Finding the right 14er

Long story short, last minute trip puts me in Colorado (Denver area) in a couple of weeks. My daughter (11) is very much into climbing and a good adventure.

To that end, I’m looking for the right 14er. Something more than a walk up but nothing with the potential to change the course of history. A pitch or two of actual climbing would be cool, but I’m not comfortable with anything truly multipitch when it’s just the two of us. Loads of scrambling would also suffice  

I’ve done some digging around, the way some websites write it up you’d think anything other than a freshly groomed is a winter ascent of K2.

Maybe a 14er isn’t the right answer, maybe there’s a super cool 13er?  I don’t know.

Anyway, not asking anyone to Google it for me, just doing some last minute planning and figured I’d see if anyone has any great ideas off the top of their head. 

Cables route or the Keyhole on Longs both fit the bill

How much mountain experience do you have?

How much do you want to summit vs having a cool day in the mountains?

Fun adventure vs grueling epic?

Is your daughter willing to start at midnight/2AM?

How far do you want to drive?

Have you looked at 14ers.com?

For good scrambling with easy access and not as much hiking, Kelso Ridge on Torreys is a good time.

Mark E Dixonwrote:

How much mountain experience do you have?

How much do you want to summit vs having a cool day in the mountains?

Fun adventure vs grueling epic?

Is your daughter willing to start at midnight/2AM?

How far do you want to drive?

Have you looked at 14ers.com?

Not a ton, but enough to feel comfortable with it.

For sure want to summit, but not if it means getting killed because that wouldn’t be fun.

Somewhere in between. It’s not an adventure if you know it’s going to work out, and building some character is always a good thing. But yeah, she’s 11, so maybe not a complete suffer fest.

She’s super game and has hit the trail at 3 am before.

I think for the right mountain I’d do 4-ish hours?

I did check it out. Great resource, but that’s the site that (in my opinion) was making routes seem a bit crazier than they are, which is why I kind of want some outside opinions. 

Stephen Szyszkiewiczwrote:

For good scrambling with easy access and not as much hiking, Kelso Ridge on Torreys is a good time.

I was just thinking of that one! 

It would be an excellent choice- not too crowded, at least on the way up, esp if they can go during the week.

If the weather is at all dubious, they can skip the ridge and try to race up the trail.

Something in the Gore range if they want more solitude.

Or maybe Father Dyer for a shorter day.

The North ridge of Mt Neva is pretty good and includes a class4/easy class 5 step that could warrant a rope.

Anything on Longs is going to be an extremely long, crowded day.

14ers.com tends to exagerate the difficulty, but tbh, if you aren't a decent route finder, it's pretty easy to get into "you fall, you die" positions scrambling on a lot of these peaks. Throw in some not so great rock quality and it's more serious than one might guess.

The book Colorado Scrambles by Dave Cooper is what you want.

Jacob Bwrote:

Cables route or the Keyhole on Longs both fit the bill

Cool, I will check those out.

Also, just discovered the post limit. Thanks to everyone for the recommendations so far. I guess I’ll reply to some of the questions tomorrow. 

If you can go on a weekday, start early, and do Cables on Longs. Best bang for your buck. Second idea is to backpack into South Colony lakes and do the standard route on Crestone Needle.

Also, consider spending $20 and getting an Open Summit membership.

Specific forecasts for the peaks including rain, wind and lightning.

When?

PRRosewrote:

When?

We will be out there 6-13 July-ish.

We are pretty flexible on which day we can go climb.

Thanks again for all the recommendations, I’ll let her check those out on 14ers.com and pick her mountain.

And I’ll definitely drop the $20 on the weather forecast.

14ers.com tends to exagerate the difficulty, but tbh, if you aren't a decent route finder, it's pretty easy to get into "you fall, you die" positions scrambling on a lot of these peaks. Throw in some not so great rock quality and it's more serious than one might guess.

The book Colorado Scrambles by Dave Cooper is what you want.

Yeah, I couldn’t quite tell how much of their language is to dissuade the never been in the mountains tourist who thinks it’s going to be a fun romp up a hill and how much of it is legit. 

It’s funny, my younger days of climbing were real dumb and I’m kind of lucky I never got hurt. Now, climbing with my daughter, nothing is more serious than I might guess.

