Sunday, August 23, 2009

Mount Elbert



On a beautiful August day, Julia, Yeti and I decided to hike a bit longer more difficult route up the tallest mountain in the Rockies, Mount Elbert (14,443'). We choose the Black Cloud trailhead. This trail has the most vertical gain at over 5,300' of any routes of the mountain. Depending on who you talk to, this route also covers two 14ers. We didn't see another person on the trail until the summit.

This isn't the longest 14er that I've climbed, but it was certainly one of the hardest. The round trip time on the trail was a little over 10 hours. The trail wasn't well maintained and non-existent for many stretches, probably due to it's lack of popularity. The way up the steep, dirt sections wasn't bad, but the way down was rough! It was good fun, but I'm not yet sure if I would recommend that route to anyone else. There are several other routes that are surely more enjoyable. Another one down....

-Erich


Mount Bierstadt Hike



Last weekend, Julia, my parents and I hiked Mount Bierstadt. Julia and I wanted a short 14er for our first of the summer. We took Guannella Pass up to the trailhead which was a bit more eventful than expected due to construction on the road. There were several spots on the pass that were single lane only which we had to wait at a temporary stop light to wait for the opposite going traffic to pass. This turned out to be quite a hassle on the way down due to a bad accident on the other side of the pass.

The Hike was short and and sweet. We saw a rare Colorado Moose near the trailhead swimming in a pond. The worst part of this hike was the winding willows near the bottom of the mountain. Other than that, it was a bunch of fun. A five hour round trip is quite short for a 14er, but it was still a good time just to get out there.

-Erich


Sunday, August 9, 2009

St. Mary's Glacier --- Skiing in August



On a beautiful, sunny, Colorado summer day, we decided to get out and do some hiking. What better way to get down the hill then on skis!

Jason, Melissa, Eric, Steph and I headed up a short trail to the snow field named St. Mary's Glacier. This is not a true glacier because it does not flow, but it's still fun to ski on! Jason and Melissa are on their 11th consecutive month of skiing in Colorado. Their goal is 20+ months, but I can guess that soon they will start counting in years instead of months.

I have some video footage from our ride down, so check back later.

Jason's pictures are located here

August, still ski season in Colorado.

-Erich