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This was my first ever 14er. Nothing like starting with the highest one first. I camped overnight at the Mt. Elbert Trailhead Campground and set out from the trailhead about 6am. On a Friday morning at 5:45am the trailhead parking lot was full and people were parking on the sides of the road. The hike was pretty smooth and easy going through the trees. I especially liked the .5 mile flat section :-). After that the real climbing starts to work your way out of the tree line. About the time I came out of the tree line, a light drizzle started. It was cloudy / foggy, so the views were a bit obscured.
Making it to the tree line
Nice view of the Emerald Lake
Once I climbed another 500-1000' the drizzle turned to snow flurries. The trail is easy to follow the whole way, but there are a series of false summits that you cross. I started to get tired and needed to take breaks as I made my way up the mountain. When you get to the boulder field around 13,500' you may need to pay a little closer attention to the trail in order to better stay on it. Around this point, the clouds closed in and I walked through a snow cloud for the last bit of the climb to the peak.
Snow fog on the summit ridge
It took some effort to make it to the top, but I had only been in CO for less than 36 hours. The trail was in good condition thanks to the trail crews that put in the time and effort to make it so. Once on the ridge, the wind was gusting and due to the wind chill, my hands got pretty cold. I did not have my ski gloves with me and the thin gloves I had were wet. Luckily, I did bring hand warmers, which helped a lot.
Summit in the snow!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Mount Elbert was my first *Colorado* 14er (Whitney was my first overall)—though in much different (very sunny!) conditions!
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