Mt. Bierstadt Trip Report 09/05/2014

Peak(s):	Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Torreys Peak - 14,272 feet Grays Peak - 14,275 feet
Date Posted:	09/05/2014
Date Climbed:	08/30/2014
Author:	Broadmoor5

Sawtooth, and Kelso Ridge
This is my first trip report, but not my first 14er. My friend Seth and I have made a trip out to Colorado every 1-2 years for the past 5 years to bag some peaks (9 total peaks up to this point). Last week I picked him up from Des Moines early in the morning on Friday and we drove straight to Colorado. We camped on Friday and Saturday nights on the Gunella Pass Rd, only 2 miles down from the Gunella Pass TH. On Saturday morning we got up at 4:30, and headed to the TH to hike the Sawtooth. We arrived there at around 5:30, and the parking lot was already starting to get pretty full. After getting on all of our gear, we headed over to the trail and started hiking. Off in the pond that is near the TH, we could see 2 moose wading around. It was too dark to snap a picture, otherwise I would have to show my kids. The trail up to Bierstadt was pretty straight forward, and neither of us could really remember much of the hike. Something about the path reminded me of the trail up Mt Huron. I summited before Seth, and waited at the top for him. There were a bunch of other midwesterners up there at the time (people from Minnesota), and there were some other people who were going to be doing the Sawtooth route. After Seth arrived, we took a few pictures and then put on our helemets and headed down to the Sawtooth. I had a little bit of fear about the Class 3 sections of the hikes that we were going to be doing that weekend, since the hardest thing that we had done thus far was the Keyhole Route on Longs. I didn't know what to expect with the Class 3 walls, or what was really involved with getting up them. We climbed down and across the ridge, but didn't actually go over the Sawteeth. We just stayed a little bit below the ridge, and then angled towards the gendarme feature. There was some steep class 3 climbing around this point, but nothing was very exposed, or difficult for that matter, so it was actually pretty enjoyable. After crossing to the other side of the sawtooth, there was more exposure, but we both felt safe as there was plenty of room to maneouver. We caught up with 2 other hikers at this point and they pointed out the options for crossing this section. After that we were in a tundra section that is between Mt Spadling and Evans. I couldn't really find any carins, so we bushwaked across the tundra, trying not to step on any of the plants, and angled towards Evans. The loop around the mountain annoyed me a little, as I kept wanting to gain elevation to summit the mountain, but the path stayed pretty flat. Eventually, we got to the trail that leads down to the parking lot, and there were lots of people coming up from their cars. I waited for Seth at the summit for a bit, took a few pictures and then went back down. We didn't want to return back over the Sawtooth and Bierstadt, so we headed towards Mt Spalding to go down the gulley that heads to Scott Gomer creek and the willows. The gulley was very steep and a little bit loose. It didn't bother me too much, but Seth didn't really like it. Once down to the bottom of the gulley, we noticed that the path ahead was going to be very wet and muddy. In most places you don't have to get your shoes too wet, as you can step on the willows, but some places the water and mud are unavoidable. At one point we spotted what looked like bear tracks. We both were pretty glad to be done with the willows and back to the main trail. We finished up the hike and headed into Georgetown for pizza at the Alpine Restaurant. From the weather reports, Sunday was supposed to be a gorgeous day, so we didn't have any apprehension about climbing Kelso Ridge vs the Std Route up Grays and Torreys. We went to sleep early and then got up around the same time as the day before, tore down my tent and headed over to the Bakersville exit on I70. I was a little worried about the road up to the trailhead since I was using a rental car, but the road had recently been redone, and was pretty easy to get to the TH. The parking lot was already full, so we had to park a tenth of a mile down the road. Seeing as how this was labor day weekend, it makes sense that there would be so many people wanting to hike some 14ers. After hitting up the bathroom, we started out on the trail, which was packed with people. I was feeling pretty peppy, and had my Garmin GPS on, so I could see my pace, so I booked it up to the juncture with the Kelso Ridge route, and waited for Seth. There were a few other people there that were thinking about doing Kelso, including a group of 4 people. I heard the leader of the group give out some good advice to them, and made sure that they all were wanting to continue, as by this point the wind had picked up, and it had started to snow. I looked up at Torreys and it was covered in clouds and appeared to be snowing high up on the mountain. Once, Seth arrived, we both agreed that we