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Colorado 14ers
A few weeks ago a friend asked me how many Colorado 14ers I had yet to climb, to which I responded “I don’t know?”. Upon looking this up I realized I only had 12 left, all of which could probably be done in 6 separate day trips, not bad. For many years I’ve said I’m in no rush to climb all the Colorado 14ers, while nothing has changed, I figure this opportunity gives me a good reason to go explore some different areas of the state.
Now the Colorado 14ers are not always the most interesting of peaks, but each one does have its own character. This weekend’s summits were great examples of the variety one gets when climbing Colorado’s highest peaks.
On Saturday, while many friends were off running the San Juan Solstice, I headed out from Lake City, CO to run Redcloud and Sunshine. The trail up Silver Creek started out nice and smooth, runnable in fact, but once I took off up the peak proper I ran into 2000ft of gravel and talus, until finally reaching the reddish orange non-descript summit of Redcloud, Sunshine was much of the same. The redeeming factor was the 360 degree panoramic views of the multi-color craggy peaks and lush green valleys that surround one on all sides and the thin crisp air one inhales at 14000ft. While the routes were nothing too exciting, the reward on top was worth the trek, 3h31min round trip for 8.9miles, 4700ft of gain, two 14ers, and one 13er (Sundog).
Sunday found me again up early, this time headed for Matterhorn Creek and Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn, two of Colorado’s most aesthetic 14ers. Both Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn rise strikingly from the high plateau, their summits guarded by several sets of ominous cliffs, but making for a very picturesque scene. The Matterhorn Creek trail was another beautifully smooth path, allowing me to slow jog my way uphill and across the long traverse over to Uncompahgre. I topped out on Uncompahgre 2h27min into my day, and took in the clear skies and the rare occasion of having one of Colorado’s finest peaks completely to myself. I was able to blast down the smooth single track trail, making my way back over to the base of Wetterhorn in an hour.
Wetterhorn is a much different peak, where Uncompahgre’s cliffs are broken by a little rock hopping and a smooth trail, Wetterhorn requires the intrepid mountaineer to pick one’s way through the cliff bands, scramble over a few rocky ribs and finally to ascend a steep exposed staircase of rock to the summit. The class 3 scrambling on Wetterhorn was incredibly solid and very enjoyable, a nice break from the talus and scree of the day before. Before I knew it I was standing atop Wetterhorn, admiring the open meadows of Matterhorn Creek on one side and the rocky knife edge ridge leading over to Matterhorn Peak on the other. I quickly scrambled my way back down to the trail and cruised back to my car, making the descent in just under an hour. Today’s mountain run was one of the strongest I’ve had in a long time; 18miles, 6700ft elevation gain and two 14ers in 5h32min, a time that might be an FKT (Fastest Known Time) as I can’t find any records online of anything faster.
Eric
