Mount Elbert

Description

Elevation: - 14,433'
Location - Southwest of Leadville in Colorado.

Trip Report(s)

Mike and I climbed Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado, on my 38th birthday, July 15, 1998. It was the best birthday, ever! We had returned back to the Arkansas River valley after having to abort our backpacking trip through the Collegiate Peaks due to the shoulder strap on Mike's pack breaking. After camping overnight at Twin Peaks campground off Independence Pass road, we got started up the Black Cloud trail around 8:00AM on the morning of the 15th, a beautiful day. We were taking the non-standard route up the south side of the mountain in the hopes to do something different than the standard "pedestrian" route up the east side, and to avoid as many people as possible.

The trail started at 9,690' and went up a beatiful creek drainage, passing by an old mining cabin at one point. It was a steep trail. According to "Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners", there is 4,743' of elevation gain in the four miles from trailhead to summit, yielding an average grade of 22%. As Dawson calls it, "a grunt" (and rates even the summer climb as advanced, and supposed to take 10 hours round trip). But we were both feeling very fit, and took it fast, breaking above timberline in less than an hour. From there the trail went over a series of false summits (each a build up of hope followed by disappointment at seeing yet another, higher summit beyond). We finally summited at 11:00AM, which was a very good pace!

The views from the summit were beautiful. The Arkansas River valley was below us to the east, with Mt. Sherman (14,036') in the Mosquito Range beyond. To the north, Mt. Massive (14,421') rose impressively. It really is massive, the summit comprising the largest single area above 14,000' in the conterminous United States. To the west and south of us was the Sawatch Range, including my beloved Collegiates stretching away to the south. Of those, La Plata Peak (14,336') was the most striking, with numerous snow-filled couloirs on its north face capturing our imagination. We both want to go and do a late spring snow climb up one of those! The other thing I remember is that the little flowers in the tundra were in full bloom, and the air was so thick with the pollen from these tiny little blossoms that it smelled like honey. Incredible.

The only thing marring the summit was the crowd. 14ers are typically crowded with people, everyone checking off yet another peak bagged, and as the highest mountain in Colorado (and second highest in the conterminous U.S.) Mt. Elbert gets a lot of people. This time it was made worse by a church youth group, which had dragged a large wooden cross penitential-style up the mountain, set it up at the summit, and then gathered around it singing hymns. I have no problem with worship or hymn singing in the appropriate setting, but on top of a mountain most people are looking for solitude and quiet. If they can't appreciate the direct evidence of God's handiwork in silent reverence, why even bother making the trip? An even worse crime was they then ate, throwing candy wrappers and other trash away on the summit. So much for respecting creation! Grrr...

We then hiked down the way we came, reaching the trailhead by 1:30PM. So much for Dawson's 10 hour round trip estimate! Mike and I were both clicking that day, and it had just felt great to be out and about, fit, and doing what we were doing. Besides on the summit, we had not met more than six people on the trail we took (all of them on the way down), so that part of the plan was successful, too. We then decided to change our itinerary, and instead of camping that night we drove to Buena Vista and had a soak in a sauna and dinner at a Mexican restaurant, planning our backpacking trip for the next day. A great birthday!. Photos follow.

Photos

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