Washington. Colorado can easily be divided into sections based on the sub-ranges that are distinguished by geology and geography. 

Front Range

The Front Range is the closest to Denver and stretches from Rocky Mountain National Park capped by the infamous Longs Peak in the north, to Pikes Peak in the south which towers above Colorado Springs. Between lies the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Lost Creek Wilderness, Vasquez Peak Wilderness and the I-70 range. Most of the high Front Range is noted to be pretty gentle with many 13,000 foot peaks being large hills with simple routes up many faces. There are hidden gems however in the Indian Peaks Wilderness and around Longs Peak. Many of the east facing aspects were heavily scoured by glaciers and although the glaciers are now gone, dramatic cliffs and deep couloirs can be found on east aspects throughout the Front Range. The Arapaho Peaks are a good example. Interstate 70 cuts right across the range passing through Idaho Springs and Georgetown which are Front Range mountain towns. The Eisenhower Tunnel at just over 11,000 feet crosses under the continental divide along the crest of the range. This tunnel is the highest elevation of any US Interstate. Lower elevation areas in The Front Range is there all the true gems are hidden. World class climbing areas such as Eldorado Canyon and the Flatirons near Boulder, as well as Shelf Road and Garden of the Gods by Colorado Springs are located on the flanks of this mighty range. 

Sawatch Range

The Sawatch Range is likely the best range for hiking mountains. Nearly the entire range is gentle and good for hiking. The range is very long stretching from Vail to the north all the way to Salida and Buena Vista in the south. Between lie 15 of Colorado's 53 ranked fourteeners and an additional 12 centennial thirteeners, meaning over a quarter of the highest 100 in Colorado lie in the Sawatch! Although the range is classified as being very gentle, good mountaineering routes like the Refrigerator Couloir on Ice Mountain, the Cross Couloir on Holy Cross and the Grizzly Couloir on Grizzly Peak are found. There are however few, if any good rock climbing routes in the Sawatch. The most rugged part of the range is probably the Holy Cross Wilderness at the northern end. Oddly enough this is also the most remote despite the close proximity to I-70. To the south, Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, the two highest peaks in Colorado are found towering above Leadville which is the highest incorporated city in North America. The National Mining Museum is found in Leadville. Many other 14ers are found in the central and southern end of the range.

Sangre de Cristo Range

The Sangres are a long and thin fault block range similar to the Grand Tetons which rose 6000 feet above the Wet Mountain and San Luis Valleys without any foothills. No paved roads penetrate the spine of this range and it must be driven around. There are two main groups in this range which are the Crestone group and the Blanca Group. All the highest peaks are found in these groups. The Crestones are two of the best peaks in Colorado and offer many great routes while Little Bear in the Blanca group is possible the hardest and most dangerous 14er. The Sangres demand respect or you might pay the ultimate price. Westcliffe is the primary launching point from the Wet Mountain valley to the east while Alamosa is the largest town in the San Luis valley to the west. Further to the south, only 15 miles north of New Mexico lies Culebra Peak which lies entirely on private property and the owners require a $100 fee to climb it. Although there are ways around this it is best to pay it if you desire to climb all the 14ers in Colorado. Many lower 13ers lie between the main peaks in the Sangres composed of mainly red colored sandstone.

Elk Range

The Elk Range is Colorado's most picturesque range and home to some of the worlds most famous mountains known as the Maroon Bells. The town of Aspen sites in the heart of the Elks and is world famous for its skiing and beauty. The Elks can easily be divided into two obvious sections based on geology. The eastern half of the Elks are characterized but the red colored Maroon Formation sedimentary rock which gives the Maroon Bells its deep red color. This rock is known to be of poor quality and climbing on it can be very dangerous. Pyramid Peak sits right across the Maroon Bells and is another one of the hardest 14ers. This area is also home to Castle Peak, the highest in the range. Further west is the granitic core of the Elks characterized by mainly good quality granite. This area is home to Capitol Peak which is usually referred as the most difficult 14er and has the only required knife edge crossing of any 14er. One of Colorado's best alpine basins, the Pierre Lakes Basin, sits below Capitol and Snowmass  and offers on of the most remote places to camp in Colorado!

