Mt. Bierstadt Trip Report 09/04/2013

Peak(s):	Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet The Sawtooth - 13,780 feet
Date Posted:	09/04/2013
Modified:	09/09/2013
Date Climbed:	08/31/2013
Author:	emohr
Additional Members:	jlarson630

Tour de Abyss
Tour de Abyss Sunrise from just below Mt. Evans Road Tour de Abyss is a quick but eventful route that combines the Class 3 scrambling of Mt. Bierstadt's East Ridge and Summit(14,060') with The Class 3 Sawtooth that connects to Mt. Evans(14,264'). The Tour is also a Gerry Roach Classic Route that covers The Classic Sawtooth Route, and parts of The Classic East Ridge. The tour is 5 miles long, has 3,000' of elevation gain, and sustained Class 3 scrambling. This short, sweet, and to the point climb is the easiest way to get Bierstadt and Evans in one route, and provides great views that people don't normally get of these two Front Range Celebrities Taking The Tour The original plan for Tour de Abyss is to park on the first switchback of the Mt. Evans Road(13,300'), climb the tour to the Summit of Evans, then either hitchhike or walk back to the car from the summit(14,264'). But after a very well timed post from falcon568 on his Tour from the previous week, MtnHub commented on the report and gave me the idea to just park at the Summit of Evans and just make the descent at the beginning of the day as a warm up. This worked out extremely well. Being able to Summit Evans and then drop 200' to the car to end our day was something new, and something liked Our party of 5 left Golden at 4:00AM on Saturday, and made it to Echo Lake by about 4:45. The Entrance Booth is closed this early in the morning, so we got the self-issued parking pass. Self-issued parking passes can be found 2 miles past the Entrance Station on the South side of a large hairpin turn, and at the parking lot of the Mt. Evans Summit. Chilly! We arrived at the Mt. Evans parking lot without issue, and began our descent down the Mt. Evans Road switchbacks at 5:45AM and briskly made our way to the saddle between Evans and Epaulet Mountain(13,523') by 6:10. We made sure to be weary of the wooden post marking the incorrect gully to descend, and shortly found the correct one at the lowest point in the Evans/Epaulet saddle Descending the road The East Ridge Descending the gully was reminiscent of the scree/talus field on the standard route of Sneffles; loose, but has enough rocks secured in the ground to make your way down without much issue. It had rained the night before, and the grass had remained very wet First sun touching PT 13,641' Once out of the gully, the route opens into the blissful Abyss Basin. We made a straight-line for the grassy slope on PT 13,641' which is the easiest way to the East Ridge. The basin is a pretty soggy mess and avoiding the water seems impossible. Scott Gomer Creek, flowing out of Abyss Lake, was gorgeous enough to make up for the soggy feet I now had. This view of The Sawtooth is one that is rarely seen Scott Gomer Creek East Ridge: Our Route after exiting the gully The first elevation gain of the day comes in the form of a steep, grassy slope that leads to top of The East Ridge. This was the only section where we encountered any other hikers on the East Ridge. The elevation gain was abrupt, painful, and a nuisance as I was just looking forward to the renowned scrambling along the ridge Up the grassy slopes Once the ridge is gained, the Class 3 begins. Overall, I think the East Ridge is a blast. The rock is solid, the climbing gets gradually harder, and gave an awesome adrenaline rush to this acrophobic. (Fun Fact: Acrophobia comes from the Greek word Akron, which means "peak" or "summit edge".) I made sure I put away the real camera and took the photos along this section with the iPhone Beginning our trek across the East Ridge First sight of PT 13,641' The ledges provided firm Class 3 climbing that doesn't have too much exposure, but did feel a bit airy compared to The Homestretch on Longs. Gaining the ridge didn't provide much issue, albeit the most difficult moves are still ahead The route along the grassy slopes leading to the Class 3 switchaback; press Up/Right until Class 3 ceases to find the correct Traversing the grassy slopes of PT 13,641' Switchback we had been looking for Just before topping out on PT 13,641's summit, a crack system is followed for 10-15 feet along the West side of the ridge. The rock was wet from the night before and I had a hard time getting myself into the crack. The move wasn't very technical, but the exposure was definitely there. Getting into this crack was one of the two notable moves of difficulty on this route, the other is on the descent of PT 13,641' Summiters and a majority of the rest of our route Ben and Hank making their way up to Bierstadt's summit The move on the descent of PT 13,641's that had my sphincter in the "clenched" position was a downclimb move just a few hundred feet from the top of 13,641'. It is on the very tip of the ridge, and moves down to the West side of the ridge. I'm 6'1" and couldn't reach safe rock comfortably from the downclimb, and had a really hard time finding any hand holds to lower myself. This section right here felt more difficult than anything I had seen on this climb, or Longs. After this move though, the route gets significantly easier. The hardest climbing is behind you We reached the summit of Bierstadt at about 8:45, said hello to the fair folk of Bierstadt, and started heading down towards The Sawtooth at 9:00 Summit of Bierstadt - Hank, Jake, Ginevra, Ben The Sawtooth: This infamous ridge looks much more intimidating than it is. The Sawtooth does have some fatal exposure on the West side, but the ledges crossing this exposure is sidewalk width. After doing the entire Tour, I felt The East Ridge was much more difficult in the physical and technical sense than The Sawtooth. Le Sawtooth Looking North towards The Sawtooth and West Evans Ridge Sticking along the ridge to decrease elevation loss/gain Dropping from Bierstadt to The Sawtooth's Saddle was spelled out very well by the trail and the dozens of cairns lining it. It can get loose and has some scree sections, but overall, the descent is just a class 2 downclimb of 700' 700' of elevation loss from Bierstadt to The Saddle Once reaching the low section of the saddle, the next section involves traversing along The East Face of The Sawtooth as it goes up and around, West, to reach the other side of the ridge. The climbing here had some class2+, low 3 moves that didn't have much exposure. The route marking really is amazing with the number of cairns along the way. We saw a cairn at least every 100 feet or so. Climb up and along The East Face, then make your way over to the infamous Ledges on the West Face of The Sawtooth Reaching the lowpoint of the saddle The pictures of this section of The Sawtooth look about 110% more epic than it really is; from The Ledges to West Evans Ridge, none of the climbing exceeds Class 2+. The final ledge leading to the end of The Sawtooth looks intimidating, but presents no technical moves. You most certainly don't want to be falling through this section, but it would take a rather large mistake for anything fatal to happen Traversing The Ledges The Sawtooth from The Ledges Once scrambling to the top section of The Sawtooth, the terrain changes dramatically into the vast Evans Ridge. This is where the climbing ends, and the tiring hike to the car begins. At this point it's been about 4 miles and less than 3,000' of elevation gain, but we were expectedly tired like all the other reports suggested. The route up to Evans runs South East from The Sawtooth and has some Class 2 traversing. This is where we started to see the masses of people that come to enjoy Colorado during Labor Day weekend Made it to The Evans Ridge, now it's time to slogggg At 10:30AM, we arrived at The Mt. Evans Summit; 4.5 hours of hiking. The people on the summit don't know/care if we just did The Summit Lake Hike, or are just more tourists on the summit. They could care less. Despite little recognition of our awesome day in Mt. Evans Wilderness, we go home satisfied from a fine day in the mountains of Colorado. Tour de Abyss is truly a great 14er secret that is less than 2 hours away from Denver Majority of the route seen from our trip up to Evans' Summit "Well. Let's get the hell outta here" More Information on Tour de Abyss: Trip Report Tour d'Abyss + "West Evans" by tommyboy360 Trip Report:And This is Our Music: The Tour de Abyss by kimo Video: Tour de Abyss Bierstadt 1 by Brent Buchanan Video: Tour de Abyss by Brent Buchanan Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Tour de Abyss

