Background

This is my first time posting a trip report on here, but we have been doing so many 14ers this year that I wanted to contribute to the community that I have tapped into countless times since we started the 14ers in 2019. My wife Stephanie and I have been working on the 14ers since then, and since that time I have also been working on the Centennials. We are from Tucson, where we work as teachers, and usually our time in CO is limited to just a few weeks each summer when we take the time to come out here. Currently however, we are on a long stint of time away from work, living full time in our 16ft trailer traveling North America- truly the millennial dream!

After our spring spent in the Cascades, climbing Shasta, Hood, Baker and Rainier among others, and a summer in BC and Alberta, we planned on using September and October to make a big dent in our 14er quest, as well as the centennials for me.

First Peaks of the season

Our Colorado peakbagging this year actually started in Utah- driving south from Boise it was a no-brainer to add to our state highpoint quest and tag King's Peak.

<- King's Peak, Utah's highest

A lot of mileage with little elevation gain- this at least acclimated us to the high altitude and got our bodies and minds ready to be back at altitude. Our first week in Colorado, we did our first 14er of the season- Pyramid Peak.

We met an awesome guy named SimiHamilton on that trip that actually set the FKT for doing all of the Elk Range 14ers on foot in less than 17 hours! Considering it took us 10 hours just to do Pyramid I have no idea how what he did was humanly possible! We took a few days off after that, enjoying the towns in the Aspen and Glenwood Springs area that we have never really been to before. After that, we put our Ford Ranger and scree descending skills to the test, making it to the upper trailhead for Castle and Conundrum and descending via the scree gully in between the two peaks. Luckily with our background as Arizona peakbaggers, rotten dirt gullies are our specialties!

The Bells Traverse - Monday 9/18

With our first steps from Maroon lake at 2:45am, and afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast, we were off for our first great traverse. We were making great time and got to the summit of Maroon Peak in just over 6 hours.

The descent off Maroon Peak was covered in snow and ice in many areas which was definitely the slowest part of the day. This area probably cost us an extra 30 mins to an hour and made the rest of the ascent feel like we had time at our backs. Fortunately, all went well and we made it up all 3 cruxes and to the summit of Maroon Peak right at noon. Stephanie definitely did NOT enjoy the 2nd crux. We are both climbers but Stephanie doesn't lead and this was her first time soloing anything higher than class 4 and she killed it! It began snowing on our descent, and lightning came in just as we hit the treeline! We made it back to the parking lot at about 3:30 pm for a 12.5 hour day.

<-Steph shows the proper technique here.

<-Scrambling on the ridge, snow descent off Maroon!

<- Safe on North Maroon! Bells Traverse Complete!

After that we enjoyed some beers in Aspen, stayed the night at our home in Aspen's shanty town at Buttermilk ski resort, and headed towards Twin Lakes where we'd set up camp for a few days. From here, Stephanie did Mt. Elbert with our dog one day, while I went and did the west slopes of centennial Horseshoe Mountain with him the next day. Mt. Elbert was the only mountain left that I had done and Stephanie hadn't. I had done Greys/Torreys, Elbert, and San Luis Peak on my southbound thru hike of the CDT in 2018. After that we were off to the Sangres!

<- Theo on Horseshoe Mountain.

Little Bear Blanca Traverse (Plus Ellingwood Pt.) 9/24

Day 1: Hike up Lake Como Rd. We started from 8800' but easily could have got up to about 10,000ft. We had heard such terrible things about this road we just decided to play it safe. We started pretty late in the day, and made it to Lake Como just as the sun was setting. With nothing but sun in the forecast the next day, we set our alarms for 5:30.

Day 2: First steps at 6:30am (still in the dark, Steph's least favorite!) The gully going up Little Bear was completely frozen- not ice, but muddy scree that had frozen the night before. Maybe this made it easier?? But with the steep angle of the scree, and our lack of traction, we both agreed it made it a little more sketchy. All the ice that was talked about in the hour glass was gone, and before we knew it we were on Little Bear's Summit in just over 4 hours.

Let it begin! The traverse I have been looking at on mountain project, this website, Instagram, and many other places for the last 4 years. I was super stoked for a calm, sunny day and we began our descent. We both agreed that this was the crux of the route. The exposure and the fact that it's all down climbing was mentally a really rough start. It took us FOREVER to finally get to the flat part of the ridge. The exposure on this ridge is real.

<-Descent off Little Bear

<-Near the center of the ridge. Happy to have the downclimb finished.

