Kirk Mallory finishes highest 1,000 CO peaks

[John Kirk]

Congrats Kirk! It was good to get that tough one out of the way with you.

[kirkmallory]

Thanks John! Thanks for organizing that tough one. Wish the weather had been better - but it certainly made it probably the most memorable peak this year!

[TWorth]

Great going Kirk. That RMNP peak was indeed memorable. If you don't mind me asking, which of the other mid to high 12ers did you find most interesting/challenging?

[kirkmallory]

Well, Sharkstooth certainly was the most challenging of the 12ers in the high 1000.

A few that come to mind that I used a rope on (although some may not find it necessary):

12968 on the Wetterhorn Peak quad - route is on the south face - probably Class 4
12740 on the Rito Alto Peak quad - Probably also Class 4 & a lot of route finding, mainly on its south side.
Dunsinane - has two steep Class 3-4 pitches with loose rock which we upclimbed unroped, but rapped down, especially since there was already webbing there that looked good. Otherwise it was easy
Greg Mace Peak in the Elks - but probably because it was October with a bunch of new snow.

Some other good scrambles were the three high 12ers on the Jackson quad - 12980, 12977, and 12973. The western one of those had an interesting summit, separated from a slightly lower point to the south. There was good scrambling in between the three peaks, made very interesting in spots by June snow.

Engineer Mountain in the San Juans is a nice short climb with some scrambling that I enjoyed.

Peak I in the Gores was a fun scramble on its east ridge, after traversing from the west & climbing the south face.

12768 in the San Juans has come enjoyable route-finding from the east, but more in the interesting category than difficult.

[Steve Knapp]

Congrats again Kirk! Nice job and good luck on your remaining 12ers. I liked reading about your interesting 12ers in the high 1000.

[kirkmallory]

Thanks Steve. Hopefully a few more of them will be interesting as well. But right now I don't have plans to do the rest of them. A couple of them look a little too interesting!

[BigRob]

Congratulations on reaching a great milestone. I'm guessing that not too many have accomplished such a feat. I've enjoyed reading of your adventures over the last couple of years.

[TeresaGergen]

Rob, 4 others have reported completing the Highest 1000 peaks in CO: Bob Martin, Mike Garratt, Ken Nolan, and Jack Dais.