Tour de Abyss

Tour de Abyss is a quick but eventful route that combines the Class 3 scrambling of Mt. Bierstadt's East Ridge and Summit(14,060') with The Class 3 Sawtooth that connects to Mt. Evans(14,264'). The Tour is also a Gerry Roach *Classic* Route that covers The *Classic* Sawtooth Route, and parts of The *Classic* East Ridge. The tour is 5 miles long, has 3,000' of elevation gain, and sustained Class 3 scrambling. This short, sweet, and to the point climb is the easiest way to get Bierstadt and Evans in one route, and provides great views that people don't normally get of these two Front Range Celebrities

Taking The Tour

The original plan for Tour de Abyss is to park on the first switchback of the Mt. Evans Road(13,300'), climb the tour to the Summit of Evans, then either hitchhike or walk back to the car from the summit(14,264'). But after a very well timed post from falcon568 on his Tour from the previous week, MtnHub commented on the report and gave me the idea to just park at the Summit of Evans and just make the descent at the beginning of the day as a warm up. This worked out extremely well. Being able to Summit Evans and then drop 200' to the car to end our day was something new, and something liked

Our party of 5 left Golden at 4:00AM on Saturday, and made it to Echo Lake by about 4:45. The Entrance Booth is closed this early in the morning, so we got the self-issued parking pass. Self-issued parking passes can be found 2 miles past the Entrance Station on the South side of a large hairpin turn, and at the parking lot of the Mt. Evans Summit.

