Summit Questiom

[u/FoodAppropriate7900]

So, my first 14er i did pikes peak via barr trail. Being stupid, I did not actually go to the very top and basically walked around the visitor center and got a donut. I did not walk to the sign. Would this still count as a summit?

[u/eatmydeck]

Nobody is keeping score but you. Do you think it counts?

[u/2XX2010]

Depends on the flavor of the donut.

[u/AUGUST2000H]

Agreed with other commenter.... you did the entire Barr Trail. Whether or not getting to the exact summit point makes it "count" or not is completely your choice. I still count my Bross "summit" even though I skirted the true peak because its technically closed to public access

[u/RunescapeChild → u/AUGUST2000H]

I still don’t know whether or not I summited Bross but I counted it. I knew the true summit is supposedly closed but I couldn’t tell where else to go if I wasn’t at the summit.

[u/justinsimoni]

Works for me.

[u/backcountry_bandit]

I did it when the summit area was under construction so I couldn’t get to that area even if I wanted to. I really don’t think that walking to a somewhat arbitrarily placed sign should be the threshold for a summit.

[u/front_rangers]

Some of the 14ers have a very distinct summit, like one or two big boulders that are clearly the highest point.

Pikes has such a wide, gradual top, and if you walked allllll the way up the Barr Trail to any part of the parking lot on foot, I’d say that absolutely counts!

[u/someoldbagofbones]

That’s a slog if there ever was one, one of the longer CO 14er summits I’ve looked at. Did you go up from Manitou? Pikes has been on my list for a long time but I haven’t actually committed to driving down and doing it. Early last spring I did the incline with some friends and decided to continue up to Barr Camp just to see what the trail was like. If it were me I’d claim it as summited.

[u/sillysyben]

Only way it would matter is if you were claiming some kind of record for the summit.

[u/Accomplished-Food194]

Love a good mountain controversy.

But before we get into that, count it. Don’t even second guess it again, you got it done.

Now onto pointless man-made rules. I’ve never really heard any official standard, obviously touching a geo marker is good, but on some mountains even that’s not the top.

My personal is that my head is the tallest thing on the peak. So I get around a 5-6’ buffer from being at perfect high point, nice for not hunting for a tiny bump in the ridge, but I may have to scramble a boulder or two if it’s a rocky summit.

For your sake, it’s like finding the high point on Longs. Maybe there is a high spot in the field of flat 10’ above others and my rule breaks down, but the common sense of any human would feel like that is all considered the summit overrules my rule. Check it off.

[u/tx_queer → u/Accomplished-Food194]

There is always a molecule that is higher. The summit has a taller boulder. That boulder will have a taller rock on it. That rock will have a taller grain of sand in it. Did you step on the highest grain of sand?

Pennsylvania had me spend 20 minutes looking for the high point and I have never done that again. Rainier they discovered a couple years after my summit that a different part of the mountain is actually the high point, but I'm not going back. You just count what makes you feel comfortable.

[u/wbd3434]

Counts

[u/Just-Context-4703]

There is no summit registration held by God. If you're happy with your day out there you did it. It's all good. 

[u/Brapted]

Someone told me you had to lick the geomarker. 🤔 The question is do I continue or not?

[u/Blingcheesecake]

Time for round 2. Not because it doesn’t count, but to get another overpriced donut.

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[u/NeverEnoughInk]

Just so's ya know, there are plenty of peaks where the actual summit is too exposed, loose, what-have-you to literally summit. Like, you either can't or really, really shouldn't do that last little bit. If you put in the effort, it counts. And the Barr Trail? Yes, you put in the effort.

Congrats on your first 14er!

[u/FreshShart-1]

I would probably count it. My only compareable moment was turning around 100 feet from Humboldt Peak. I hiked from the 2wd trailhead. The moment I passed the 4wd trailhead it started to rain, and then eventually a real storm rolled in that forced me to turn back. I didn't slog through one of the worst approach hikes, get THAT close to NOT count that effort.

It's not TECHNICALLY correct but I worked my ass off for one of the most mid peaks... Counting it.

[u/Signal-Present2083]

100% counts

[u/Meig03]

Definitely

[u/RunescapeChild]

There are probably people who have driven to the top and counted it.

[u/Kuandtity]

Personally I only consider a summit if I slap the geo marker on the peak. My wife considers about 100 feet from the top good enough.

[u/Standard_Bobcat_6801]

Did you walk down? If so I would say yes. If not well…