The idea to sleep on Mt. Elbert first came to me this summer. I realize many have done it before, but I just felt like sharing my first overnight experience on a summit. A quick shout out to the people who responded to my post in the forum for "Sleeping on Elbert." Thanks for the info!

I got off of my last online class on Thursday at noon before hitting the road at 1:00pm to the Black Cloud Trail. This was ironically my first time driving into Buena Vista in the morning, I normally am driving in the dark. I arrived at the TH at 3:30pm after a quick detour caused by google which put me past the TH. Don't forget the turn is before the red roofs of the Elbert Inn at a little sign that I'm pretty sure says "Black Cloud Trail." I parked then started up the trail with my 63 liter backpack which was way overkill, but well worth it.

The views of La Plata on the way out of the woods is very cool.

As I approached the saddle after the switchbacks I realized that I needed to hustle to reach the summit before sunset at 7:30. I summited South Elbert around 6:30 then bolted to the top of the tall Elbert.

I summited at 7:00 so had 30 mins to watch the sun set and eat.

After I ate my dinner, I set up my sleeping arrangement. It was interesting. I had three pairs of socks, three pairs of pants, five long sleeve shirts, a monster coat, gloves, and the standard face and head gear. I brought two sleeping bags and two sleeping bag liners. I for sure missed out on the cold weather genes, thanks Mom and Dad.

I got to sleep before the moon came out at 8:45ish. As soon as it got up the stars were washed out and it was like someone was shining a flashlight in my eyes every time I looked up. This was not a huge problem because it enabled me to have better visibility to the west to look for any funny-business developing in the clouds. The 1% chance of precip was spot on, very nice. The wind was also not a problem which I thought might keep me up. I got probably nine hours of sleep which rocked (get it). With all of my layers the hard surface was not super uncomfortable, not a sleep number though. If you need a pillow just use a rock. You know you are using enough layers when you can sleep on rocks comfortably. That is the new official test.

South Elbert is included with the Black Cloud Trail.

I left the summit around 7:20 after saying good bye to my new friends who came up to watch the sunrise. I got to the Jeep at 9:40. The trip was a major success in my book. I would highly recommend sleeping on a summit as long as you have killer weather. My pack was for sure overweight but I don't regret for a second anything I brought. You could probably pack much lighter, but I felt very prepared so its up to you. I feel like this was a great way to do the state high point and stay up top for over twelve hours. I was thinking that unless some schmuck was on the top of Whitney in CA I was the highest (in elevation, haha) person in the lower 48. Overall, a sick night on Elbert.