⛰️ Upgrades for Colorado 14ers

Good morning, Stoke Crew. The Front Range is calling, wildflowers are blooming, and trail season is in full swing. Here's your fix of outdoor news and mountain stories.

In today's report:

• The fight for Colorado River rights
• TLC for 14ers
• Downhill World Cup recap
• Identifying flowers

Local Stokelight

⛰️ Upgrades for Colorado 14ers

Colorado's most popular 14ers are about to get some serious TLC thanks to a $250,000 grant that's going straight toward fixing the trails that have been getting destroyed by hikers over the past few years. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative just scored the funding to tackle major restoration work on 12 peaks including crowd favorites like Mount Bierstadt, Quandary Peak, and Capitol Peak, with plans for everything from boardwalk repairs to installing rock steps and restoring thousands of feet of damaged trail. This is part of a massive $2.4 million trail improvement package that Governor Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced, recognizing that these iconic mountains need some help handling the surge in visitors while protecting the fragile alpine environment that makes them so special in the first place.

The 14ers Getting Fixed:

• Mt. Bierstadt
• Mt. Blue Sky
• Quandary Peak
• Mt. Democrat
• Mt. Princeton
• Mt. Massive
• Mt. Columbia
• Capitol Peak
• San Luis Peak
• Redcloud Peak
• Wetterhorn Peak
• Mt. Sneffels

Why It Matters: If you've hiked any of these peaks in recent years, you've seen the damage firsthand, eroded trails that turn into muddy disasters, social trails branching everywhere, and alpine plants getting destroyed by people cutting switchbacks. This funding means these mountains will actually be sustainable for the long term instead of slowly getting loved to death. For the 14er community, it's about preserving the experience we all came here for while making sure these peaks survive the Instagram fueled hiking boom that's brought way more people into the high country than ever before.

Mountain Briefing

💦 Colorado River Water Wars

Seven states made a deal in 1922 to split up the Colorado River's water, and now they're in a massive fight because there's way less water than anyone thought there would be. At a recent forum in Silverthorne, Colorado's water negotiator Becky Mitchell explained the problem like this, states upstream (like Colorado) have to deal with reality every year when snowpack sucks, but states downstream (like California and Arizona) have been getting their full water deliveries no matter what thanks to giant reservoirs.

The 1922 deal prearranged each basin about 7.5 million acre-feet annually, but the river often can't deliver that much water anymore due to drought and climate change. An acre-foot, by the way, is enough water to cover a football field one foot deep. Now Colorado and other mountain states are saying "if there's not enough water, everyone should share the pain," while desert states are basically saying "we built our cities and farms based on this deal, so you still owe us the water."

The Details:

• Mountain states use 3.5-4.5 million acre-feet vs. desert states 7.5 million annually
• Mountain states have thousands of farms/towns vs. desert states massive city/agriculture diversions
• Lake Powell (the big reservoir) has been releasing more water than comes in
• September deadline for new agreements set by Bureau of Reclamation

Why It Matters: This fight will determine whether Colorado's rivers keep flowing at a good level for rafting, fishing, agriculture, or get drained to keep lawns green in the lower basin. If they can't reach a deal, it goes to court where lawyers will spend decades arguing while reservoirs keep dropping. The mountain states argument is simple. When Mother Nature doesn't deliver snow, everyone should get less water, not just us. Convincing 40 million people in cities built in the desert to accept that reality, that's the challenge.

Events

Loudenvielle DH World Cup Recap

The downhill World Cup in Loudenvielle turned into a real test with high winds at the top and big holes developing in the steep lower sections that challenged every rider. Canadian Gracey Hemstreet age 20 claimed her first elite World Cup victory by dominating the technical lower part of the course, leaving Austria's Vali Höll over 3 seconds behind in second place. The men's race saw Jackson Goldstone age 21 bounce back from a tough season start by winning 1.537 seconds over fastest qualifier Amaury Pierron, who led at the third split but couldn't match Goldstone's pace through the final sections. It's incredible how fast Jackson can corner, even in dry conditions. Makes me feel sad about my own cornering. Watch race highlights here.

The Results:

• Women: Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) wins by 3.169 seconds over Vali Höll (AUT)
• Men: Jackson Goldstone (CAN) beats Amaury Pierron (FRA) by 1.537 seconds
• Course length: 1.57 miles with winning average speeds of 25.84mph (women) and 29.32mph (men)

Name That Nature

🔍 How to Identify Silvery Lupine

🌸 Flowers

• Color: Blue to violet
• Shape: Classic pea-like flower
• Arrangement: Flowers grow in dense vertical spikes
• Bloom Time: June to August, depending on elevation

📏 Plant Size

• Height: Usually 1–3 feet tall
• Growth Habit: Upright and bushy

🏞️ Grows in

• Mountain meadows
• Open slopes
• Forest clearings
• Elevation: Common between 6,000 and 10,000 feet

Trailhead Trivia

What is the name of the 14er in the photo under the local stokelight section?

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Answer!

Mount Princeton!