Scott Patterson wrote:So which were your favorite 13ers?
The ones where I had to figure out clever tricks to solo something I otherwise would have needed a rock leader for. A lot of the harder 13ers in CA have short sections of difficulty, or summit boulder problems, that are technical or semi-technical, as opposed to outright pitches of rock climbing (where I did need a rock leader, and which is more common in WY, although there are a few in CA (and CO) as well). Often I could use rock shoes and/or some form of aid to get myself up stuff I couldn't downclimb, then I could rap down that spot. In WY, Koven comes to mind. In CA, Courte Echelle, Humphreys, Darwin, Bear Creek Spire, Squaretop, Thunder, Jordan, Fusilade are ones that I really enjoyed in this regard. (There are a good number of others where the abject misery of the rest of the climb or approach outweighed the "fun" of puzzling out the technical difficulties.)
Also have to say that Mauna Loa is really cool.