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I am cursed. I am from Kansas City and am battling a severe case of mountain fever!
It all started a couple years ago when I read Into Thin Air and couldn't stop thinking about the mountains. At first I figured I would read a few more outdoor adventure tales, but that soon failed to satisfy my curiosity and desire to get out there. So being from KC, I tried multiple times to get friends to drive out with me, but no such luck. The last straw finally came the week before the 4th of July - I just had to get out there, and nothing was going to stop me. So there it was. I decided on Wednesday, July 1st, that I was definitely going to go. And because the office was closed for the Holiday on Friday, July 3rd, I was able to leave KC and head west just after work on Thursday the 2nd. I knew I would arrive late, but with a little luck I would find the trailhead and catch a few hours of zzz's before starting the climb.
I chose to do Elbert for one reason - it's the tallest friggin mountain in the state, so why not?? But sersiously, here were my reasons for picking Elbert:
1) I didn't want to get into any Class 3 terrain.
2) Even though I wanted Class 2, I still wanted to test myself. So I thought the 11 mile, 5,300 foot gainer on the Southeast Ridge from the Black Cloud Trailhead would do that.
So without further ado, my first TR:
The 10+ hour drive was brutal. But well worth it as my excitement almost boiled over. Especially at the first site of the Front Range. Awesome!! I made it to Leadville around 2am Friday morning and immediately headed to CO82 to access the trailhead. Here is a shot of the signage for the trailhead I took on Saturday morning - very easy to miss in the middle of the night!
Woke up in the car around 6am on Friday morning. This is the first view of the trail from just behind a couple parking spots to the right as you turn off of CO82.
It didn't take long for a flat lander like me to start feeling this incline. And being a slow starter, I was gassed at this point, not even a mile in!!
This is a mile into the trail - an easy double log crossing of the Black Cloud Creek.
Another 1/4 mile and you cross back to the east side of the creek.
As I start gaining elevation, the trees thin out and I get a great view of La Plata!
Finally, I gain the summit ridge and get my first view of the main summit. Still though, there's a mile left to summit South Elbert and more than a mile after that to get to the true summit... ouch!
And getting up to the South Elbert summit, you can follow the ridge down to the saddle and then up to the main summit.
From the summit I laced together this pano and you can see back to the South summit.
On the descent, I didn't want to head back up South Elbert, so I took an alternate route down. So from the saddle, I headed towards Bull Hill in search of the route.... the view down: (I think this is Monitor Gulch, but if anybody knows for sure, I would be interested in hearing)
I ended up not finding any trail, so I headed down through this:
And here's the view of the descent from a little further away:
It was clear for a bit, but eventually I was bushwacking through some pretty thick growth, so the random snow patch offered an easy glissade that was greatly appreciated!
After a few hours off trail, I finally came back upon it and was glad!
The rest of the trail was a long trek back to the car. And I just couldn't wait for some dinner.... It also made me fully appreciate why some people use trekking poles and I vowed to get a pair before my next trip.
So with all this, my time on the mountain was over. BUT, I arrived at the car only to find that in my morning stupor I had left the dome light on and the battery was dead! I tried to wait for somebody to arrive at the trailhead to give me a jump, but I fell asleep before that could happen. So the next morning I walked out to CO82 and flagged down the first car that I saw. They were hesitant to take a few minutes to help out, but I think I looked pathetic enough and ultimately they helped out. Thanks a bunch!!!!
First experience on a 14er was awesome, and on the drive home I was already plotting for the next trip! Couldn't wait....
Thanks for reading!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Black Cloud was a worthy choice....... 12/15/2009 6:49am
You got to experience your first 14er on a popular peak in relative solitude. I see you‘ve been back for Columbia and Snownmass? I‘ll bet those basins left you excited!
Things we have in common:
Born and raised in KC (Rockhurst grad)
Vividly remember my first views of the rockies (sunrise at Garden of the Gods- age 13)
Returned from a 14er to find a dead battery from leaving on the dome light (Humbolt 1/1/89). In those days, there were virtually no winter climbers in the Sangres and the closest year-round resident was 3 miles away. He graciously me drove back to the cattle guard and gave me a jump-start.
Things we don‘t have in common: After my first 14er, I could never have gone back to KC!
KC is a great place (I‘m sure I‘ll have a tough time garnering a consensus for that statement on THIS website), although I have been itching to make the move out west. Interesting that you went to Rockhurst as I drive by it all the time and know many people that went there (I went to Olathe South).
I too was all over Colorado on family vacations growing up, but just recently felt the urge to go back.
And yes, I was alone on top of Elbert for 15 minutes or so, and the SE Ridge approach is not very crowded, so I got to enjoy much of the mountain with nobody else in site!
Oh yea, and Columbia and Snowmass were both AMAZING! Those trip reports coming soon as well.
As a Kansas native, all I can say is that if I can‘t be in Colorado, then Kansas is an acceptable alternative.
Nice work on your summits, DJ. Send me a pm if you are interested in discussing strategies for how a flatlander can satisfy the need for a mountain fix.
I'll be hiking Elbert/Southeast Ridge this Summer 2012, so I've been looking up previous SE Ridge TR's. Yours is very helpful. Glad you included a pic of the TH access from CO82. It will give me an idea what to watch for. I'm right there with you on the trekking poles. After hiking Yale in 2008, I made sure I had poles with me on my next hike. They are a huge help for me and have spared me of more ankle sprains than I want to count!
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