Can Blanca Peak in Colorado (14er) be hiked in a day (starting below Lake Como)?

asking all co people wrote:

Tentatively, I was thinking the plan would be flying into Denver and then going up to Boulder on day 1, going to CO springs on day 2 (for things like some hiking around Pikes Peak or Garden of the Gods), some sort of extra hiking/14er on day 3, and then day 4 head towards New Mexico.

In this case do you think at the end of day 2 it would be best to go to Salida? Will there be enough time based on this?

That is not much time to adapt to the elevation, so be careful and pay attention to symptoms of altitude sickness if you are hiking a 14er.

Also, listen to the advice about getting up early and being off the mountain by noon. And check out the weather forecast. People get themselves in trouble all the time by only having a few days in Colorado and insisting on doing stuff within a tight timetable even if it doesn't make sense.

Given your timetable, I would vote for Pike's Peak on day 3. You spend less time driving and more time doing something. Pike's Peak is a good hike even if it is more heavily used than most mountains.

Do you think it would be better to do something like this?

Day 1 - Boulder

Day 2 - Drive to CO springs, climb from Manitou Springs to Barr camp that afternoon, stay overnight at Barr camp

Day 3 - Climb from barr camp to Pikes Peak and back early, try to get back early afternoon. Eat something, maybe hang out a bit and then drive onwards to Alamosa

Day 4 - check out some of the running trails around Alamosa, drive to Taos/Santa Fe

This would split Pikes Peak over 2 days.

asking all co people wrote:

Do you think it would be better to do something like this?

Day 1 - Boulder

Day 2 - Drive to CO springs, climb from Manitou Springs to Barr camp that afternoon, stay overnight at Barr camp

Day 3 - Climb from barr camp to Pikes Peak and back early, try to get back early afternoon. Eat something, maybe hang out a bit and then drive onwards to Alamosa

Day 4 - check out some of the running trails around Alamosa, drive to Taos/Santa Fe

I think that's doable and would be a fun time. Barr Camp requires reservations:

That seems like it would minimize risk by splitting over two days (given altitude, etc.). The second day would be more hiking to get to the top of Pikes Peak and back down (around 18 miles?) but at least a lot of that would be downhill.

Any suggestions for things to see around Alamosa/Taos?

Also, would you recommend skipping Alamosa and going through Fort Garland instead (a faster route to Taos)? Is there anything good to see around those parts?

Thanks everyone for your help!

bump

Don't do pikes peak. The satisfaction of doing that peak and the views are not nearly as good as any of the others.. if you aren't sure how comfortable you are on rock and you want to head south from Boulder towards Alamosa either do humboldt peak which is an easy hike with beautiful views. Or Lindsey.

Crestone is probably still pretty snowy and although my favorite 14er might be a little in over your head. Blanca and ellingwood would be doable in a day but that walk up the Lake Como road sucks and you will have to start at like 3am.

What kind of car do you have? Also you could go down 285 rather than I-25 and go to the west side of the sangres by the town of crestone and do challenger peak. The hike isn't bad. It's still beautiful. The drive down is way more scenic and it still puts you near Alamosa.

asking all co people wrote:

Do you know of any good peaks between CO springs and Santa Fe that wouldn't require going too far off path and might be more manageable than Blanca peak?

Unfortunately I don't have any camping gear so it would all be day stuff.

Humboldt Peak.

Grizzled Vert wrote:

john utah wrote:[/B

I would argue that there is NOT a 14er in CO that can't be hiked in a day.

I'd agree; however, new folks ALWAYS underestimate their ascent time, summit way too late and get caught in storms on the descent. Every year this kills people, so I err on the side of conservative advice.

Yeah, no doubt. I started Longs at 3:00 AM so we would be out of the lightening with plenty of time on the way down.

I wouldn't waste much time doing Garden of the Gods. super touristy and you can't climb on any of the rocks without permits so unless you get those permits its not worth it. there's fenced off areas everywhere and no trespassing signs all over, kinda takes away from the overall natural feel of it and gives it a heavy touristy vibe. Its over-hyped and there's many better places to go than that.

I would be driving the cheapest rental car (economy class), so probably something like a civic.

So instead would you recommend:

Day 1 - Boulder

Day 2 - Maybe a little more Boulder, drive to CO springs and check out the base of Pikes Peak. Drive towards Humboldt Peak.

Day 3 - Start early and climb Humboldt peak. Any suggestions on what to do next? The next day after that would be going to Taos.

Day 4 - Driving + Taos?

Do you have any suggestions on where to stay near Humboldt peak?

Email me at jrun1028@yahoo.com

Has anyone hiked Mt Lincoln/have route recommendations for Mt Lincoln? That's another option for us:

https://www.14ers.com/routelist.php?peak=Mt.+Lincoln

The Cameron-Lincoln Saddle looks pretty neat!

http://www.summitpost.org/saturday-august-9-2003/25557/c-150205

bump

Yep, I did the Mt Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross 14er group all in one day 2 years ago. It's not super difficult because the trailhead is at almost 12k feet I think. I have a 2WD car and in September, I was able to get within about 300 feet of the trailhead. It's a nice route to get several 14ers in one shot. The only bad part is the climb down from Bross, lots of loose rock for half the trip down.