Conference stubai::hiking

Time to revitalize this note.

I'm planning a trip to Colorado this July, probably 10 days.  We're flying into
Denver, renting a car, and headed out for a while.  I've done some hiking in
Colorado before around Capitol Peak, Cathedral Peak, Mt Massive, Aspen, and
RMNP, and am looking for new places.

We're looking at the San Juans and Uncompahgre areas, with a stop in the
Collegiates on the way back to Denver, but we are flexable.  We'd like to
start with some nice warm up hikes, then some bigger hikes hiking into a 
base camp and hitting some peaks.  I definately want to try at least one
14'er, and I've been to altitude so I know how to deal.

What's the current snow pack like?  How much can we expect that far south
in July?

 -dave-

    Dave,
    
    Colorado snowpack is at 160% to 180% of normal this year, so you should
    be prepared to deal with lots of snow onve you get up high, even in
    July.  IMHO, the San Juans are to the rest of Colorado, as the rest of
    Colorado is to Kansas; if I was coming in from out of state that's
    definitely where I'd be heading.  You could warm up on some of the
    dayhike peaks around Ouray (like Sneffels), and then take the narrow
    guage in for a 4-5 day backpack, either into Chicago basin for the
    14'ers, or into the Trinity's (13'ers, but more technically
    interesting).
    
    Another option would be to backpack in to Conundrum hot springs
    outside of Aspen.  when you got tired of soaking, you could bag a
    number of 13'ers and 14'ers nearby.
    
    Steve
    

Thanks for the info.  I was out near Capital and Cathedral Peaks last year
in July, and we had a bunch of snow up high, but nothing we couldn't handle.
I was hoping that by heading farther south we'll miss some of it in this
high snow year.  Think melting.  :-)

Someone else suggested getting dropped off by the train and doing a hike
from there.  I'll look into the Chicago Basin area.  14'ers aren't the 
goal of the trip, so interesting 13'ers are just fine with me.  I just
want a shot at one.  Last year we made it to 13,635' on Electric Pass
Peak, and I want to summit a 14'er just for grins.

 -dave-

    Dave,
    
    If all you want is to summit a 14'er, there are a number of easy
    choices, mostly in the collegiates or near denver.  In the San Juans,
    sneffels is physically easy, with a little 3rd class scrambling,
    assuming you've got a high clearance vehicle to get you up the road.
    
    In the collegiates, Quandary is easy, as are lincoln/democrat/bross
    (all 3 doable in one day if the weather holds).  Closer to Denver,
    Greys and Torreys are an easy peakbag, and the saddle between them
    should offer a nice 1000' glissade on the way down.
    
    I'd suggest getting together while you're out here, but I'll be
    spending the summer climbing in Oregon/Washington/Idaho.
    
    Steve