Greater Park Range

This range is Colorado's longest range as it stretches from Laramie, Wyoming all the way south to Buena Vista. However it is broken out into a number of sections based on geography. Geologically speaking however this entire range is the same. In the northern part of the Park Range lies the Medicine Bow and Park Mountains surrounding Grand Lake and Steamboat Springs. Mount Zirkel is the highest peak in the Park mountains at 12,180 feet elevation. Clark Peak is the highest in the Medicine Bows at 12,951 feet. Further south lies the Gore Range which starts at Eagles Nest just west of Kremmling and extends south to Jacque Peak which Copper Mountain resides on. The Gores are distinguished by having many of its prominent peaks named for the letters of the alphabet starting at "Peak A" in the north and ending at "Peak Z" further south. Tenmile Canyon, a deep cut which I-70 follows shortly to the west of Silverthorne divides the Gore Range to the west and the Tenmile Range to the east. Really these ranges are the same but have different names simply because there is a big canyon and an interstate between them. Peak One starts the Tenmile Range in the north and extends to the south to the continental divide at Wheeler Mountain at which point the Mosquito Range begins and extends south to the Buffalo Peaks just above Buena Vista. The boundaries for all these ranges in the Greater Park Range are all arbitrary based on geographic features however if you can remember they are all geologically the same you're good. 

San Juan Range

The San Juans are undoubtedly Colorado's finest range with unsurpassed beauty and enough peaks, lakes and open meadows to feed your mountain climbing, backpacking and photography desires. In fact, the San Juans are the best place in Colorado to embark on long treks involving many consecutive days of cross country travel. There are 12 of Colorado's 53 ranked 14ers in the San Juans with an additional two, El Diente and North Eolus that often make climbers' lists due to their beauty and overall difficulty to ascend despite not quite having 300 feet of prominence. The highest peak in the San Juans goes to Uncompahgre Peak at 14,309 feet in elevation. Although there are 14 beautiful 14ers in the range, it is the 13ers that make the San Juans so special. With 314 rugged peaks between 13,000 and 13,999 feet the San Juans include an astonishing 43 percent of all the 13ers in the state. The only three centennial 13ers in Colorado that require class 5 traveling are found in the San Juans and offer a monumental capstone trio for many Colorado climbers working towards the Centennials. In total there are sixteen centennial 13ers in the San Juans, added on to the twelve 14ers, to provide you an incredible list of peaks to climb! The San Juans are remote, rugged and wild.

