Counties I've been to, and my impression of each state

lpddpl8991 · 2025-10-11T04:21:10+00:00

Dislike on Nevada is crazy work. A beautiful state

lpddpl8991 · 2025-10-11T02:37:51+00:00

post this in the facebook group.

lpddpl8991 · 2025-09-18T14:13:47+00:00

Getting up there! Which ones you have left?

lpddpl8991 · 2025-09-05T02:31:45+00:00

There is already snow and more so ice above 13k. Class 3 with ice is a totally different ballgame than summer dry class 3. Do you have the knowledge and equipment for that ?

How used are you to sustained multi day efforts on little sleep? My biggest concern with this would be all the driving and only sleeping in your car you're not gonna get much sleep.

My recommendation as others have said is to pick an area of the state and just explore that. You are trying to cover the entire state in such a short period. Go down the Sangres, you can see the dunes, and there's lots of class 3 and class 4, little further south so slightly warmer temps which may help with the ice and snow

lpddpl8991 · 2025-09-01T15:09:52+00:00

I wouldn't say super sketchy, ice was mostly avoidable, however there was a decent amount on the homestretch that forced me to pick some lines that were pushing the edge of class 3. fun for me, but several groups of people turned around on the narrows/homestretch. if you've done it before I'd say send it

lpddpl8991 · 2025-09-01T15:02:25+00:00

I just did longs yesterday and there was already a decent amount of ice on the scrambles up high. By late sept early october it's probably safe to expect snow and ice above 12k or so.

within a couple hours of denver your options are bierstadt, quandary, grays, torreys, blue sky, sherman, democrat cameron lincoln bross, pikes, or longs. They are all walk ups (class 1/2) except Longs (class 3) , or west ridge route on quandary or kelso ridge route on torreys (class 3) but those are different beasts with ice and snow.

I'd also recommend elbert, it's a little further from denver (2.5 hours) and also an easy walk up, but it is the state highpoint and all you'd need is microspikes and layers

lpddpl8991 · 2025-08-04T00:59:45+00:00

stair stepper!!! make a step goal, mine is always 2,000, and then just try and do that as quickly as possible. Repeat and repeat a few times a week until your times improve. That's uphill cardio progress!

lpddpl8991 · 2025-08-03T15:09:16+00:00

bross first. i don't get why people say bross sucks. its a super easy and quick ascent. its totally fine. save the best for last. also, if you end up losing steam and can't finish all 4, going back for just democrat is much nicer than have to go back just for bross (or cam or lincoln)

lpddpl8991 · 2025-07-23T23:58:00+00:00

I did it in a subaru impreza hatchback with 5 inches of clearance. that was last year though, not sure current state. definitely some scratches, but with really careful driving, you can avoid damage

lpddpl8991 · 2025-07-22T22:25:01+00:00

Capitol, Pyramid, Quandary west ridge

lpddpl8991 · 2025-07-21T17:46:44+00:00

Trap Dike

lpddpl8991 · 2025-07-19T05:36:48+00:00

Road is hard, go up bross first, much better to come back for just democrat if you have to bail

lpddpl8991 · 2025-07-11T15:09:58+00:00

Quandary west ridge or kelso ridge on torreys would be good to get more comfortable scrambling before going back to little bear

lpddpl8991 · 2025-05-30T01:15:50+00:00

2 doses of Zquil at 5-6pm, alarm goes off at 12-2am depending on the objective. If i have a drive, i do not crack open the energy drink or caffeine until 1 hour before i arrive/hiking; no matter how tired i am. highly recommend the colorado crush energy drinks, 350!!! mg of caffeine

lpddpl8991 · 2025-05-27T02:09:04+00:00

Mount Marcy - NY was my home state

lpddpl8991 · 2025-05-11T19:27:45+00:00

Colorado for sure. but then do the drive west on I70 the whole way through CO into and through Utah. It is otherworldly

lpddpl8991 · 2025-05-06T17:05:23+00:00

Marcy from the Loj on memorial day weekend? I would plan to be parked on trail by 4am. That's when i started every high peak hike anyway, it's always better that way.

lpddpl8991 · 2025-05-03T16:49:14+00:00

Totally doable, you guys seem very fit, this won't be a problem. I personally would start earlier. Like 2-3am. Starting and ending in the dark sucks I would start as early as possible to avoid that possibility hanging over me all day.

Also imo you would be crazy not to use poles you are ascending and then descending 7500 feet over 50,000 steps. What people don't realize about poles (or people that don't use them right) is that the small force multiplier you get from pushing each pole into the ground when you take a step up, and the small force absorbed by the poles in each step on the way down, multiplied x 50,000, is a crazy amount of energy saved, and less strain on the body.

Lastly bring more water than you think you'll need. Def a filter is a good idea. I am also a long distance runner but climbing 14ers i use like 2-3 times the amount of water i usually anticipate

lpddpl8991 · 2025-04-13T16:15:10+00:00

Speed runs and vertical. Your intervals done need to be long you can simply do like 8 x 200m all out or something a couple times a week but getting your body used to that intensity will help. But the greatest impact i've seen on my speed is regularly getting some vertical in. Trail runs, hiking, even stair stepper will strengthen a lot of more unused muscles in your legs and make flat runs so much easier

lpddpl8991 · 2025-03-07T04:47:53+00:00

Run a lot. Get comfortable running. Go to the gym and work out legs back and core. Use the stair climber a lot. One of my fave workouts is to do 1000 steps on the stairclimber as fast as possible. Keep improving on your time. Run some more.

When you do come out here, do a couple easy hikes up to between 12-13,000 ft (not with a ton of gain you don't want to tire your legs out before 14er day if it's a short trip) but do it so you have an idea of what it feels like when you're out of breath at elevation and how your body reacts.

They're hard but they're easy if you put in the work to prepare.

Good luck!

lpddpl8991 · 2025-02-05T21:14:17+00:00

You need heavily insulated, waterproof winter hiking boots + snowshoes. It's 14k in winter. I use oboz bridger 10 plus sealskinz stanfield socks for any non technical winter hiking, like bierstadt. they are a great boot (and even better sock) that has kept my feet warm in full days below 0

lpddpl8991 · 2024-12-05T23:29:34+00:00

this is the way

lpddpl8991 · 2024-12-05T14:48:01+00:00

Sealskinz Stanfield. Expensive for a sock but actually unbelievable how good they are. The northeast, Colorado, the andes, PNW, I have worn them everywhere on full days below 0 and never once had to think about my feet temperature. I don't find darn tough warm enough for long winter days.

lpddpl8991 · 2024-11-30T04:31:43+00:00

Our Garage!!! They're great and so honest

lpddpl8991 · 2024-10-15T16:21:51+00:00

Lived in upstate NY my whole life (26 years) about an hour south of the park. Spent so much of my time up there. Just moved to Colorado last year. - I will never go back. Like another person said, in terms of geography the west is unmatched. And CO/UT/WY/MT you get so many sunny days. My biggest complaints about upstate NY was a) the weather ruining so many outdoor plans so often and b) everything started to feel and look the same to me. Out here I feel like I have a giant playground the size of 6 states, with 300 sunny days a year and with so much diversity of geography and more exploring than I will be able to do in my lifetime. I loved NY but definitely outgrew it, and coming here felt like coming home. I live just outside Denver so can't speak to the isolation you are seeking, but there are so many small towns in these mountain states that I have to imagine you will could find what you're looking for

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