Bill, Herb and I headed out to hike up Mt. Elbert at 3am, getting on the trail at 5:20am. We started so early because even though the forecast was for severe clear weather you don't wan to be above treeline when a thunderstorm pops up. Luckily the weather forecast was spot on and we didn't even spot a cloud (other then east over the front range).
The other reason for the early start was the length of this hike which would be ~9 miles with an altitude gain of ~4700'. We figured a round trip time in the 6-7 hour range, but we were pretty much off on this estimate. For reference most of the 14er's hiked so far have had a trip time of about 4 hours and an altitude gain in the 2000' range...so this was going to be about double.
Did I mention the snow. We started to run in to it in the trees near tree line and it was a pain in the ass, obscuring the trail was the major problem. Once above tree line it blocked the route up causing detours.
Herb had to stop just above tree line having fallen victim to the dreaded cold pizza breakfast he ate on the way over. For those keeping score at home, it is now Papa Murphy's Rancher Pizza- 1, Herb - 0. He took a nap in the sun and waited for Bill and I to get to the top and back.
This turned into a climb that never seemed to end. We must of though we were with easy reach of the top three times, having been fooled by false summits all along the route.
Finally, 5 hours into the hike we made it.
That stick in the background is the highest point in Colorado at 14,438'.
Getting down is always the hard part for me and of course is not optional, like getting to the top. Here the snow was a real freeway in that we headed straight down the snow field from the summit to just above the tree line, sinking in the heels of our boots. Although every once in a while we did post hole a leg all the way in to groin level. Actually I was amazed we didn't blow out a ACL when this would happen.
One guy at the top didn't want to be bothered with walking down, so he brought his skis.We met back up with Herb at the point where the trail went into the trees. Here again we were not sure where to go other then down hill. From the looks of the packed tracks through the snow it looked like once at this point it had been "every man for himself" by the folks who had come down previously. We traded off leads each time it seemed as if one of us had lost the scent of the trail and had us going off into uncharted territory.
After 8 hours we made it back to the truck.
We will probably wait until a little more snow has melted before going after the next 14er.
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