Mountains

(in the order that we completed them)

  1. Mount Bierstadt
  2. Mount Sherman
  3. Mount Antero
  4. Mount Princeton
  5. Mount Yale
  6. Pikes Peak
  7. Mount Democrat
  8. Mount Lincoln
  9. Mount Bross
  10. Mount Quandry
  11. Mount Evans
  12. Grays Peak
  13. Torreys Peak
  14. San Luis Peak
  15. Redcloud Peak
  16. Sunshine Peak
  17. Handies Peak
  18. Uncomparghe Peak
  19. Wetterhorn Peak
  20. Sunlight Peak
  21. Windom Peak
  22. Mount Eolus
  23. Mount Sneffels
  24. Wilson Peak
  25. Mount Wilson
  26. Mount Huron
  27. Mount Missouri
  28. Mount Oxford
  29. Mount Belford
  30. La Plata Peak
  31. Mount Elbert
  32. Mount Holy Cross
  33. Mount Shavano
  34. Tabegauche Peak
  35. Blanca Peak
  36. Ellingwood Point
  37. Little Bear
  38. Mount Lindsey
  39. Mount Humboldt
  40. Kit Carson
  41. Challenger Point
  42. Crestone Peak
  43. Crestone Needle
  44. Culebra Peak
  45. Maroon Peak
  46. Pyramid Peak
  47. North Maroon Peak
  48. Capitol Peak
  49. Snowmass Peak
  50. Castle Peak
  51. Mount Harvard
  52. Mount Columbia
  53. Mount Massive
  54. Longs Peak

Original List

(The mountains in the order we originally planned to attempt them)

Calendar of Climbs

Metro to Mountain Site

Metro to Mountain Blog

 

Redcloud Peak

Date to Climb: July 14, 2009

Date Climbed: June 23, 2009

Elevation: 14,034

Range: San Juan

Latitude: 37.94090, Longitude: -107.42170

Route: Northeast Ridge ll, Class 2

Sunshine Peak

Date to Climb: July 14, 2009

Date Climbed: June 23, 2009

Elevation: 14,001

Range: San Juan

Latitude: 37.92268, Longitude: -107.42548

Route: From Redcloud ll, Class 2

Round-Trip Mileage: 12 miles (for combo)

Pre-Climb Comments

If we have any early morning starts left in our tired bodies, we would need to use on this duo. These peaks are notorious for thunderstorms. We will try to climb early and quickly. One advantage is that we can trailhead camp two night in the same location. It will be nice to rest near the car.

Post-Climb Comments

We adjusted the climb date up for these peaks. In general we clustered all the San Juan Peaks climbs in the same time frame of June 22 through July 1. By grouping the peaks we hope to reduce driving time and gas consumption.

After a long day of getting to San Luis and going from San Luis to the Handies Group we were ready for some needed rest. We found a place to park and went to bed. No time was wasted.

Redcloud and Sunshine are noted for their storms making us want to start early but all we could muster was a six-fifteen departure. We seemed very disorganized.

The trail followed a creek all the way around both mountains. The route was long and we were moving slow. We still were not feeling good, much like the way we felt on San Luis, the day before. Moving was about the best that you could say about our efforts. We were not walking fast, just moving.

Jake joined us on the hike and he was enjoying every motion. He chased sticks, water, chipmunks, marmots, and pika (he was on a six foot leash). He really enjoys mountain hikes but his paws take a battering.

Redcloud

Redcloud Peak

Many breaths later brought us to the summit of Redcloud. It was a summit of red dirt and rocks, less than spectacular. It only took a few minutes to see all that we could see and we were off for the mile and a half traverse to Sunshine.

Sunshine

Sunshine Peak

We followed the rolling ridge line to the summit. It was not hard, but our breathing made one think a locomotive was coming. Another hiker had beat us to the summit - Chad from Colorado. He was traveling around doing all the remaining Fourteeners on his list. He asked how we were descending and we said that, with the dog, we better just reverse ort path. He, instead, was going to take a beeline down a very steep scree slope - what a wild man!

Further down the trail we met again. We discussed our next days climbs and both were talking about doing Mount Handies. Maybe we would walk together.

We returned to the trailhead with feet that felt as if they had climbed a couple of fourteeners. Still, we needed to make preparations for the next day. Amy headed to the creek with Jake to filter water while I set up the car for the evening. Not long after, it started raining. It rained for the remainder of the day, which made prepping for the climb difficult.

The climb of the two peaks was surrounded by spectacular scenery - we highly recommend them for beauty, but the hike itself was just mediocre.

Mount Recloud - June 23, 2009 summit check

Sunshine Peak - June 23, 2009 summit check