Travel itinerary ideas

Short URL: http://co.habichts.net

Map on google: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=208113831351848197386.0004a7a39b93a67a2dc02

Oliver's previous 14er climb in 2010:

http://www.runningahead.com/logs/38c6ac6647914c20a9ed2fa55f6ab081/workouts/910a2c2ccfa8479bb436a703ec1849db/map

Oliver's flight info (JPG), as of 7/11/2011.

Tuesday, July 12: Bjorn and Oliver arrive into Denver

• Bjorn arrives at 8:54 PM. Picks up rental car.
• Bjorn pick up Oliver, who arrives at 10:55 PM. USAir Flight 997, departing from Philadelphia at 08:40 PM; 4h 15m flight.
• We stay the night at Ken's house. Coming in ~1am?!

Wed. 13th: Prep in Denver, and drive to mountains

• Sleep in/ slow start.
• Ken will probably have to leave the house by 11:30. (N/A: Since Ken is in town, discuss ideas for white water rafting or kayaking and rock climbing activities (and adjust subsequent itinerary accordingly).
• Shop in Denver for equipment (>10am), as necessary. Buy backpacking food, too. All or mostly at REI. For boots, go to "REI Denver" for greater selection:
• REI Lakewood,5375 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood, CO 80123. CO-121/S Wadsworth Blvd, 3.7 mi, 8 mins (!) from Ken's house.
• REI Denver,1416 Platte St, Denver, CO 80202. US-285 N and US-85 N/S Santa Fe Dr: 13.9 mi, 20 mins from Ken's house.
• Maybe do a few other things with Ken?
• Try to acclimate. :-)
• Drive out from Ken's house (by what time?).
• Take I-70 W: 113 mi, 2 hours 34 mins
• Stop along route and hike as we like and time permits.
• Buy food for lunch and following day's breakfast (in Leadville?)
• Dinner on the road.
• Arrive at Lakeview Campground (near Twin Lakes), near highest peak (Mt. Elbert). and set up camp.

Thur. 14th: Climb first 14er

• Prepare and eat breakfast.
• Climb Mt. Elbert (14er), having lunch.
• Return to camp/ car.
• Drive to the next campground at Maroon Lake: CO-82 W 51.6 mi, 1 hour 31 mins.
• Buy food for lunch and following day's breakfast.
• Dinner on the road.
• Get permit to backpack into Maroon Lake area. (How, where, etc.?)
• Arrive at Maroon Lake and set up camp.

NOTE: Overnighters can apparently drive on road to Maroon Lake anytime. Between 8:30am and between 5pm, dayhikers must take bus shuttle from near Aspen (Aspen Highlands).

Fri. 15th: Backpack, Day 1

• Prepare and eat breakfast.
• Start: Backpack into Maroon Bells area/ Crater Lake.
• Dinner, camp. Night 1.

Sat. 16th: Backpack, Day 2

• Prepare and eat breakfast.
• Continue: Backpack (or day-hike from camp) into Maroon Bells area
• Dinner, camp. Night 2.

Sun. 17th: Backpack, Day 3

• Prepare and eat breakfast.  
• End: Backpack out of Maroon Bells area
• Drive to campground near trailhead of another 14er.
• Lunch on the road.
• Hike as we like.
• Dinner on the road.
• Buy food for lunch and following day's breakfast.
• Set up camp.

Mon. 18th: Climb second 14er

• Prepare and eat breakfast. 
• Climb a 14er, having lunch.
• Return to trail head/ car.
• We drive to Ken's house, Denver.
• Dinner with Ken (confirmed 7/12)
• Stay night at Ken's house.

Tuesday, July 19th: Bjorn leaves

• Return rental car
• Bjorn gets return flight back to Florida.
• Departure: (DEN): July 19, 12:39 PM MDT (afternoon)
• Oliver gets pick up by his brother Chris.

[...]

Tuesday, July 26th: Oliver leaves

• Oliver leaves a week later. USAir flight 1630, at 12:05 PM, from Denver. To Charlotte, NC, arriving there at 05:13 PM; 3h 8m flight.

Activity ideas

• Day hikes up 14ers
• 14ers.com
• Oliver's list of 13 14ers we might consider choosing from based on their location AND ease of ascent AND height. 6 are "easiest" (not including drivable ones, but does include the highest one in Colorado, Mt. Elbert!). 5 are "moderate" (level I did last summer), and 2 are "difficult", including the one that turned me and Amelia back, Longs Peak. (And zero from the "Most Difficult" list.) Are there any peaks not listed Bjorn wants to add? How many of these will we end up tackling? At least one for sure! :-)
  
  Next task: Look at the routes for each peak and look at distances and elevation gains to start ruling some out, or at least tell us which ones can't be done as day hikes. And start calculating drive times to trail heads (TH) from each other and campgrounds/ motels:
• http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/ppc.php

