Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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marcstrawser wrote:Looking for it lol, I forgot Kelso which I listed as 2nd easiest after sawtooth. I know in the writeup I list kelso as the easiest, but its only because I combine sawtooth with the east ridge of Bierstadt because it think its ridiculous to do the tooth and hike through the willows haha.
That was actually the boneheaded route I did.....Bierstadt+Sawtooth, then back down the gully and through the willows.
DoctorBreaks wrote:I didn't even know about the ramp system lol. Felt like I was just climbing the entire time with constant exposure.
You must have stayed pretty high up on the ridge??
I crossed the Tooth about 100ft below the ridge line, and had almost zero exposure the entire route. For being my first Class 3 hike, it was a great experience in the fact that it provided a serious challenge and some much needed experience, but never really presented a whole lot of danger (at least that's how I felt about it during the route).
EDIT: Nevermind, I now realize you're talking about the EAST ridge. My mistake.
Yeah I never made it to the Sawtooth. Storm clouds moved in and I got snowed on lol. Crazy day. I will be heading back this Saturday to do the route the exact same way with the exception of getting lost so much lol. The East Ridge was fun, but very challenging. Is everyone sure that move down from PT13641 is a class 3? Just really seemed like it was harder than anything else on the East Ridge and there weren't any really good hand/footholds.
"Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion."
-Anatoli Boukreev
Be humble enough to respect the mountain, but confident enough to climb it.
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
So we are doing the east ridge Friday. We will park up on the evans rd. Is the parking area easy to find to start the route? It will be dark when we drive up.
Also, we will be doing the traverse. What would be the best return route to get back to car? Down evans and then cross the willows or retrace the route in reverse?
JeremiahG wrote:So we are doing the east ridge Friday. We will park up on the evans rd. Is the parking area easy to find to start the route? It will be dark when we drive up.
Also, we will be doing the traverse. What would be the best return route to get back to car? Down evans and then cross the willows or retrace the route in reverse?
East ridge of Bierstadt? If so, you can park at the summit of Evans, or at Summit lake - there may be a pullout at one of the switchbacks on then road.
Back to the car - well from the summit of Evans, you can probably see your car, so hop on down to it. You're basically describing the Tour d'abyss.
There is a pullout in between summit lake and the summit at the switchback that sort of indicates the beginning of a route known as "tour de abyss". It is a loop; start at the pullout, east ridge, summit, sawtooth, summit (Evans), down the road to the pullout (maybe a mile or so, can't remember exact distance). Search for tour de abyss trip/route reports.
SikYou wrote:There is a pullout in between summit lake and the summit at the switchback that sort of indicates the beginning of a route known as "tour de abyss". It is a loop; start at the pullout, east ridge, summit, sawtooth, summit (Evans), down the road to the pullout (maybe a mile or so, can't remember exact distance). Search for tour de abyss trip/route reports.
I think it's mile marker 11
"At the third switchback from Summit Lake just past Mile Marker 11 is a trail accessing Abyss Lake drainage and a climb of Mount Bierstadt." http://www.summitpost.org/mount-evans/150481" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I wish I would have known it was mile 11. Multiple sources claimed it was the first switchback on Mt. Evans road. It definitely was not the first switchback lol. I parked at the first one and got lost for like an hour. It's about 3 switchbacks up or so, but yeah mile 11 is accurate.
"Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion."
-Anatoli Boukreev
Be humble enough to respect the mountain, but confident enough to climb it.
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
