Mount Elbert Summit

After my first week of classes here at CMC, Dad came up to visit for Labor Day weekend, but we couldn't simply visit. No, we were going to attempt to summit the highest peak in Colorado, Mount Elbert. Elbert comes in as the second highest peak in the continental United States at 14,440 feet above sea level.

I was still sleeping soundly when Dad called me, it's amazing how well you sleep when the roommate is out of town. After a hurried breakfast of Cliff Bar and Gatorade, we were on our way. The day started out mostly clear, with a few small clouds in the sky. By the time we got to the trail head, the parking lot was full to the point of spilling over, so we parked in the nearby overflow lot for the Mt Massive trail head. Chug the rest of the Gatorade, and off we go!

We followed the green route from the North.

The first bit of the rout follows the Colorado trail on the feet of the mountain, and then the Mt Elbert trail splits off, and the real climbing begins. After a little bit too aggressive start on the hill, we took a quick break and moved out again, at a better pace, we still had miles to go. Not too long after, we hit treeline, and the view opened up.

Looking Northeast, back towards Leadville.

From there, the climb was one long grunt up to the summit ridge. It was tough, but Dad and I both agreed that it was the best climb we had done all summer, out of ten summits. The view from the top, as always, was incredible.

I can see my house from here!

Summit bear approved.

It was chilly up top, but not too cold for my traditional snack of summit bears (known at lower elevations as gummy bears). We busted out the jackets, and snapped some pictures, but didn't stay long, there was some weather moving in.

Photo credit: Chris Boyack (thanks Dad)

Those clouds look pretty soggy. Time to R-U-N-N-O-F-T!

On the way down, the weather caught up with us, and we got hailed on, but that passed fairly quickly. It was warm and sunny again by the time we reached treeline again. I stopped for a snack, and when I opened my bag of beef jerky, I noticed that I was being watched very intently by a pair of camp jays. If you have ever opened a noisy bag near a dog, it was that kind of look. When I held a small bit in my palm, they were more than happy to land on my hand and take the food. I was able to do this a number of times, so that Dad could get just the right picture.

Jays behind, we kept trucking down the trail. Where the Elbert trail met the Colorado trail, we passed a large group of backpackers, but we were soon surprised to find that they were right behind us, and moving fast. We let them go past, and them Dad said they must know something that we don't. So we followed them closely at a very good pace for almost the rest of the way down, and sure enough, the skies opened and proceeded to rain cats and dogs. A quick stop so Dad could put his camera away, and we ran the rest of the way back to the car, but not without first getting thoroughly soaked.

All in all a very successful day, we went in to town and got a late lunch at High Mountain Pies, the best pizza in Leadville.

Stats for the day:
Start time 8:30 ish
Summit time 11:30
Elevation gain 4700'
9 miles