• Below is data to date:
  
  http://www.14ers.com/routes_2.php
       14ers by Difficulty, sorted by Elevation
  
  http://www.14ers.com/photos/photos_14ers1.php
       14ers by Mountain Range,  and 14ers by Elevation Rank
  
  ====================================
  Sawatch Range   Rank    Difficulty
   Mt. Elbert    14,433’         1       Easy                        http://www.14ers.com/photos/mtelbert/RTopo_Mainl.jpg
   Mt. Massive           14,421’         2       Moderate
   Mt. Harvard           14,420’         3       Moderate
   La Plata Peak         14,336’         5       Moderate
  
  Front Range     Rank    Difficulty
   Grays Peak    14,270’         9       Easy
   Torreys Peak          14,267’         11      Easy
   Mt. Evans     14,264’         14      Moderate
   Longs Peak    14,255’         15      Difficult
   Mt. Bierstadt         14,060’         38      Easy
  
  Tenmile Range   Rank    Difficulty
   Quandary Peak         14,265’         13      Easy
  
  Mosquito Range  Rank    Difficulty
   Mt. Lincoln           14,286’         8       Easy
  
  Sangre de Cristo Range  Rank    Difficulty
   Blanca Peak           14,345’         4       Moderate
   Crestone Peak         14,294’         7       Difficult
  ====================================
  
  
• Two 14ers would be easy to "bag"- we can drive, or take a cog rail, up Pikes Peak and go to the visitor center on top! And/ or drive up Mt. Evans. :-)
• Drive or take train ride (8.9 mile cog railroad) up Pikes Peak. Because one can!
• http://www.pikes-peak.com/Attraction/22.aspx
• http://www.pikespeakcolorado.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikes_Peak 
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitou_and_Pike%27s_Peak_Railway
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._evans
• Oliver would definitely want to do Mt. Elbert because it's the highest. It may also be one of the easiest hikes (except for the minor issue of the absence of pressure/ oxygen!!) and
  can be done as a day hike.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Elbert
   There are three main routes the mountain, all of which gain over 4,000 feet of elevation. The standard route ascends the peak from the east, starting from the Colorado Trail. The most difficult is the Black Cloud Trail, which takes ten to fourteen hours, depending on the pace.
• Day hikes up valleys
• http://www.backpacker.com/destinations/category/142
• http://www.backpacker.com/article/topic/?action=custom&bp=topic_article&tag=Colorado
• Backpack (overnight) in valleys. This 4-day trip looks like a winner:
• http://www.backpacker.com/january-2011-readers-choice-rockies-colorado-four_pass_loop/destinations/15036
• Overnight climb up Longs Peak.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longs_Peak
• White water rafting
• White water kayaking
• Rock climbing
• Relaxing and taking in the vistas
• Visiting with Ken. Info from him:
• 7/1: Water continues to be running well above average - but might be suitable for an inflatable kayak (aka duckie) trip.  My kayak club has a meeting weekend 16,17, near Buena Vista - and some 14ers - could maybe go on a trip Fri or Mon (15 or 18) - depends on water levels and your plans.
• 6/13: Staying at my place shouldn't be a problem - I may still have a room mate whose housing situation is presently "in flux" (there's a woman involved....), but we'll find you some floor space to occupy if nothing else...  Bear in mind, I'm a 40 mi drive from the airport.
  Whitewater problem: the runoff is coming from snowpack anywhere from 2X to 9X normal.  Right now, many of my fellow boaters have deemed it prudent to go on hiatus for a while... no telling what it will be like in 4 weeks.
  Climbing is still possible if I'm there.  Also if I'm not as I can make my gear - including guide books - accessible in either case - assuming you remember how to use it.
  On the same subject - are you going to be needing a stove and fuel bottles ?  The TSA has been really strict about same... i. e. NO stoves or fuel bottles, drained, cleaned or not.  I've got stoves and bottles I can make accessible.   And other stuff, as you might remember - give me some idea what you might want so I can see what I've got.
• Visiting any "must see" shops?

Equipment ideas

Ten essentials

(Wikipedia: Ten essentials, Scout Outdoor Essentials , Hiking Equipment)

1. Map
2. Compass (optionally supplemented with a GPS receiver)
3. Sunglasses and sunscreen
4. Extra food and water
5. Extra clothes
6. Headlamp (outdoor)/flashlight
7. First aid kit
8. Fire starter
9. Matches
10. Knife

The Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills recommends supplementing the ten essentials with:

• Water treatment device (water filter or chemicals) and water bottles
• Ice axe for glacier or snowfield travel (if necessary)
• Repair kit, including duct tape and basic sewing materials.
• Insect repellent (or clothing designed for this purpose)
• Signaling devices, such as a whistle, cell phone, two-way radio, satellite phone, unbreakable signal mirror or flare.
• Plastic tarp and rope for expedient field shelter.

Travel information: Bjorn