| Peak(s): |
Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet |
| Date Posted: | 08/24/2014 |
| Modified: | 08/25/2014 |
| Date Climbed: | 08/22/2014 |
| Author: | JPDonnelly |
| Peak(s): |
Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet |
| Date Posted: | 08/24/2014 |
| Modified: | 08/25/2014 |
| Date Climbed: | 08/22/2014 |
| Author: | JPDonnelly |
| First timer from sea level, four 14ers in a week. |
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Hello 14ers.com! Prologue Last Christmas, my wife, Cristy, surprised me with the best gift ever: a week in Colorado to explore the great outdoors. Living in the DC area for the past seven years or so, we'd worn out many trails in Shenandoah National Park. We'd hiked elsewhere, from Sedona's highest peak to El Yunque in Puerto Rico. It was time for the real deal. It was time for some Colorado 14ers. Adjusting from Sea Level to High Altitude In preparing for Colorado, the two big unknowns were altitude sickness and mountain weather (more on weather later). Confident in our hiking/camping experience, I devoted a lot of time to reading trip reports, studies and advice on how to adjust to altitude. Neither one of us had a clue about how we would feel. I'm glad to report that we adjusted very nicely and didn't suffer any symptoms that held us back. Here's what worked for us: 8/16 - Landed in Denver by 9:30am. Spent the day in Boulder (5,430 ft), then drove to Idaho Springs (7,526 ft). - Did not drink alcohol, limited caffeine intake to about two cups of coffee per day (much less than usual for us). - Drank copious amounts of water. - Loosely based on a Stanford altitude study, we took 600mg of ibuprofen upon landing at Denver and upon arriving in Idaho Springs (3pm). - Ate a ton of carbs, but probably a little too much fat. (Highly recommend Beau Jo's pizza in Idaho Springs! I come from a strong Chicago deep dish pizza background, so this is high praise.) - Did nothing more strenuous than slowly walk around and take some goofy photos. We lounged as much as possible. 8/17 - Same prescription as the previous day - water, carbs, ibuprofen, no alcohol, low caffeine. Gathered supplies and went up to Echo Lake Campground (10,600 ft) around 2pm. 8/18 - Followed same prescription. Drove to Summit Lake parking (12,836 ft) from Echo Lake Campground at 6:00am. Summited Mt. Evans around 9:30am We pretty much stuck to the routine (while easing off the ibuprofen) until we drove to Denver for our final night on 8/22. The only real annoyance I had was waking up twice per night to use the restroom due to (a) diuresis (I assume) from being above 10k feet and (b) drinking a ton of water to stay hydrated to begin with. A lovely cycle. In summary, we were able to tackle our first 14er somewhat early in our trip by moving up in altitude over a couple days and taking a disciplined approach to fueling our bodies. Alright, let's get to the 14ers! August 18: Mt. Evans - West Ridge via Mt. Spalding, descended Northeast Face Vitals - Start Time: 6:30am Summit Time: 9:30am Back to Car: 11:10am As previously noted, we stayed the night at Echo Lake Campground, which has four nice tent-only sites with reserved parking. It's as commercial as a National Forest area can be, but a nice way to ease into the camping for the week (firewood for sale, food for sale if you don't have what you need, etc.) One quirky note: the park signs and merchandise have varying heights for Evans - 14,260 and 14,270, depending on the bumper sticker or road sign. We went with 14,264 for our homemade summit sign. We got to bed early, only to be jarred awake at midnight by a couple dudes on a booming motorcycle driving around the grounds looking for a spot. Then they proceeded to chop wood for 30 minutes. Once they drank and laughed themselves to sleep, I finally dozed off. The 5:30am alarm was at first unwelcome, but then I remembered that eight months of waiting was finally over. It was time to attempt a 14er. The 30 minute drive to Summit Lake park from the campground was beautiful. As the dawn broke, the excitement built. We used the self service station by Summit Lake to pay the $3 parking fee and then headed over to the Chicago Lakes overlook to begin the hike. There were about 4 hikers ahead of us on the same route.  After a few breaks to slow the heart pounding and several photos, we gained the summit of Mt. Spalding. It seemed to come quickly. The view of Grays and Torreys Peaks from there is really something to behold. We headed down to the Evans-Spalding saddle and to the ridge. We enjoyed the views of Abyss Lake, The Sawtooth and Mt. Bierstadt (the latter being our target for the next day). A notable feature of this route is that you spend most of it below the ridge with a decent amount of scrambling. The route feels more horizontal than vertical. The cairns were mostly easy to follow and after moving very slowly and carefully, we converged with the walking path that the drive-up tourists take. From here we had a bit of a snafu, believe it or not. The path ends at the summit, as we soon learned, but we probably spent 15 minutes walking between the two high points at the top trying to figure out which was the summit. Finally, we were joined at the top by a nice guy from Ohio who pointed out the USGS marker and we took a seat, assured that we had accomplished the goal. Thanks for taking photos of us, Mr. Ohio! After soaking in the spectacular views, we trotted down the path to see the half dozen mountain goats wandering around the bathroom area. We decided to descend via the Northeast Face. Beyond some rapid heart beating at the outset, altitude was a non issue. As it turned out, going down, not up, would be the hard part.  