would still attempt Kelso, as it looked like the weather would blow over. Before getting to the first Class 3 section, the group of 4 people had turned around and they wished us luck on the hike. Another group of people passed us around this point, so we felt like we weren't being too crazy for wanting to continue. I found the Class 3 climbing to be really enjoyable. Some of the rock was a bit loose, so we had to test our holds all of the time. In one of the sections, I slipped a bit on a loose rock and created small rock slide. Also, we got a little bit off route and wasted 20 minutes trying to find the orute. I didn't see any cairns on the route, so we used the write up from 14ers to try to navigate. It really helped to have my GPS watch, as I had the current elevation on the main page, so we could see where we were based on the route description. For most of the time, the weather was fine, and maybe even turned a little bit partly cloudy, but once we got up around 13,900 feet, the rocks were covered in snow, and it was snowing and windy. For some reason I hadn't really though about having to cross the Knife's Edge in these conditions, as I had really just been concerned with the task at hand (a bit of tunnel vision). Anyways, right before we got to the Knife's Edge, I had a close call... I slipped on a rock and my foot got wedged between two rocks. It hurt, but I pulled my foot out, and my ankle hurt a little, but didn't seem to be injured. We crossed the mini-knifes edge and didn't really talk as Seth crossed the Knife's Edge first. I waited at the edge of the knife for him to cross and tell me that it was safe for me to start. While waiting, I made the mistake of looking to my left at Dead Dog Couloir. Immediately, my heart sunk, and I had the first bit of fear that I have had hiking any 14er. It was the first time that I felt like my life was in danger. I thought to myself that I was crazy for having come this far in these conditions without considering turning around. Then I thought about how I have 3 kids back at home and how sad it would be for them if I were to die. The fear passed quickly, as I decided that I needed to be brave and just man up and cross the thing. I didn't look down again, and crossed it slowly. It was a bit eerry being up on it without any other hikers being around, and it being all cloudy all around. I got across the knife's edge and went around the white wall. From what I had read, the standard way to proceed would be to downclimb, but it was really slick at this point with snow and ice, so I didn't feel safe doing that. So, I climbed the white wall, as Seth had done, and then we carefully climbed off of it and started up the final 100 feet to the top. The final bit was steep and slippery because of the snow, so we took our time, and I made sure to leave some room between me and Seth in case he slipped. I still was worried about slipping and falling either into the Coluior or the other side of the kinfe's edge which wasn't as steep, but would still probably have been deadly. We didn't really talk (as I think that we were both so freaked out, and wanting to focus to make sure that we didn't die). Seth lead, and summited first. He was happy to see 2 people at the top. We took a few pictures and then headed towards Grays. At this point the storm really started to pick up, and we had some whiteout conditions with the snow and wind (40-50 MPH winds). After having just felt like I could have died on the Kinfe's Edge, this seemed like a minor complication and actually kind of fun hiking in as I knew that the trail was all Class 1 from here on out, so I knew that I would be safe. It really didn't take very long to summit Grays, and we saw2 other people up there then we headed back down to the trailhead It seems that the snow turned a lot of people around, as there weren't very many people going back to the trailhead. We got back to the car, ate dinner in Denver, and then drove straight back to Iowa. In the car we talked about how stupid it was for us to do Kelso in those conditions, and I felt dissapointed in myself that I hadn't asked Seth to turn around at the Kinfe's Edge. We decided that from here on out, if there is a storm coming and we are going to be doing something that has some cimbgin/moves that are pushing our abilities that we should turn around. All in all, it was my favorite 14er trip so far, and I am happy to have peaks 10,11,12, and 13 done. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Sawtooth, and Kelso Ridge

This is my first trip report, but not my first 14er. My friend Seth and I have made a trip out to Colorado every 1-2 years for the past 5 years to bag some peaks (9 total peaks up to this point). Last week I picked him up from Des Moines early in the morning on Friday and we drove straight to Colorado. We camped on Friday and Saturday nights on the Gunella Pass Rd, only 2 miles down from the Gunella Pass TH. On Saturday morning we got up at 4:30, and headed to the TH to hike the Sawtooth. We arrived there at around 5:30, and the parking lot was already starting to get pretty full.

