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What is more elusive, seeing a mountain lion, or having the summit of Bierstadt all to yourself?
I pondered this question when I set out to do my first sunset 14er. After leaving work early to head out to the trailhead, I arrived around 5 PM at an almost empty parking lot. The weather was perfect, and I was ready to go. This was going to be my 3rd and final 14er of the summer, previously doing Yale and Kelso Ridge. The previous weekend, I had gotten stuck in a grapple storm on the knife edge of Kelso, so with this great afternoon weather, I knew this was going to be a cakewalk. (storm pictured below)
The grapple
Right away I knew this climb was going to be great when I saw three large moose going for an afternoon swim.
I started at 5:15 PM and made it to the summit at 7:15, PM only seeing 5 people on the way up. The hike to the top was the easiest mountain I have ever climbed, however, that is "easy" in 14er terms, you still have to be very fit and to do one. This settled my nerves a little because I was worried about descending in the dark after sunset. When I reached the top, two runners informed me I would be the only one up there, I was ecstatic as I had heard that Bierstadt was the most crowded mountain in CO! I guess everyone else was out drinking IPAs. When I got up there, I put on my Melly and my windbreaker, settled into a surprisingly comfortable rock, and watched the sunset, which was around 8 pm.
The sunset was amazing, watching the shadow of the mountain was definitely the coolest part. I waved to some tourists on Blue Sky that had driven up, hoping to freak them out, and then started my descent after the sun went down. I wore gloves at the top, but pretty much took them off as soon as I started the descent, It was very calm, not even cold, and about 5 minutes of wind directly after the sunset, about an hour and 15 minutes in total going down. The moon was instantly bright and the colors from the residual light were insane. Towards the bottom, I didn't even use my headlight as the moon was so bright and I was enjoying the stars.
Surprisingly, I saw more people on the way down, than on the way up!
Post sunset
Moon
This was my first trip report, I hope you liked it!
Additionally, does anyone know what mountain this was facing southeast off the summit of Bierstadt, my guess was Pikes Peak. But I did not know if it was possible to see it from there. Thanks!
Unkown mountain
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Comments or Questions
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