Mt. Elbert Trip Report 07/14/2008

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Mt. Elbert - 14,438 feet
Date Posted	07/14/2008
Date Climbed	07/13/2008
Author	CarolinaGirl

Elbert- east ridge
Mt. Elbert- east ridge (class 1) summit elevation: 14,433 ft elevation gain: around 4,500 ft round-trip length: around 10.5 miles begin time: 5:30 am summit time: 12:30 pm end time: 5:30 pm climbers: Cynthia (carolinagirl), Matt, Mimi, and Chris Well, I spent all year waiting for summer so I could get high Thanks to law school for providing me with a lack of time for long days on the mountain and lack of money for equipment, I haven‘t done a 14er since September! I had a great winter though, never really went above 10K (maybe 12K a few times) but did lots of skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking and even managed to lose 30 lbs in the process! So, thinking it was pretty cool that we only live like 2 hours from the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains of North America, and the 2nd highest peak in the lower 48 states, Matt, Mimi, Chris, and I decided to give Mt. Elbert a try! We parked in a pullout on the 4wd road, barely any further up than where the South Mt. Elbert Trailhead lot is. After hiking up the road ends and the trail begins in the aspen grove, its actually a somewhat steep beginning, but is very beautiful: some early morning lighting in the aspen forest looking back southeast(?) over twin lakes chris, mimi, and matt taking a break, checking out Mt. Elbert, and enjoying Colorado‘s famous bluebird skies!! This whole route was scenic all the way to the top, I highly recommend it! view on the way up of wildflowers and mountains in the distance this is the part of the ridge (maybe around 13k?) that is steep and is really only one of two steep parts of the hikes (this part of the ridge, and parts of the aspen forest).. the rest of the hike is some pretty nice switchbacking my attempt at a summit panorama another shot from the summit Matt, Cynthia, Mimi, and Chris.. standing on the roof of the rockies!! This was Matt‘s, Mimi‘s, and Chris‘ first 14er and they were rewarded with some pretty spectacular views (the kind of views you only get to see from being that high)... And fortunately, nobody got sick (including me, thank goodness.. summiting a 14er and actually feeling good instead of dizzy is a great feeling!). Anyways, it was a good choice for a first 14er, although it is kind of long for a 1st one, the trail is great and the views are amazing! Kita leading us back.. This was also my dog Kita‘s first 14er! She loved it and did great although so far today she has done nothing but sleep! I had already hurt my knee pretty badly on the way up, but the way down was just full of hurts for almost the whole party! A lot of falling among us, I guess from a mixture of tired legs and a couple steep sections with loose dirt- If I hadn‘t been wearing my high top boots i‘m pretty sure I would‘ve twisted an ankle.. So if anyone has a pair of knees or ankles I could borrow this week, that would be great ! Anyways, I think its safe to say that they all enjoyed their first 14er experience and that we‘ll be doing as many as we can before school starts up again! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Elbert- east ridge

Mt. Elbert- east ridge (class 1)
summit elevation: 14,433 ft
elevation gain: around 4,500 ft
round-trip length: around 10.5 miles
begin time: 5:30 am
summit time: 12:30 pm
end time: 5:30 pm
climbers: Cynthia (carolinagirl), Matt, Mimi, and Chris

Well, I spent all year waiting for summer so I could get high

Thanks to law school for providing me with a lack of time for long days on the mountain and lack of money for equipment, I haven‘t done a 14er since September! I had a great winter though, never really went above 10K (maybe 12K a few times) but did lots of skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking and even managed to lose 30 lbs in the process!

So, thinking it was pretty cool that we only live like 2 hours from the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains of North America, and the 2nd highest peak in the lower 48 states, Matt, Mimi, Chris, and I decided to give Mt. Elbert a try! We parked in a pullout on the 4wd road, barely any further up than where the South Mt. Elbert Trailhead lot is.

After hiking up the road ends and the trail begins in the aspen grove, its actually a somewhat steep beginning, but is very beautiful:

some early morning lighting in the aspen forest

looking back southeast(?) over twin lakes

chris, mimi, and matt taking a break, checking out Mt. Elbert, and enjoying Colorado‘s famous bluebird skies!!

This whole route was scenic all the way to the top, I highly recommend it!

view on the way up of wildflowers and mountains in the distance

this is the part of the ridge (maybe around 13k?) that is steep and is really only one of two steep parts of the hikes (this part of the ridge, and parts of the aspen forest).. the rest of the hike is some pretty nice switchbacking

my attempt at a summit panorama

another shot from the summit

Matt, Cynthia, Mimi, and Chris.. standing on the roof of the rockies!!

This was Matt‘s, Mimi‘s, and Chris‘ first 14er and they were rewarded with some pretty spectacular views (the kind of views you only get to see from being that high)... And fortunately, nobody got sick (including me, thank goodness.. summiting a 14er and actually feeling good instead of dizzy is a great feeling!). Anyways, it was a good choice for a first 14er, although it is kind of long for a 1st one, the trail is great and the views are amazing!

Kita leading us back.. This was also my dog Kita‘s first 14er! She loved it and did great although so far today she has done nothing but sleep!

I had already hurt my knee pretty badly on the way up, but the way down was just full of hurts for almost the whole party! A lot of falling among us, I guess from a mixture of tired legs and a couple steep sections with loose dirt- If I hadn‘t been wearing my high top boots i‘m pretty sure I would‘ve twisted an ankle.. So if anyone has a pair of knees or ankles I could borrow this week, that would be great !

Anyways, I think its safe to say that they all enjoyed their first 14er experience and that we‘ll be doing as many as we can before school starts up again!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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