After getting on all of our gear, we headed over to the trail and started hiking. Off in the pond that is near the TH, we could see 2 moose wading around. It was too dark to snap a picture, otherwise I would have to show my kids. The trail up to Bierstadt was pretty straight forward, and neither of us could really remember much of the hike. Something about the path reminded me of the trail up Mt Huron. I summited before Seth, and waited at the top for him. There were a bunch of other midwesterners up there at the time (people from Minnesota), and there were some other people who were going to be doing the Sawtooth route. After Seth arrived, we took a few pictures and then put on our helemets and headed down to the Sawtooth.

I had a little bit of fear about the Class 3 sections of the hikes that we were going to be doing that weekend, since the hardest thing that we had done thus far was the Keyhole Route on Longs. I didn't know what to expect with the Class 3 walls, or what was really involved with getting up them. We climbed down and across the ridge, but didn't actually go over the Sawteeth. We just stayed a little bit below the ridge, and then angled towards the gendarme feature. There was some steep class 3 climbing around this point, but nothing was very exposed, or difficult for that matter, so it was actually pretty enjoyable. After crossing to the other side of the sawtooth, there was more exposure, but we both felt safe as there was plenty of room to maneouver. We caught up with 2 other hikers at this point and they pointed out the options for crossing this section. After that we were in a tundra section that is between Mt Spadling and Evans. I couldn't really find any carins, so we bushwaked across the tundra, trying not to step on any of the plants, and angled towards Evans. The loop around the mountain annoyed me a little, as I kept wanting to gain elevation to summit the mountain, but the path stayed pretty flat. Eventually, we got to the trail that leads down to the parking lot, and there were lots of people coming up from their cars. I waited for Seth at the summit for a bit, took a few pictures and then went back down.

We didn't want to return back over the Sawtooth and Bierstadt, so we headed towards Mt Spalding to go down the gulley that heads to Scott Gomer creek and the willows. The gulley was very steep and a little bit loose. It didn't bother me too much, but Seth didn't really like it. Once down to the bottom of the gulley, we noticed that the path ahead was going to be very wet and muddy. In most places you don't have to get your shoes too wet, as you can step on the willows, but some places the water and mud are unavoidable. At one point we spotted what looked like bear tracks. We both were pretty glad to be done with the willows and back to the main trail. We finished up the hike and headed into Georgetown for pizza at the Alpine Restaurant.

From the weather reports, Sunday was supposed to be a gorgeous day, so we didn't have any apprehension about climbing Kelso Ridge vs the Std Route up Grays and Torreys. We went to sleep early and then got up around the same time as the day before, tore down my tent and headed over to the Bakersville exit on I70. I was a little worried about the road up to the trailhead since I was using a rental car, but the road had recently been redone, and was pretty easy to get to the TH. The parking lot was already full, so we had to park a tenth of a mile down the road. Seeing as how this was labor day weekend, it makes sense that there would be so many people wanting to hike some 14ers. After hitting up the bathroom, we started out on the trail, which was packed with people. I was feeling pretty peppy, and had my Garmin GPS on, so I could see my pace, so I booked it up to the juncture with the Kelso Ridge route, and waited for Seth. There were a few other people there that were thinking about doing Kelso, including a group of 4 people. I heard the leader of the group give out some good advice to them, and made sure that they all were wanting to continue, as by this point the wind had picked up, and it had started to snow. I looked up at Torreys and it was covered in clouds and appeared to be snowing high up on the mountain. Once, Seth arrived, we both agreed that we would still attempt Kelso, as it looked like the weather would blow over. Before getting to the first Class 3 section, the group of 4 people had turned around and they wished us luck on the hike. Another group of people passed us around this point, so we felt like we weren't being too crazy for wanting to continue.