All trip reports are very accurate that while there are no definitive cruxes, the entire ridge demands your entire concentration. If you've done the knife edge on Capitol, there are many places like that, except thinner, more sustained and with steeper drop offs! If you enjoy this type of thing like we do then this will be your favorite time out on the 14ers. Our favorite part of the ridge was the 2nd tower on the Blanca side. After finally easing off, and feeling like all the hard parts are done- a huge scramble up followed by another knife edge awaits to top out on the 2nd tower. After that, it was relatively easy scrambling, and after FIVE HOURS, we were on Blanca's summit.

From there, we went over and tagged Ellingwood Point, and then descended in the dark back to Lake Como. And at 9:30pm, 15 hours later, we made it back to camp! The following morning, we hiked out, picked up our dog from the Rover in Alamosa, and took some much needed days off at our boondocking site at the base of Lake Como. We looked at the weather forecast, and much to our chagrin we saw SNOW in the forecast just 4 days out. This gave us a tiny window to do the Crestones before this weather rolled in and potentially shut down the traverse for us. With that being said, after just 1.5 days off we headed into the Crestones!

<- Steph on Ellingwood Pt.

Crestone Traverse (plus Humboldt) 9/27

Day 1 - Hike into South Colony Lakes and set up camp. The wind this evening was HOWLING! Definitely made us feel uneasy but the weather forecast called for winds only around 10mph so we crossed our fingers that held up.

Day 2 - First steps at 7am. Wind HOWLING yet again. Snow and Ice made broken hand pass quite annoying, as did the wind. We topped out on the pass and the wind was just ridiculous. At that moment I was thinking about how nasty "the wall" was going to be. Getting blasted with 40mph winds holding on for dear life... And then... we descended the other side to a calm, sunny day! After that, the wind seized to be an issue all day! We got a burst of energy heading up the standard route on Crestone Peak, in the nice sun thawing us out. We made it the summit of Crestone Peak in about 4.5 hours

<- Steph celebrates Crestone Peak summit

We easily found the turnoff for the traverse, which was very well marked with cairns. It was very easy going for the first 2/3... Almost too easy... Then came the fun stuff! Starting with the chockstone "crux" which Steph volunteered to go first on- sure this might be considered the most difficult climbing but there's no exposure at all and it felt like a gimme. After that the route goes up a steep gully to the top of the black gendarme- the second fun obstacle.

<- Steph navigating the "knife edge"

I'm sure there are multiple ways to do this but we found just doing a mission impossible style traverse and then skirting the side of the knife edge before topping out was the easiest climbing- this whole area was exposed. The ledges above the knife edge all had lingering snow, so it was slow moving through here.

After this, you leave the ridge again and it's all easy class 3 until "the wall." From here it is really choose your own line, all of them go and all of them are exposed! We both agreed that this was the most dramatic finish to any of the 14ers and just absolutely loved it!

From there it was just a slog back down to our campsite. We got a campfire going and enjoyed our mountain houses, Lasagna and Chili Mac!

Day 3 - Standard route on Humboldt, hike out. The views of the Crestones all day with the Lakes in the foreground were breathtaking! The wind was actually howling this day and it started snowing on our way out with the occasional lightning strike. We had seen some people headed up broken hand pass on our way to Humboldt. Hope they were able to get up and down successfully!

<- Enjoyed a nice lunch break after Humboldt at the upper Colony Lake

Our Thoughts on the Traverses

1. We can not understand how anyone does these without a climbing background. If you've done some class 3/4 14ers and want to try these, they are COMPLETELY different. I would recommend getting some outdoor climbing in and getting really comfortable preferably on lead. These could easily become a nightmare and the Bells and LB/B are both extremely committing.
2. Although the most difficult climbing was on the Bells Traverse, the LB/B traverse was by far the most difficult. The Crestone traverse was the easiest of the 3 we did in both technicality and physical effort.
3. If you can backpack in, do it. You'll appreciate being fresh, having a shorter day, and can actually enjoy these beautiful basins. If you have the time, we'd recommend staying a 2nd night and worry about hiking out the following day.
4. These are the most fun routes on any of the 14ers we've done. If you get the chance to do them, and are mentally and physically prepared, I would recommend these over any of the standard routes.

GoPro footage of the Bells Traverse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfvJuWoa-XU

If you do instagram follow us @jessejohnsonaz and @sajohnson.az

Cheers!