We arrived at the Mt. Evans parking lot without issue, and began our descent down the Mt. Evans Road switchbacks at 5:45AM and briskly made our way to the saddle between Evans and Epaulet Mountain(13,523') by 6:10. We made sure to be weary of the wooden post marking the incorrect gully to descend, and shortly found the correct one at the lowest point in the Evans/Epaulet saddle

Descending the gully was reminiscent of the scree/talus field on the standard route of Sneffles; loose, but has enough rocks secured in the ground to make your way down without much issue. It had rained the night before, and the grass had remained very wet

Once out of the gully, the route opens into the blissful Abyss Basin. We made a straight-line for the grassy slope on PT 13,641' which is the easiest way to the East Ridge. The basin is a pretty soggy mess and avoiding the water seems impossible. Scott Gomer Creek, flowing out of Abyss Lake, was gorgeous enough to make up for the soggy feet I now had. This view of The Sawtooth is one that is rarely seen

East Ridge:

The first elevation gain of the day comes in the form of a steep, grassy slope that leads to top of The East Ridge. This was the only section where we encountered any other hikers on the East Ridge. The elevation gain was abrupt, painful, and a nuisance as I was just looking forward to the renowned scrambling along the ridge

Once the ridge is gained, the Class 3 begins. Overall, I think the East Ridge is a blast. The rock is solid, the climbing gets gradually harder, and gave an awesome adrenaline rush to this acrophobic. (Fun Fact: Acrophobia comes from the Greek word Akron, which means "peak" or "summit edge".) I made sure I put away the real camera and took the photos along this section with the iPhone

Beginning our trek across the East Ridge

The ledges provided firm Class 3 climbing that doesn't have too much exposure, but did feel a bit airy compared to The Homestretch on Longs. Gaining the ridge didn't provide much issue, albeit the most difficult moves are still ahead

The route along the grassy slopes leading to the Class 3 switchaback; press Up/Right until Class 3 ceases to find the correct

Traversing the grassy slopes of PT 13,641'

Just before topping out on PT 13,641's summit, a crack system is followed for 10-15 feet along the West side of the ridge. The rock was wet from the night before and I had a hard time getting myself into the crack. The move wasn't very technical, but the exposure was definitely there. Getting into this crack was one of the two notable moves of difficulty on this route, the other is on the descent of PT 13,641'

Summiters and a majority of the rest of our route

Ben and Hank making their way up to Bierstadt's summit

The move on the descent of PT 13,641's that had my sphincter in the "clenched" position was a downclimb move just a few hundred feet from the top of 13,641'. It is on the very tip of the ridge, and moves down to the West side of the ridge. I'm 6'1" and couldn't reach safe rock comfortably from the downclimb, and had a really hard time finding any hand holds to lower myself. This section right here felt more difficult than anything I had seen on this climb, or Longs. After this move though, the route gets significantly easier. The hardest climbing is behind you

We reached the summit of Bierstadt at about 8:45, said hello to the fair folk of Bierstadt, and started heading down towards The Sawtooth at 9:00

Summit of Bierstadt - Hank, Jake, Ginevra, Ben

The Sawtooth:

This infamous ridge looks much more intimidating than it is. The Sawtooth does have some fatal exposure on the West side, but the ledges crossing this exposure is sidewalk width. After doing the entire Tour, I felt The East Ridge was much more difficult in the physical and technical sense than The Sawtooth.

Looking North towards The Sawtooth and West Evans Ridge

Sticking along the ridge to decrease elevation loss/gain

Dropping from Bierstadt to The Sawtooth's Saddle was spelled out very well by the trail and the dozens of cairns lining it. It can get loose and has some scree sections, but overall, the descent is just a class 2 downclimb of 700'

700' of elevation loss from Bierstadt to The Saddle

Once reaching the low section of the saddle, the next section involves traversing along The East Face of The Sawtooth as it goes up and around, West, to reach the other side of the ridge. The climbing here had some class2+, low 3 moves that didn't have much exposure. The route marking really is amazing with the number of cairns along the way. We saw a cairn at least every 100 feet or so. Climb up and along The East Face, then make your way over to the infamous Ledges on the West Face of The Sawtooth

The pictures of this section of The Sawtooth look about 110% more epic than it really is; from The Ledges to West Evans Ridge, none of the climbing exceeds Class 2+. The final ledge leading to the end of The Sawtooth looks intimidating, but presents no technical moves. You most certainly don't want to be falling through this section, but it would take a rather large mistake for anything fatal to happen

Once scrambling to the top section of The Sawtooth, the terrain changes dramatically into the vast Evans Ridge. This is where the climbing ends, and the tiring hike to the car begins. At this point it's been about 4 miles and less than 3,000' of elevation gain, but we were expectedly tired like all the other reports suggested.

