SUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS | MAPS | VIDEOS | BLOGS | MARKETPLACE | CONTESTS
TRY BACKPACKER FREE!
SUBSCRIBE NOW and get
2 Free Issues and 3 Free Gifts!
Full Name:
Address 1:
Address 2:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Email: (required)
If I like it and decide to continue, I'll pay just $12.00, and receive a full one-year subscription (9 issues in all), a 73% savings off the newsstand price! If for any reason I decide not to continue, I'll write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing.
Your subscription includes 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Or click here to pay now and get 2 extra issues
Offer valid in US only.
CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH FULL SCREEN MAP

Colorado 14ers: Capitol Peak

CO

Star Star Star Star Star

Distance: 7.8 miles


Rocky scrambles and a knife-edge ridge lead up one of the most challenging Fourteeners. Stellar views over the untamed Elk Range are endless.
  • Capitol Peak from the trailhead
  • Meadow
  • Capitol Peak
  • Cows
  • Capitol Creek crossing
  • Creek crossing
  • Gully with seasonal snow
  • K2 Summit
  • The Knife Edge
  • Hikers on the final summit ridge
  • Gully with seasonal snow
  • Capitol Peak from Capitol Lake
  • Capitol Lake from the Daly-Capitol saddle
  • Views from the K2 Summit

Some Fourteeners are about as eye-catching as anthills, but not Capitol. It’s a mountain’s mountain, all granite precipices and soaring arêtes. If you’re like most aspiring Capitolists, you’ll hike 6.5 miles to a campsite at 11,600 feet beneath the mighty ramparts of the north face, where the daunting view will have you tossing on your Therm-a-Rest all night long.

Fortunately, summit day begins easily enough, with switchbacks up grassy slopes to 12,480-foot Daly Pass. After a brief descent, you’ll climb a bump on the northeast ridge ominously called K2. The much-dreaded Knife Edge lies just ahead. This razorback catwalk at 13,600 feet is less than 50 yards long, but it’s a circus act without a net. Experienced scramblers will hand-traverse with fingers gripping the edge (tip: Stay left). Beginners should rope up and scoot across à cheval, riding the beast like a horse. Show-offs will walk across.

There’s more scrambling after the Knife Edge, but now at least the exposure won’t make you whimper. At the top, admire the icy Pierre Lakes, neighboring Snowmass Mountain (another Fourteener), and the craggy redrock peaks to the east. But don’t dillydally: The Knife Edge is even dicier in a thunderstorm.

-Text by Dougald MacDonald
-Mapped by Lisa Heckel

Post a comment

ADD A COMMENT

Your rating:
Your Name:

Comment:

Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
The Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Full Name:
City:
Address 1:
Zip Code:
State:
Address 2:
Email (required):
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only. Canadian subscriptions | International subscriptions