Anyway, thanks again for all the tips. I’ll make sure to grab that book. 

I'd just like to point out that the Keyhole route on Longs has one technical portion right before the summit (I believe people refer to it as the home stretch).  Nothing up to that point concerned me but I was thrilled with my decision to wear approach shoes when we got there. Its not steep, but if you lose your footing and start tumbling on the slick rock you're gonna have a bad time to say the least. 

FYI ~20ish (edited to reflect Long Ranger's correction below) people have died on the Keyhole route but I always feel like those stats are inflated by the people who start hiking it at 10am with 1 liter of water,  a GoPro, and a dream. 

Will Bwrote:

FYI ~40 people have died on the Keyhole route but I always feel like those stats are inflated by the people who start hiking it at 10am with 1 liter of water,  a GoPro, and a dream. 

Stats are here:
https://rockymountainhikingtrails.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-statistical-analysis-on-fatalities.html

Dude - east coast flat-landers with obviously very little experience?  11 years old?  Bierstadt.  “Easiest” 14er and I bet it kicks both your asses.  Kelso is a good suggestion, but a significant step up.

Long's is a looooooooooong day---I've been in slow moving parties where it's taken us up to 16 hours to do it, car-to-car. And if you are not acclimatized to the high altitude, you will move slowly and with much discomfort. It's definitely worth doing, with proper planning, but maybe not the right choice for you and your daughter, right now. (I wish I could offer alternatives, but Long's is the only 14-er I've even done. Can't say why I've done it 7 times and nothing else, I'm questioning all my life choices rn.)

Bill Schickwrote:

Dude - east coast flat-landers with obviously very little experience?  11 years old?  Bierstadt.  “Easiest” 14er and I bet it kicks both your asses.  Kelso is a good suggestion, but a significant step up.

All fair assumptions based upon very limited information. I’d take that bet if there were an objective way of measuring if my ass had been kicked or not.

Thanks again everyone. I think we are leaning toward Kelso primarily due to the proximity to Denver. That will give us a bit more flexibility on the day and may even allow us to take a second shot at it if we get weathered out or get our asses kicked on the first one. 

That is still a little early for the Keyhole. And Longs is committing—10 to 12 hours.

Maybe Bierstadt then take the ridge over to Evans.

South and North Arapaho? Or Navajo via Airplane Gully? Not technical, but fun. Latter is off the beaten path.

Having done both Kelso and the Sawtooth (Bierstadt to Evans) I would say Kelso is a ton more fun with a lot less mileage. The scrambling on the Sawtooth is alright (not as epic as the views of the ridge itself would lead you to believe), and the crux section is kind of a dirty/loose sidewalk sized ledge, not engaging climbing but a little spooky because it’s super exposed. Kelso offers a good long engaging scramble with easy route finding (download the photos from 14ers app of the route) and a fun, exposed, hands on crux (brief knife edge, but with mega secure holds). 

Mt Evans from Summit Lake is probably a better choice given the approach.  How many miles can your daughter hike consistently in a day?  Long’s is a butt kicker for most from sea level.

I’ve been backpacking with my kids for the last 3 years but still can’t get either(14 and 10) psyched for more than about 10 miles in a day. I may just be cautious, but having had mini epics with my kids I tend to always keep our journeys just a bit past the last adventure.  Still working my youngest up to 14’er.

 I think it’s super important to consider how weather in Colorado is not to be underestimated when planning trips with smaller kids. I’ve had my hair stand on end on more than one day on Long’s, and hiked out in August in both a snowstorm and with 2” of hail on the trail. Just consider how kids bodies struggle to thermoregulate and be prepared for the worst. Good luck!

Kevin Strickerwrote:I’ve been backpacking with my kids for the last 3 years but still can’t get either(14 and 10) psyched for more than about 10 miles in a day.

Still working my youngest up to 14’er

That’s about my experience too with ~10 yr olds - Bierstadt is a big deal at that age, and your kids are from here with backpacking experience.  I know there are some climbing 5.14’s and El Cap and whatever - but most not.

I agree with Kevin. Folks that live in Colorado don't always appreciate or forget about the effect that elevation has on someone coming from sea level, and Longs is a long day any way you slice it.

If you're willing to consider a 13er, the peaks accessed out of Mayflower Gulch are great and offer short approaches.