I found the Class 3 climbing to be really enjoyable. Some of the rock was a bit loose, so we had to test our holds all of the time. In one of the sections, I slipped a bit on a loose rock and created small rock slide. Also, we got a little bit off route and wasted 20 minutes trying to find the orute. I didn't see any cairns on the route, so we used the write up from 14ers to try to navigate. It really helped to have my GPS watch, as I had the current elevation on the main page, so we could see where we were based on the route description.

For most of the time, the weather was fine, and maybe even turned a little bit partly cloudy, but once we got up around 13,900 feet, the rocks were covered in snow, and it was snowing and windy. For some reason I hadn't really though about having to cross the Knife's Edge in these conditions, as I had really just been concerned with the task at hand (a bit of tunnel vision). Anyways, right before we got to the Knife's Edge, I had a close call... I slipped on a rock and my foot got wedged between two rocks. It hurt, but I pulled my foot out, and my ankle hurt a little, but didn't seem to be injured. We crossed the mini-knifes edge and didn't really talk as Seth crossed the Knife's Edge first. I waited at the edge of the knife for him to cross and tell me that it was safe for me to start. While waiting, I made the mistake of looking to my left at Dead Dog Couloir. Immediately, my heart sunk, and I had the first bit of fear that I have had hiking any 14er. It was the first time that I felt like my life was in danger. I thought to myself that I was crazy for having come this far in these conditions without considering turning around. Then I thought about how I have 3 kids back at home and how sad it would be for them if I were to die. The fear passed quickly, as I decided that I needed to be brave and just man up and cross the thing. I didn't look down again, and crossed it slowly. It was a bit eerry being up on it without any other hikers being around, and it being all cloudy all around. I got across the knife's edge and went around the white wall. From what I had read, the standard way to proceed would be to downclimb, but it was really slick at this point with snow and ice, so I didn't feel safe doing that. So, I climbed the white wall, as Seth had done, and then we carefully climbed off of it and started up the final 100 feet to the top.

The final bit was steep and slippery because of the snow, so we took our time, and I made sure to leave some room between me and Seth in case he slipped. I still was worried about slipping and falling either into the Coluior or the other side of the kinfe's edge which wasn't as steep, but would still probably have been deadly. We didn't really talk (as I think that we were both so freaked out, and wanting to focus to make sure that we didn't die). Seth lead, and summited first. He was happy to see 2 people at the top. We took a few pictures and then headed towards Grays. At this point the storm really started to pick up, and we had some whiteout conditions with the snow and wind (40-50 MPH winds). After having just felt like I could have died on the Kinfe's Edge, this seemed like a minor complication and actually kind of fun hiking in as I knew that the trail was all Class 1 from here on out, so I knew that I would be safe. It really didn't take very long to summit Grays, and we saw2 other people up there then we headed back down to the trailhead

It seems that the snow turned a lot of people around, as there weren't very many people going back to the trailhead. We got back to the car, ate dinner in Denver, and then drove straight back to Iowa. In the car we talked about how stupid it was for us to do Kelso in those conditions, and I felt dissapointed in myself that I hadn't asked Seth to turn around at the Kinfe's Edge. We decided that from here on out, if there is a storm coming and we are going to be doing something that has some cimbgin/moves that are pushing our abilities that we should turn around.

All in all, it was my favorite 14er trip so far, and I am happy to have peaks 10,11,12, and 13 done.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

emiller6

Kelso Sketch
9/5/2014 5:28pm

I climbed Kelso on Labor Day, and had the same thoughts while crossing the knife edge. I even contemplated turning around before starting out across it. It seems that once you are on it, and focused on scooting along it, it's not so bad, but the exposure is there. I felt the hardest part was going up and over the white rock, because the ledges on the right side were too snowy to traverse under those conditions. Coming off the backside of the white rock had me sketched out, but we all somehow made it off w/o incident.

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