At the end of April I plan to be in the Leadville/Buena Vista/Salida area for 6 weeks. I plan on going for Yale, Shavano, Harvard, Belford, Missouri, Oxford.

I was hoping that there might be other climbers on this forum that might be able to help with some info on conditions - trail/TH. But I don't see too many posts here. So I was wondering if this is the right forum for me. There doesn't seem to be too much activity.

I was a member of 14ers.com but they are having some problems over there. The number of posters have declined and there appears to be a clique that chases people away. You can't get a straight answer there now.

I think 14ers.com has more Colorado people, but maybe the kids are moving to Facebook or something these days. You may already know this, but early- to mid-May is "hellish slush-bog" season below treeline in the Sawatch.

seano wrote:I think 14ers.com has more Colorado people, but maybe the kids are moving to Facebook or something these days. You may already know this, but early- to mid-May is "hellish slush-bog" season below treeline in the Sawatch.

Thanks

Facebook - I'm not on it and I'm hoping I don't need to go there. It would be nice to have some info on TH conditions this year with all the snow. Like can you drive to the Missouri Gulch TH.
I like the snow, it makes it more interesting and there are fewer people on the trails.

Yes, THIS is the right place. As long as you don't tune to MSNBC or CNN, you should be OK ....

That TH might be closed until the snow melts out, which at this point is anybody's guess. Road seems to be closed about 4 miles below the TH.

Keep checking 14ers.com as your trip gets closer, but check the "Trailhead" and "Peak Conditions" sections to see if there are updates closer to your trip. Maybe check the "trip reports" section as well and see if anyone posted a recent TR. That site certainly has more of the 14er information and more active Colorado board than here, but as you say, sometimes the forum itself can be tedious!

Yale will be accessible first out of that group as the road is plowed to the normal trailhead. The others may take some time to melt out the roads, so keep checking status updates. By the end of your 6-weeks they should all be accessible.

Thank you all for the replies. I usually hike alone and safety is important to me. Before going out I check the weather and leave my route and time back with someone.