Legs & Lungs - Big Hikes and Backpacking

Mount Columbia stands at 14,075 ft, ranking as Colorado's 34th highest summit. Do you need it still and want to bag this one with me? Cmon then!

The route I'd like to do is up the southeast ridge and down the standard western slope, finishing with a little dirt road walk down North Cottonwood. We'd start at the Harvard Lakes Trailhead where CT#12 and CT#13 meet. After about a mile heading north on #12, we leave the trail and head directly up the ridge and follow it the whole way. There's a little bit of a social trail through the trees, then we pop out and have tundra and eventually rockiness en route to the summit. The western descent is steeper but more established. We'll pass the North Cottonwood Trailhead and follow the road back to the cars.

I'll probably leave Denver at like 4:30 in the morning. Carpool? Meet there at TH at 700am? Your choice.

14er anyone? This is a long day hike to get Ellingwood Point, or Blanca Peak (I've already done that one myself), or both if you like! These are located way down south in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, beyond the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The plan is to head down to the Como Rd trailhead Friday evening and sleep in or near the car to get an early start Saturday morning.

It's a long slog up Como Rd to Lake Como, but then it gets interesting. There are several lakes up that basin, and three 14ers to stare at. EP is a class 2+, Blanca maxes out at 2, and if you traverse to get them both, the traverse is a class 3. No matter what you do, it's a long or longer day.

Depending on who can leave when, and what everyone's peak preference is, we can do some level of carpooling from Denver on Friday. Or we can just meet down there somewhere. But keep in mind, different vehicles can make it up the road to different distances to shave off some of the distance. I think I took my Santa Fe to about 8,100 ft years ago.

Standing at 13,828 ft, Mt Silverheels is Colorado's 95th highest peak, making it a centennial! The 9 mile, 3,500 ft route is fairly straight forward, utilizing some old mining routes, tundra walk, and slope scramble (max is class 2). Take a look at the route descriptions linked below, including a possible alternate route to make it more interesting.

We'll meet at the Twin Forks Park 'n' Ridge on Hwy 285 and carpool from there. It's about 1.5 hrs to Hoosier Pass above Fairplay and Alma. The summit can get quite windy so be sure to bring a jacket and warm clothes.