Download Agreement, Release, and Acknowledgement of Risk:
You (the person requesting this file download) fully understand mountain climbing ("Activity") involves risks and dangers of serious bodily injury, including permanent disability, paralysis, and death ("Risks") and you fully accept and assume all such risks and all responsibility for losses, costs, and damages you incur as a result of your participation in this Activity.
You acknowledge that information in the file you have chosen to download may not be accurate and may contain errors. You agree to assume all risks when using this information and agree to release and discharge 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and the author(s) of such information (collectively, the "Released Parties").
You hereby discharge the Released Parties from all damages, actions, claims and liabilities of any nature, specifically including, but not limited to, damages, actions, claims and liabilities arising from or related to the negligence of the Released Parties. You further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and each of the other Released Parties from and against any loss, damage, liability and expense, including costs and attorney fees, incurred by 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. or any of the other Released Parties as a result of you using information provided on the 14ers.com or 14ers Inc. websites.
You have read this agreement, fully understand its terms and intend it to be a complete and unconditional release of all liability to the greatest extent allowed by law and agree that if any portion of this agreement is held to be invalid the balance, notwithstanding, shall continue in full force and effect.
By clicking "OK" you agree to these terms. If you DO NOT agree, click "Cancel"...
Greatly enjoyed this loop. The challenge of this hike can be increased or decreased by adding or removing summits. There are no very steep or loose sections, and the end trail back to the trailhead is nice, gradual and short. Pretty much at any given moment you are maybe 1.5hrs from your car provided you make it to the trailhead, and there are at least 3 convenient areas throughout the loop to bail off of. After you finish the up and down intervals of Kuss, Mosquito, and Treasurevault you get a long, flat respite to coast on or do a bit of trail running before you decide to descend or hit another peak.
I highly recommend attempting to hit Arkansas from Tweto if you're up for one more.
I'm aspiring to do some longer peak-to-peak hikes this summer, so now that the summer conditions are pretty much here I wanted to test what I could do and practice pacing and taking care of myself so as to not burn out. I decided to hit London first even though I had bagged it before for the extra stats. London does offer some fun light scrambling if one is so inclined. She really thinks she's high-larious with all of those false summits. I had a bit of a coughing fit after summiting; Last year I realized I may have exercise induced asthma so I got an inhaler to use as needed, so taking a puff took care of that.
After skipping down London I had to slow way down on Kuss's annoying little steepness but I was good about trying to maintain pace and keeping my burn aerobic. There was only 1 or 2 swaths of snow to swim through on the way up. The top of Kuss is ugly but I picked the least windy side of the building to re-sunscreen, hydrate, stretch, brunch, blah blah blah.
I stayed on the ridgeline "trail" down Kuss's north face, but for future reference the road going down parallel to the west intersects at the saddle anyway if you'd rather not do the ankle training. I took a line up Mosquito that pretty much avoided any snow.
Mosquito Peak from Kuss
Treasurevault was easier than it looked from Mosquito.
Treasurevault from Mosquito.
I did a bit of trailrunning on the flat ridgeline after treasurevault. Giddy with how good I was feeling I even decided to hit the little bumps that protrude into the basin before heading back to the main ridgeline to go up Tweto.
Looking at Tweto on the right, and Arkansas on the left. The only part I was questioning without reading any beta was that initial steepness after the saddle.
At this point I had been eyeing Arkansas. I wasn't really planning on going up it so I didn't read any beta. It looked like there were some maybe iffy sections just after the saddle, but maybe I can go check it out after Tweto. Alas, as I started up Tweto I realized I had spent the last of my leg juice and I went slower up Tweto than anything else, or at least it felt like that. I wanted to do another something this weekend so I didn't want to totally destroy myself. I looked today and you can definitely hit Arkansas from Tweto, so I'd really recommend it. Maybe if I had eaten another bar, or hadn't spend my legs on London I could have gotten Arkansas today.
Arkansas from the Summit of Tweto.Buckskin from the summit of Tweto
I took a long break on Tweto before skipping down to the car. I practically used up all the remaining storage on my phone's camera trying to catch good pictures of a very not shy and very cute summit hamster. (it was tempting, but I did not feed it).
Just begging for some chocolaty bar.
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
I think we crossed paths on London mt, I was there yesterday too doing the loop. And I think we were the only two people on those mountains :-). It was a great day! I also found the slope up Kuss was the most time consuming. I had to skip Tweto, ran out of juice in my legs. You were fast and strong, well done!
And happy to share ncxhjhgvbi. Were you able to grab Arkansas from there by chance?
Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.
Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.
