Mt. Elbert, Mt. Bierstadt, The Sawtooth, Mt. Evans

September 15-16 2007

I arrived at the Mt. Elbert trailhead at about 2:30 in the afternoon. My day had started at 1 AM and I was really tired. My plan is to climb up to tree line and camp for the evening. I quickly get my gear together and hit the trail. There sure were a lot of Texans coming down the trail. Uneventfully I climb up to a nice flat spot at about 11,500 feet and set up camp. Dinner was hard tac but I was tired and more interested in getting to sleep than anything. Two climbers pass by my camp and we engage in some interesting conversation. One was from Dallas and the other from Ireland. They are telling how hard the climb was. They also tell me about their plan to climb Denali next April. I advised them to try an intermediate climb before planning on Denali, such as Mt. Rainier. On the list of Colorado 14ers Mt. Elbert is considered the easiest.  In all fairness no 14er is easy just some easier than others. Shortly after they leave I hit the bag for some need sleep.

My alarm goes off at 6 AM and I quickly turn it off. I am still a little tired from the day before. About two minutes later I see the headlamp of a climber coming up the trail. I quickly get out of my sleeping bag and start getting ready for the climb. It had rained all night and was still drizzling so everything outside was wet. I look at my watch, 6:15 and start to head up. At about 12, 500 feet I meet another climber on his way up named Tim. An amazing guy I would later learn that he had just had knee and back surgery 6 months prior and was now on a climb. Only in his 20’s I did not ask why at such a young age. I can only guess some kind of accident.  Looking up in the direction of the summit there is a rainbow that goes over to the next ridge to the North. The rainbow seems to end at a large rock that in my view looks like the preverbal pot at the end of the rainbow. At this point it is sleeting pretty hard. I was expecting it to be cold but this was sandblasting my face.  At about 13,500 feet I get a text message from my wife “where are you”. It kind of startled me, not expecting cell phone service up there.  I arrived at the summit at about 8:30. The overcast and sleet had passed over and the summit offered up a view that seemed a portrait of one big mountain after another. The wind was blowing pretty hard but the views were so spectacular that I really had to stay awhile. After about 45 minutes I had to force myself to start down. The climb down was pretty easy. This being a Sunday there were a lot of climbers heading up as I was heading down. The weather seemed to have gotten better and as would be the lesson, a later start this time of year would have been better. I get back to camp and leisurely pack up. The climb down is nice and quiet. The Aspen trees this time of year have all turned the brightest array of yellows and oranges I have ever seen.  At about 10,750 feet my quiet stroll down the mountain is interrupted by the thunderstorms that have seemed to have snuck in.  I quickly head down to the trailhead and get my gear into the car. Those at the parking area are all leaving to get out of storms path. The word I am getting from the locals is Thunderstorms for the next several days.

The drive back into Leadville was spent thinking about what I was going to do with the next few days here. I had left a lot of work and taking days off at this time was not ideal. But to be honest when is taking off from work ever good for them.  The decision was that more than likely I was not going to get any more climbing in and was going to end up either confined to my tent or in a hotel room. Once I arrived back at Leadville I called home and asked Maryann to call the airline and see what it would cost to fly back early. While waiting to see what she would find out I start the drive back to Denver. Shortly past town I get a call and the price is $300, 150% added to the original round trip ticket, NO WAY.  Guess I’ll head towards Georgetown then Guanella Pass and look for a camp. There are forest service camp grounds on the way up to Guanella Pass but it seems that they close them all down prior to this time of year. I arrive at the Bierstadt trailhead and there are these two ladies in the parking area. I asked them if they know of any where I might camp in the area. They point me down the mountain further to the North.  I ended up at a forest service camp right off the main road. My priority was to set up my tent in a spot that was as dry and would remain as dry as possible. I didn’t notice this at first but after setting up my tent and getting in I could hear elk in the area bugling.  I spent about an hour listening to them before nodding off.

My alarm went off at 6:00 AM. It had rained all night and was still raining. I decided that I was going to drive back to the Mt. Bierstadt trailhead and see what the conditions looked like. If they were not good I would drive back to Denver and get a room for the night.  When I arrive at the trailhead the weather just plainly sucked. The trail starts out covering a bowl for about a mile and a half before starting the assent. Not wanting to spend the whole day coupéd up inside I put on everything that I brought that would keep me warm and dry. Deciding I would hike down the trail and see what happened. At about 12,500 feet the wind kicked up to about 25 mph and the rain turned to snow. What is also on my mind is that the summit of Mt. Bierstadt is only about 1,500 feet away and for me that is only about an hour or so away.  At this point I wasn’t really thinking about The Sawtooth or Mt. Evans. At about 13,250 feet the wind kicked up to easily 50 mph and the snow reduced visibility down to maybe 10 feet.  It was all I could do to stay on my feet. The rout up was disappearing under a quickly accumulating layer of snow. Every 100 feet or so I would stop and look back and ask myself if I thought I could find my way back. At about 13,600 the climb became a scramble on all 4s. I actually enjoy a little of this it adds to the fun. The wind and snow was showing no signs of letting up. If anything the wind was getting stronger.  I could see a big rock about 100 feet away that appeared to be the high point. Climbing up on all 4s I get to the top of the rock and see about 100 ft away another rock even higher. I start climbing up to this point and again I see another rock about 100 feet away and of course higher. My altimeter reads a little past the 14,000 feet mark so I know I must be close. I start climbing towards the thirds rock and as I reach over the top expecting this to be another false summit my hand grabs the summit tube. Most of the 14ers in Colorado have a tube chained to the high point. You unscrew one end and there is normally a pen and paper for you to sign in that you were there.  I still hadn’t made my mind up to make the crossing over to The Sawtooth. I couldn’t even see it but I knew it wasn’t very far, less than a mile but a mile of scrambling. Scrambling in whiteout conditions and very high winds. Well I’m not sure why but I just started towards The Sawtooth without ever really making the decision.  It wasn’t until I crossed the saddle that I really made the choice that I was going to go to the top of The Sawtooth and that being the hardest part Mt. Evans would be a sure thing. From The Sawtooth it seem like about a mile to Mt. Evans with maybe 500 foot of elevation gain. Just before I made the summit I could see a road that goes what looked like to me a couple of hundred feet from the summit. After making the summit I didn’t stick around very long. There was very little to see except driving snow.  I started to head down towards the north into a gully that I had read about that would lead towards Gomer Creek and back to the Guanella Pass trailhead. As soon as I dropped below 13,000 feet things started to clear up but more importantly the wind dropped down just a bit. After I arrived back at the trailhead I stowed my gear and made the drive back to Denver, hot food,  and a warm dry room to get ready in for my return home the next day.

This trip was great in every way. The final push up Mt. Bierstadt I think was the best for me.  This past summer I learned on Mt. Hood, to take climbs a few steps at a time and never give up until you decide that the next step is the one that you should not take. Going up Mt. Bierstadt I think the whole climb was a lot with the weather not being ideal but there was never a point that I felt that one more step would be my last. One step at a time will get you to the top.