The Northeast Face: I want to make a special note of this route because of treacherous scree. Even with trekking poles fully extended, we slipped and stumbled our way down the face. Loose pebbles on top of loose dirt sent us to our butts a few times. After a rough hour or so, we made it to the street with a few scrapes and bruises. Regardless, our spirits were high. The walk back to the car was full of hugs and high fives. "We did it!" With one down, I was at ease knowing, no matter what else happened on our trip, we had reached the top of a 14er, and thus a dream was realized. August 19: Mt. Bierstadt - West Slopes Start Time: 5:45am Summit Time: between 8:30-8:45 Finish: 11:15am After Evans, we broke camp at Echo Lake and headed to Guanella Pass Campground. This time, a much quieter camping experience, with the most prominent noise being the pleasant sound of the nearby creek. The mosquitoes were abundant and diving at our faces, but they were dispatched in short order by our campfire. (Wood available at this campsite for $5 from camp host.) The morning came quickly and we were off to the trailhead, which was a short drive from the campground. Note for newbies: In the dark, there's no signage by the road (that we saw) that specifically says anything about Bierstadt, rather it was something like Guanella Pass "Overlook" or "Trailhead." There's parking on either side of the road, with the Bierstadt trailhead by the bathrooms on the east side. At 5:30am, we headed out for the goal of summiting 14er #2 in 24 hours, but... had to turn back at the footbridge! We forgot the trekking poles! That lost 15 minutes was worth it, because those poles were the only reason we made it to the top. We scooted through the first, flatter portion of the route and gazed in wonderment at the light show of dawn turning to sunrise. Streaks of purple exploded into orange, and the beauty was beyond words.  Bierstadt's path is clear and easy to follow the whole way until the last 200 foot pitch to the summit. Near the summit, the path being charted by the cairns becomes less clear, but still eminently doable. We just hopped over boulders until, at last, the summit was gained. To those looking at Bierstadt as a possibility for your first 14er, take note: about 2/3 of the way up, the grade is very steep and Cristy was rethinking the entire vacation between gasps of breath. Word to the wise: don't mistake Bierstadt's luxurious trail for an easy hike! You need some glutes and hammys to get up there. You'll also need some trekking poles. At the top, we exchanged photo-taking duties with Donna and Kelly - very nice people with an abundance of tips for sightseeing in Colorado. Thanks to you both! Glad to have shared the summit and that beautiful morning with you.  On the way up and down, we thanked the CFI workers who were transforming a rough patch of trail into a rock staircase. Remarkable work, all the more appreciated when we saw a guy hiking up the trail with a chainsaw on his back! The hike down was uneventful save for the awesome views to the west the entire way. The air warmed and we soaked up sunshine and the magnificent landscapes around us.  Back at the car, we were approached by what can only be described as a disaster. It was a young lady with 2 or 3 guys. She flagged me down and said "I want to climb Mt. Bierstadt, where is it?!" This was around 11am, with dark clouds rolling in. I pointed out the trailhead and said the hike took us all morning and gestured at the sky. As a 14er newbie myself, I didn't get into their business, but Cristy and I shuddered as we saw them head out with with two water bottles, flimsy shoes and gym clothes, no sun protection, no packs and generally no clue what they were doing. I can only assume they made it to the steep part and turned around, That, or the weather stopped them. Thinking back, it was amazing to see how many people were headed up into dark clouds so late in the morning. People of all kinds. Some in jeans - tight jeans! We're all adults, so all you can do is say a quick prayer. On the other hand, we were really impressed with the locals. They packed light, they moved super fast, and somehow they wore light shorts when I was wearing a beanie under my hooded fleece. Way to go Colorado, you guys are in shape. August 20-21: Down Time We had planned to attempt Mt. of the Holy Cross, but after two 14ers in 24 hours, our legs were about as sturdy as a Jenga tower on its last move. The need to rethink our trip was abundantly clear. We spent the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday checking out some cities along I-70 and doing some game planning. We decided to head south to Royal Gorge and try some of the famous white water. So, while this section is entitled down time, we ended up spending about 8 hours rafting on the 21st. When in Rome. Anyhow, we resolved to try one more 14er before the week was over. We set out to summit three, and three we would get. Four, it turns out. From prior research, we