plenty of hikes harder than the 14ers in Colorado, 14ers just get the numbers, and incidentally the accidents. Bring the right gear, study the route, give yourself plenty of time, be off the mountain before afternoon thunderstorms roll in. That's served me well on every hike. That said, even though they were slightly off route, that type of thing could have happened to anyone. On capital you've got a lot of time with lots of exposure, if a rock goes it doesn't matter if you were on route or not. Keep in mind the "route" on parts of capital are basically some scattered cairns that you have to pick your way through on your own, there isn't much of a trail up there.