The route up to Evans runs South East from The Sawtooth and has some Class 2 traversing. This is where we started to see the masses of people that come to enjoy Colorado during Labor Day weekend

Made it to The Evans Ridge, now it's time to slogggg

At 10:30AM, we arrived at The Mt. Evans Summit; 4.5 hours of hiking. The people on the summit don't know/care if we just did The Summit Lake Hike, or are just more tourists on the summit. They could care less. Despite little recognition of our awesome day in Mt. Evans Wilderness, we go home satisfied from a fine day in the mountains of Colorado. Tour de Abyss is truly a great 14er secret that is less than 2 hours away from Denver

Majority of the route seen from our trip up to Evans' Summit

More Information on Tour de Abyss:

Trip Report Tour d'Abyss + "West Evans" by tommyboy360
Trip Report:And This is Our Music: The Tour de Abyss by kimo
Video: Tour de Abyss Bierstadt 1 by Brent Buchanan
Video: Tour de Abyss by Brent Buchanan

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

MtnHub	A fun route indeed! 9/5/2013 4:14pm Yeah, we found parking at Evan's summit worked out well. Once you hit the top of Evans, you really don't feel like doing any more hiking. Ha! Nice route outlining up Pt 13641'. And I still get a pause in my breathing when I see those shots of the turn on the ledges after you cross over the ridge of Sawtooth (your image #22). It must be the angle as it always looks so much worse than it actually is, but from those shots it just looks like you'll slide right down the shoot in loose gravel. Good job!
Exiled Michigander	Great TR . . . 9/5/2013 4:36pm ... and awesome photos. It brought back a flood of memories. I was surprised to read that you thought the East Ridge was actually worse than the Sawtooth. My experience was exactly the opposite. You might be more hardened to exposure than I was when I did this route, but I had 3-4 places on the Sawtooth that ”had my sphincter in the 'clenched' position” (as you so eloquently put it!) and none on the East Ridge. But I would agree that the East Ridge probably is a bit more technical.
D_Price	Nice report, quick question 9/5/2013 6:32pm Very good route description and photos. So we are heading out next Thursday to do the tour. Having never been there I was planning on the traditional route, but in reading recent posts it sounds like the Willows section on the return really sucks and is a mud pit with tough to find trails. Given your report and MtHub's, I am really considering the route you took to avoid the Baton Death March from Evans. How would you relate the maneuvers you had to do on the East Ridge and crossing the Sawtooth to the Narrows and Home Stretch at Longs?
emohr	Tour 9/5/2013 6:44pm @mtnhub - Never has a summit felt so relaxing haha thanks for the tip! Every picture of the Sawtooth makes those slopes look terrible! I was pleasantly surprised to find how firm it was @Exiled Michigander - Thanks! And I think the reason I was more clenched on The East Ridge was just because it was the airiest exposure I've climbed on so far, if that makes sense. The Homestretch on Longs felt like it was in a nice enclosed amphitheater, and The Sawtooth has the ridge to hug for comfort, but The East Ridge is pretty open! haha @D-Price - As I was doing this route and writing the report, the qualification I was thinking to feel okay skill wise was The Homestretch. So if you've done The Keyhole Route on Longs, you can most certainly do this route. The Rock is very similar, and the moves are very similar as well. A LOT LESS PEOPLE which makes it much more enjoyable as well haha I would highly recommend this over the willows. This is a very dense, but fun day
dillonsarnelli	this is a great TR Eric 9/5/2013 8:33pm nice job man!
D_Price	Alternate route 9/5/2013 11:46pm Emohr, thanks for the confirmation, will report back, if you don't hear from me then it did not work out !
jlarson630	”Abyss”mal. 9/6/2013 4:07am Just kidding. Another great day out in the mountains with ya my friend. Loved how this route skipped the foreplay and got right to the class 3...and the car. Unique indeed.
Oso Blanco	Well done... 10/3/2014 12:02pm .....on the climb and on the TR-description and photo compilation...the last pic is classic, I'll want the same composition as I look to the parking lot when I finish this route for my finisher on the Evans summit.
StephieMitchell	Helmets 8/27/2019 5:11pm Awesome descriptions and photos! I see you're not wearing helmets in the photos. Planning on doing this Saturday and wondering if you would recommend helmets or if you think it's totally fine without.

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