looked at Pikes Peak and any combo of Democrat/Cameron/Lincoln/Bross. The weather report for Pikes looked rough, so we headed back up 9 to Alma and Kite Lake Campground, where the weather report was a little less sketchy. August 22: Mts. Democrat and Cameron Start Time: 4:40am Democrat Summit: 6:30am Cameron Summit: unsure Back to parking lot: 9:55am Kite Lake Campground is a special place. It has the quiet above the tree line save for the wisps of wind through the valley, with mountains shooting up on all sides. That Thursday night had what I always imagined was a true base camp vibe, with a dozen or so campfires and tents all around, people greeting each other and a lot of talk about weather and plans for the next day. It was a place with a singular purpose, unlike the other campgrounds we'd visited. I'd go back this minute if I could. I'm sorry to report that getting to Kite Lake comes with the opposite feeling. 14ers.com grades the road to Kite Lake as a 2, meaning "2WD, rough dirt road." This one might be a 2.5. With a lot of rain, it's probably a 3 (Easy 4WD, good clearance rec'd). We made it up in an Impala and held our breath the last mile. There were a few other 2WD/low clearance cars that made it up, but they probably need an alignment check after suffering that road. If you can, use a high clearance vehicle. If that's not an option, drive very carefully and watch out for the holes and huge rocks. We fretted about the rainy night making the road more difficult on the exit, but it turned out to be OK. It actually seemed easier leaving than driving to the lake. We woke up early, excited about the prospect of summiting our third 14er, and maybe more. After it rained throughout the night, we awoke to somewhat damp ground and a cloudy, starless sky. Fortunately, the moonlight sprayed through and provided some help for our headlamps. (Sidenote: urban people visiting CO, spend your nights looking up at the stars. Amazing.) First up was Mt. Democrat. The trail, from start to summit, was the best we had experienced in terms of ease of use and navigation. It was clearly marked the whole way and dotted with rock stairs. A lot of good work has been done to prevent erosion. It also has neat features like collapsed mine shacks. We moved up to the top in what seemed like no time compared to Evans and Bierstadt, ending up the 3rd and 4th people to summit that day (as far as we could tell).  In the early morning darkness, there was a long trail of headlamps steadily moving up the mountain. The sight recalled an image I saw of a line of climbers heading up Everest. The crowd might've been a bit bigger than a normal Friday morning because Dish Network was hosting some sort of corporate climb for their marketing department, as one person told me. Upon gaining the summit of Democrat, the weather was moving in our direction in the form of dark clouds and lower, white clouds that started enveloping the mountains. As this point, we decided to get back to the Democrat-Cameron saddle and assess the situation. This took a bit longer than it should've with so many people heading up the mountain. By the time we got to the saddle, the clouds had moved in and visibility was low. There was a light misting. Having only experienced clear days on the mountains, we were spooked. All the stories about the dangerous storms and all the warnings about lighting were running through my mind. We had achieved our third 14er summit, and that was enough. But, the wind was blowing the darker clouds away from us, it didn't look like thunder clouds were building, and it was very early in the morning still. We chatted up some locals who were attempting DeCaLiBron and, with it being our last full day in Colorado, we decided to push for Cameron.  The trail to Cameron is clear and easy to follow, just like Democrat. This was key, because the low clouds completely surrounded us. It started to hail small pebbles as well. By the time we made it to the summit, it was just brown dirt and white clouds. Almost a surreal experience. We had a nice moment with a handful of guys who were there at the same time. They decided to go for Lincoln and Bross, which weren't visible, so I offered to give them my map, but they declined.  At this point, we felt we had achieved what we came to do, and turned back. I think part of hiking and climbing is knowing when you're done, and after 4 summits and a rafting trip over 6 days, our legs were straight jell-o. We were also worried that a possible downpour would make leaving Kite Lake impossible in the Impala.  We made the right call. Going down the mountain was easy and uneventful, but my legs were done. By the time we got to the parking lot, I was wobbly just walking over to the bathroom. The worries about the rain were unfounded and we drove away without incident. (Although, we drove through a torrential downpour en route to Denver, so hopefully it didn't hit those we passed on our way down the Democrat/Cameron trail.) Epilogue Colorado is a special place, full of friendly people - especially in the hiking community. I've seen some beautiful landscapes, but none matched what I saw last week. The mountains have a power about them that is humbling and alluring all at once. We will return. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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