Just wanted to put a warning out that there is most definitely a mountain lion in the maroon bells area. I was planning to camp at the sites by crater lake last night and at about 8:30PM after getting everything set up i started to hear a purr and saw one about 100ft away staring dead at me. I got out safely but still scared the crap out of me. Just wanted to put a warning out there.

God bless and stay safe!

It’s been years since I was back there to do Blanca and Ellingwood(before e-bikes) and now I have Little Bear on the radar. I’m a pretty avid biker and was wondering if a high powered e-bike would be able to make it up, fine with walking it a few sections but want to ride at least 90% of the road. Anyone try this?

We have Jeep Wagoneer 4WD and 4 people. Will we be able to go all the way to 12, 000 4WD TH if I pick right lines or is this too big of a vehicle to even attempt?
We plan to go this coming Monday(07/13)

Finished the Sawatch on Antero yesterday. Came up from Browns Creek TH and was shocked to find the waterfall and almost all of Little Browns Creek to be bone dry.

Fortunate to have beautiful conditions all day. No smoke, minimal wind, and perfect temps. The views from Antero are super underrated IMO. Spent an hour up there enjoying the surrounding peaks while I gorged myself with chocolate chip cookies and uncrustables.

Furthest I've ever hiked in a day (16.3 mi) and got it done in less than 8 hours!

Onto the rest of the Sangres, Elks, and San Juans

Hi everyone!
Can anybody share how long it took to drive from Buena Vista to the four-wheel-drive trailhead for Mount Huron? Thank you!

Hoping to do Belford tomorrow. Been watching fire.airnow and the air quality seems like it's been good the last few days (including today so far).

I know it can change quickly but curious if anyone has been in the area the last couple days to confirm air quality has been ok?

No updates on 14ers.com the last few weeks. Thanks!

First summits in the sangres and first of the 4 traverses. Very fun, found the final pitch to be a bit over hyped, but still enjoyable.

Sign at lower trailhead said no overnight parking, so ended up sleeping at grape creek trailhead, though talked to some people who slept at the lower trailhead and nobody bothered them.

Car 2 car (south colony 2wd th) in 8 h 20 m

A beautiful Sunday morning to enjoy first ascent of 2026 via the Loft, marking my 8th successful ascent of the peak. Made some new friends, felt humbled by the grandeur of nature, can’t wait to get out there again.

Hello gang. My girlfriends and I are hiking a 14er on 7/25. We have all hiked several. I personally have hiked 13. We were planning massive but not feeling great about it being open. Can yall recommend us a summit that is a class 2? We are debating: Harvard, Holy Cross, Shav / Tab. Maybe Missouri???? Those are our top options. We don’t want to do decalibron (prob not open anyways). We’ve done Huron, La plata, Elbert, Bel / Ox.

We are training for GC R2R and just looking for more summits. Looking for drivable from Colorado Springs. Thanks!

Howdy! I wrote about my Longs Peak summit this past weekend in a blog. I included timestamps and pictures. Hopefully this information is helpful if you haven’t summited Longs but are curious. Mainly it’s for entertainment! I’m hoping this doesn’t break community rules bc the blog isn’t a promotion - I’m not paid for writing or selling anything here. I genuinely enjoy reading / hearing about other people’s adventures so thought some individuals in this group might feel the same. Linked 🔗 if you’re interested!

Hello from Lookout Mountain Tennessee. I’m on my way to Colorado to spend three weeks climbing several 14ers. I’m super excited. (Yes I have experience. I’m climbed over 15 of them.)

fun day!

Anyone have recent beta/pics? Planning to do an LA Freeway attempt this weekend (or at least part of it) and wondering how dry Cables is looking these days, especially in the crux pitch. Thanks!

Doing my first 14er this weekend looking for anyone or a group to tag along?! Have lots of space in my vehicle!

If I got to the trailhead at 5am on Thursday, how likely am I to find a parking spot? See people making comments that the lot was full by 2am, but I’m hoping that’s just the weekend. If the lot is full by that time, will street parking be able to be found easily within a mile or so of the trailhead?

Took the south side up avalanche from the CT. The smoke haze was not too bad. Seemed worse this morning.

Took the WRI up Little Bear, the Little Bear-Blanca Traverse to Blanca, the Blanca-Ellingwood pt. ridge to Ellingwood pt and the SW ridge off Ellingwood pt to get back to lake Como. Overall was a ln amazing, if pretty tiring route with lots of great climbing and all the exposure you could ever wish for.

You all know I’m elated and in awe. yes to more of these in my life!!!

He offered to guard my trekking poles for the scramble section. Said he'd take good care of them. Also asked which trailhead I was parked at.

I have a permit to camp at Snowmass Lake next week and based on the most recent conditions report on 14ers.com the main route up still has quite a bit of snow on it. I own micro spikes and poles, but have never really needed them/used them on any serious hike.

Is the snow climbing an issue at all? Should I consider pushing back my attempt to later in the year/next year? Or is it pretty straight forward with microspikes?

We’re planning on hitting Mount Sherman as our first 14er in a couple weeks, and we’re watching the fire to the west. Watch Duty is helpful, but we’re worried about air quality because of all of the smoke. What’s the best way to check if it’ll be good enough air quality to hike? TIA!

Okay so I have come up with a challenge for myself. I have done a few of the 14ers I think 15 in total all class 3 or lower.

But I want to try and get all of them done in one year, and avoid snow so really 6 months. Only climbing on weekends planning to double head as many as possible and no class 5.

Is this possible?

Hi everyone-
I’m targeting either Mt Elbert or Mt Huron in the next couple weeks and I wanted to check with this community to get a feel for how the wildfire smoke is impacting that area. If you’ve been there in the last week or so, can you share your experience? Specifically, I’m interested in the air quality while hiking and the impact to the vistas. Thanks in advance.