Mount Elbert Trip Report : 4.19.2008

On April 19th, 2008 my buddy, Dwight, and I try to ascend the highest peak in Colorado while it is still covered in snow. This will be the second snow covered ascent of this mountain in two years. We failed to summit last year and hope this year will bring better luck. This picture is taken from highway 24, south of Leadville, as we approach the trailhead.

Blue sky and temperatures in the low thirties greet us at the trailhead. We arrive at the trailhead around 7 AM. This year we decide to hike the east ridge to the summit. Last year we hiked the southern face and it proved to be a bit too much with the snow. This year's route looked longer, but has a much more gradual pitch.

Spirits are high as we we prepare to begin our hike. Mount Elbert can be seen directly behind us.

The first portion of the trail walks through aspen groves.

At this point in the hike we are walking on unimproved dirt road. The temperatures will be so warm today that when we return from our hike this same section of trail will only have a small section of road covered in snow. Making for a beautiful hike up through the aspen and a very wet descent down through the mud.

Having hiked Mt. Bierstadt only a month before and knowing how cold it was when we started hiking that mountain we prepared ourselves for the cold. However, the day proved to be so nice that we had to stop soon after our start to shed a few layers.

The scenery was amazing.

We had an early start and the top layer of snow was still frozen, which allowed us to walk on top of the snow without snow shoes. I was walking on three feet of snow as I traveled across this meadow. I know that because on the way down this meadow had melted and we sunk deep into the snow on several occasions; even while wearing our snow shoes.

Morning sun penetrates the trees.

Dwight in high spirits with Mount Elbert seen as the right most peak in the distance. Only a mile into our hike; we still have a lot of hiking before we get to the summit.

We got off course and ended up on part of the Colorado Trail, which intersects with the Mount Elbert trail. This old bridge on the Colorado Trail had seen better days. If the angle of the bridge didn't keep you off; the nine inch rusty nails that stuck out of it would. I walked around, but I dared Dwight to cross it.

I'm all smiles in this photo, but five minutes earlier I was turning the sky blue with profanities. Up to this point I hadn't been wearing snow shoes and as we got deeper into the trees the snow got less stable and I started to fall through the snow a lot. But after I put on my snow shoes all was good.

The plan was to hike through this last bit of snow and then we would be able to hike the ridge which as you can see in this picture didn't have any snow. We would then take off our snow shoes in hope that it would save us some time.

At this point we are around 12,500 feet and the wind is whistling. Plus, the clock tells us it is already noon. There is still a lot of mountain between us and the summit and we have a turn around time of 1 PM.

Windy, Cold, Tired, and two hundred vertical feet from the summit we call it a day. We turn around at 14,200 feet and forty minutes past our turn around time. Knowing the mountain will be here to hike another day we decided to take a few photos and head back to the car, which is over six miles away.

Dwight and I reflect on our decision to turn around as we take a short break and get some food in our stomach before we make the final push back to the car. With a shortage of food and water, and an equipment failure still to come I'm certain we made a good choice to turn around when we did.

Sometimes 14,200' Isn't High Enough...

Mount Elbert
14, 440'



04.19.2008

If you are keeping score:
Mount Elbert: 2
Me: 0

Winter 14er - Success!

Mount Bierstadt
14,060'

03.09.2008

Colorado 14er - Torreys Peak Summit

Torreys Peak
Elevation: 14,267'
Here are a couple highlights of my hike to Torreys Peak on September 12, 2007

Colorado 14er - Grays Peak Summit

Grays Peak

Elevation: 14,270 ft

I spent yesterday hiking Grays and Torreys Peaks. Believe it or not this is the first fourteener I've successful hiked! Here are couple highlights of Grays Peak.

Summit a 14er or Bust!

A little over a year ago my brother and I set out on a hike that would take us to the top of Longs Peak. The night before we hiked it the first snow of the year hit the mountain making all the routes extremely technical due to the layer of snow and ice that covered the stony path to the summit.

We made it past the boulder field and through the keyhole, but once on the other side of the keyhole snow and ice got really bad, forcing us, and many other hikers to submit to the mountain, give up, and go home.

Since then I've wanted to revisit the mountain. I had planned to hike it tomorrow with my brother. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen.

I recently injured one of my ribs, leaving me in a lot of pain when I try to breath, laugh, sneeze, cough, etc. I figured climbing the boulder field, which required some arms and legs would be a bit much.

Plus, when I called the Back Country Ranger Station to get conditions for the mountain; they reported that all routes on Longs Peak have snow and are are now classified as "technical."

Well, I won't be hiking Longs tomorrow. Instead, I'll be hiking Grays and Torreys.

The weather is suppose to be beautiful so I hope to get some great pictures while I'm up there.

I just finished packing my backpack. I'm only carrying the bare minimum to keep the pack light and to keep some of the pressure from the backpack off my ribs.

Tomorrow will be one of the few times I look forward to waking up early on a work day. Instead of work I'll be enjoying a beautiful day in the high country! With any luck I'll double my goal of hiking just one 14er this year and summit both Grays and Torreys.

*Image of Longs Peak taken during my summit attemp last year.

A month ago today.

It is always a great idea to live in the moment, but have you ever taken a break and thought to yourself, "What was I doing a month ago?"


Well, I had that thought this afternoon and it dawned on me that I was riding my bike up the highest paved road in America, Mount Evans. How cool is that!


July 14th was my brothers birthday. He had set the goal early in the year to ride his bike in the Triple Bypass promoted by Team Evergreen, which happened to fall on his birthday. Although his intentions throughout the year were good, the responsibilities of work and family kept him from reaching his optimum fitness. He didn't feel as though he was ready to tackle such a major ride.


Still wanting to challenge himself on the bike he gave me a call. I didn't have anything planned and a couple minutes of chatting and we had made plans to ride Mount Evans on our mountain bikes. This way he would still be able to challenging himself, but without having to ride 120 miles to do it.

The morning of the 14th was spent climbing the 14er on our mountain bikes and I had an absolutely great time. Not just because I was riding such a challenging mountain, but also because I saw my brother revisit his roots in cycling.


My brother was a hard core rider back in the 80s and 90s when mountain biking first made the scene. I remember he would let me borrow his Specialized Rock Hopper in the early 90s after he upgraded and bought a StumpJumper. Man those bikes were cool. There was no suspension back then and my brother had clipless pedals, which I was always jealous of when I strapped myself into toe clips. We would ride up and down Horsetooth Mountain several times a week since it was just across the street from where we lived at the time.


The years have passed and neither one of us ride as much as we used to, but a month ago today, we both enjoyed the company of the other as we did years ago while riding Horestooth. What a great day.


*Picture: My brother cruising towards the summit of Mount Evans.