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It was a beautiful day for a hike up Bierstadt. No real epic stories or pictures, but I like posting trip reports, and some folks might find the beta useful.
My alarm went off at 4 am......I hit the snooze......it went off again at 4:09....hit the snooze again......went off again and I figured I set it for a reason so I should probably get up and get my gear together and head out. I let my dog out, grabbed some quick breakfast grabbed the gear which I had already packed the night before and headed out. I left the house around 5 am, and I was at the trailhead by 7:15
Kind of a lousy shot of the peak because of the glare, but you get the idea. The thermometer in my car read 42 degrees. The trail was obviously muddy, but because it had been chilly the night before it was all frozen so I was just walking over frozen mud on the way up.
Eventually I got to the snow and started hiking across that. I brought snowshoes along just in case because I had heard mixed reports about weather I would need them. I didn't. Never even thought about putting them on in all honesty. The snow pack is awesome, and I walked across it the entire way, never having to post hole it.
I made it to the summit at around 9:45. There were a couple of guys up there already. We chatted breifly, one of them said he had just joined here, but hadn't even finished registering yet. It was his first 14er. I sat down to eat my PB & J and they headed out. About 10 min later a dad and his daugher who were from Iowa showed up. He has been doing 14ers for years, but this was his daughters first. The weather was beautiful.....a few clouds here and there but you could see forever, and it wasn't too cold at all. Couple shots from the summit:
I headed down about 10 min later. The snow was still good and solid, but once I got down to the muddy trail I found it to be quite thawed so it was a muddy trip back.
I was back to my car just before noon, and home by 2:15. FYI there is the road construction going on on Guanella pass road, but it caused me minimal delays during the times that I had to drive it.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Did you approach Guanella from Georgetown or from the Geneva Road (highway 285) side? Curious if the construction is active on the weekends. Heading up Sat morning. Thanks
I approached from Georgetown. Not sure if the constuction is active on the weekends, but like I said it didn‘t cause me much of a delay. I‘m pretty sure from what other people have posted (and from what I saw while I was up there)if you go the 285 route you won‘t have to worry about it at all.
I did the same hike today. Almost exact same conditions. Very muddy on the way back. Poles are very helpful climbing through the snow. No construction coming from 285 side.
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