State Map

The Colorado Centennials

Peak Name	Elevation	Rank	Range	Difficulty (YDS)
Mount Elbert	14,433'	1	Sawatch	class 1
Mount Massive	14,421'	2	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Harvard	14,420'	3	Sawatch	class 2
Blanca Peak	14,345'	4	Sangre De Cristo	class 2
La Plata	14,336'	5	Sawatch	class 2
Uncompahgre Peak	14,309'	6	San Juan	class 2
Crestone Peak	14,294'	7	Sangre De Cristo	class 3
Mount Lincoln	14,286'	8	Mosquito Range	class 2
Grays Peak	14,270'	9	Front Range	class 1
Mount Antero	14,269'	10	Sawatch	class 2
Torreys Peak	14,267'	11	Front Range	class 2
Castle Peak	14,265'	12	Elk Range	class 2+
Quandary Peak	14,265'	13	Tenmile Range	class 1
Mount Evans	14,264'	14	Front Range	class 1
Longs Peak	14,255'	15	Front Range	class 3
Mount Wilson	14,246'	16	San Juan Range	class 4
Mount Shavano	14,229'	17	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Princeton	14,197'	18	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Belford	14,197	19	Sawatch	class 1
Crestone Needle	14,197	20	Sangre De Cristo	class 3
Mount Yale	14,196'	21	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Bross	14,172'	22	Mosquito	class 2
Kit Carson Peak	14,165'	23	Sangre De Cristo	class 3
Maroon Peak	14,156'	24	Elk Range	class 3
Tabeguache Peak	14,155'	25	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Oxford	14,153'	26	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Sneffels	14,150'	27	San Juan	class 2
Mount Democrat	14,148'	28	Mosquito	class 2
Capitol Peak	14,130'	29	Elk	class 4
Pikes Peak	14,110	30	Front Range	class 1
Snowmass Mountain	14,092'	31	Elk	class 3
Windom Peak	14,087'	32	San Juan	class 2+
Mount Eolus	14,084'	33	San Juan	class 3
Challenger Point	14,081'	34	Sangre De Cristo	class 2+
Mount Columbia	14,073'	35	Sawatch	class 2
Missouri Mountain	14,067'	36	Sawatch	class 2+
Humboldt Peak	14,064'	37	Sangre De Cristo	class 2
Mount Bierstadt	14,060'	38	Front Range	class 2
Sunlight Peak	14,059'	39	San Juan	class 4
Handies Peak	14,048'	40	San Juan	class 1
Culebra Peak	14,047'	41	Sangre De Cristo	class 2
Mount Lindsey	14,042'	42	Sangre De Cristo	class 2+
Ellingwood Point	14,042'	43	Sangre De Cristo	class 2
Little Bear	14,037'	44	Sangre De Cristo	class 4
Mount Sherman	14,036'	45	Mosquito Range	class 2
Redcloud Peak	14,034'	46	San Juan	class 2
Pyramid Peak	14,018'	47	Elk Range	class 4
Wilson Peak	14,017'	48	San Juan	class 3
Wetterhorn	14,015'	49	San Juan	class 3
San Luis Peak	14,014'	50	San Juan	class 1
Mount of the Holy Cross	14,005'	51	Elk Range	class 2
Huron Peak	14,003'	52	Sawatch	class 1
Sunshine Peak	14,001'	53	San Juan	class 2
Grizzly Peak	13,988'	54	Sawatch	class 2
Stewart Peak	13,983'	55	San Juan	class 1
Columbia Point	13,980'	56	Sangre De Cristo	class 2+
Pigeon Peak	13,972'	57	San Juan	class 4
Mount Ouray	13,971'	58	Sawatch	class 2
Fletcher Mountain	13,951	59	Tenmile Range	class 2
Ice Mountain	13,951	60	Sawatch	class 3
Pacific Peak	13,950'	61	Tenmile Range	class 2
Cathedral Peak	13,943	62	Elk Range	class 3
French Mountain	13,940'	63	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Hope	13,933'	64	Sawatch	class 2
"Thunder Pyramid"	13,932'	65	Elk Range	class 3
Mount Adams	13,931	66	Sangre De Cristo	class 2+
Gladstone Peak	13,913'	67	San Juan	class 3
Mount Meeker	13,911'	68	Front Range	class 3
Casco Peak	13,908'	69	Sawatch	class 2
Red Mountain	13,908	70	Sangre De Cristo	class 2
Emerald Peak	13,904'	71	Sawatch	class 2
Horseshoe Mountain	13,898'	72	Tenmile Range	class 1
"Phoenix Peak"	13,895'	73	San Juan	class 1
Vermilion Peak	13,894'	74	San Juan	class 2
Cronin Peak	13,870'	75	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Buckskin	13,865'	76	Tenmmile Range	class 2
Vestal Peak	13,864'	77	San Juan	class 2+
Jones Mountain	13,860'	78	San Juan	class 2
North Apostle	13,860'	79	Sawatch	class 2
Clinton Peak	13,857'	80	Tenmile Range	class 2
Dyer Mountain	13,855'	81	Tenmile Range	class 2
Crystal Peak	13,852	82	Tenmile Range	class 2
Mount Edwards	13,850'	83	Front Range	class 1
California Peak	13,849'	84	Sangre De Cristo	class 1
Mount Oklahoma	13,845'	85	Sawatch	class 2
"Atlantic Peak"	13,841'	86	Tenmile Range	class 2
Hagerman Peak	13,841	87	Elk Range	class 2+
Half Peak	13,841	88	San Juan	class 2
Turret Peak	13,835'	89	San Juan	class 2+
Point 13,832	13,832'	90	San Juan	class 2
Holy Cross Ridge	13,831'	91	San Juan	class 2
Jupiter Mountain	13,830'	92	San Juan	class 2+
"Huerfano Peak"	13,828'	93	Sangre De Cristo	class 2
Jagged Mountain	13,824'	94	San Juan	class 5.2
"Lackawanna Peak"	13,823'	95	Sawatch	class 2
Mount Silverheels	13,822'	96	Tenmile Range	class 1
Rio Grande Pyramid	13,821'	97	San Juan	class 2
Teakettle Mountain	13,829'	98	San Juan	class 5.3
Point 13,811	13,811'	99	San Juan	class 1
Dallas Peak	13,809'	100	San Juan	class 5.3