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It was August 6th and I was driving around Leadville trying to decide what mountain to climb the following morning as well as looking for a place to eat, I had plenty of food in my pickup but some how a hot medium rare cheeseburger and french fries sounded more appetizing! A climber in the Sawatch back country mountaineering store recommended Rosies Brewpub, however, after driving around for fifteen minutes, I gave up and stopped at Pizza Hut where I had the buffet. I decided on attempting Mount Elbert the following morning so as soon as I was finished eating I was off to the trailhead where I would set up camp. I had heard that the views from La Plata and Massive were much more breathtaking, however, I wanted to climb the highest, which was obviously Elbert.
There really isn't much to say about the trail that hasn't been said before, but I found it to be very easy and was nothing when compared to Longs. I made the summit in approximately three hours. The weather along with the views were gorgeous on the summit!
Me on the summit.
I spent about a half an hour on top walking around, taking pictures, recording video, and talking to friends and family on my phone.
La Plata Peak from Elbert.
After looking at La Plata, I was thinking I maybe should have attempted it rather then Elbert. Mount Massive looked massive from Elbert. lol
The summit register.
The Summit.
I was running on my way down only slowing to chat with fellow hikers when I met a great guy by the name of Justin Butts. He was from Texas and had hiked more than one hundred miles at that point and didn't even show any signs of fatigue. We BSed about everything from mountains to philosophy. I gave him a ride into Leadville where he took me to and suggested I reserve a bed at a place called Wild Bill's. Despite what I had said earlier about not wasting money on hotels, at a modest twenty three dollars, I thought just the hot shower alone would be worth it so I had him reserve me a bed. Justin and I then proceeded to Rosies Brew Pub where I had one of the most amazing cheeseburgers to date! From there we went back to Wild Bills where I had a much needed hot shower. The one hundred mile bike race was the following weekend so as you can imagine there were bikers everywhere! They were all pretty cool people and I enjoyed talking to them. Later that night some other people started up a poker game and after stealthly observing the game I decided I would join. There was a five dollar buy in with an ante of a quarter and a maximum bet of one dollar. After a couples hours I was up twenty five dollars and in the end had turned my five dollars into twenty-eight. My poker winnings paid for my stay! So, for me, it was a pretty good night! lol The following morning I was planning on attempting Mount Massive, however, the weather turned out to be less than ideal and I took off for Colorado Springs. The following saturday I summited Longs Peak! That trip report should be up shortly.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Rosie‘s Brewpub is the highest brewery in North America and has amazing fish n chips.
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