Mt. Bierstadt Trip Report 10/21/2014

Peak(s):	Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet
Date Posted:	10/21/2014
Date Climbed:	10/16/2014
Author:	BirdMan

The Sawtooth in Mid October
Sometimes you get lucky and things just come together... My girls were on a school break such that they had a long weekend. As luck would have it, they were going out to California to visit family. So, other than an early morning DIA airport run I was free for the day. A good friend was willing to take the day off work to join me and with that we concocted a plan to go for Mt. Bierstadt, the Sawtooth and Mt Evans. Mother Nature even tried to help us out with a bluebird day, so the rest was going to be up to us. Way back when I started on this crazy journey into the 14ers I did Mt Bierstadt, then the Sawtooth and Mt. Evans solo in the summer months and honestly didn't find it too bad. What was an unknown was what we would find up high in October about a week after a snowstorm - though condition reports I could get sounded better and better as the week went on. The below is a view from the car / trail head at roughly 11:00 am. Mt Bierstadt is to the right with the Sawtooth to it's left. Mt Evans is hiding but just barely visible to the immediate left of the Sawtooth. The gulley descent is shaded and our return route to the car (Evans' West Ridge route) is the snowfield at the far left. I understand the willows near the parking lot used to be quite the bear to get through, but it's smooth sailing courtesy of the walkways in place. Jared, happy to be on the trail with the Sawtooth in the background. It only took us two hours to get to the summit, but with an 11 am start that meant we were on top at 1 pm. Much later than I'm used to in the summer months but with almost no threat of lightning or weather it didn't seem like an issue. Jared on top savoring lunch. Speaking of lunch, we had to take the shameless pics holding a Which Wich bag which we've both already redeemed for our free sandwich. Best promotion ever in my mind. A look over at Mt Evans with shadows from the clouds. And after the briefest of respites we were back on our way. We couldn't identify any trail, boot prints, etc. leading down to the Sawtooth so made our way as best we could. We stayed too high though and soon were making more difficult moves than I remember from my summer run on it. It was too early to bail, but to be completely honest I was thinking about it. The snow was really not much of an issue. Many places it was above our boots but rarely got as high as your knees. After making a good bit of progress Jared is looking at Mt. Evans - thinking about it getting later and would we have enough time for everything we had planned? A little further on Jared had the misfortune of breaking one of his already patched up trekking poles. C'mon, that's what the second layer of duct tape was for! Having made it most of the way across the Sawtooth we could breathe easier. It honestly looks worse than it is. When you're in it you're just focused on the next few steps in front of you, but looking at the route as a whole you wonder how you ever got this far. After getting back to more solid ground we had another bite to eat, took a look at the time and made an assessment about our immediate future. Starting at 11 am, it took us only 2 hours to get to the top of Bierstadt. However, it took us 2 and a half hours to navigate the Sawtooth. With a stop on the summit of Bierstadt that meant it was 4 pm and we had to make a choice. Head straight to the car and be there around 6 pm but before sundown, or go for Evans as originally planned and then get back to the car after dark. We were descending a less established route and I had a vague recollection from a few years back how thick the willows closer to the trail head got via the West Ridge route. We fought off the urge to succumb to summit fever and decided the most prudent option was simply to head back to the car and call it a day. Another look back at the Sawtooth on the way down. The snow covering up the standard route certainly made this more interesting and it left me wanting to come back and try it again in the summer months. Below is the route after you cross back over from the notch. Again, it looks worse than it is. Heading down the West Ridge route. Neither of us were used to getting back to the car so late but were fortunate to see the start of the sunset and even though we didn't complete everything we had planned we were incredibly happy to have had another successful day in the mountains. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

The Sawtooth in Mid October

Sometimes you get lucky and things just come together...

My girls were on a school break such that they had a long weekend. As luck would have it, they were going out to California to visit family. So, other than an early morning DIA airport run I was free for the day. A good friend was willing to take the day off work to join me and with that we concocted a plan to go for Mt. Bierstadt, the Sawtooth and Mt Evans. Mother Nature even tried to help us out with a bluebird day, so the rest was going to be up to us.

Way back when I started on this crazy journey into the 14ers I did Mt Bierstadt, then the Sawtooth and Mt. Evans solo in the summer months and honestly didn't find it too bad. What was an unknown was what we would find up high in October about a week after a snowstorm - though condition reports I could get sounded better and better as the week went on.

The below is a view from the car / trail head at roughly 11:00 am. Mt Bierstadt is to the right with the Sawtooth to it's left. Mt Evans is hiding but just barely visible to the immediate left of the Sawtooth. The gulley descent is shaded and our return route to the car (Evans' West Ridge route) is the snowfield at the far left.

I understand the willows near the parking lot used to be quite the bear to get through, but it's smooth sailing courtesy of the walkways in place.

Jared, happy to be on the trail with the Sawtooth in the background.

It only took us two hours to get to the summit, but with an 11 am start that meant we were on top at 1 pm. Much later than I'm used to in the summer months but with almost no threat of lightning or weather it didn't seem like an issue. Jared on top savoring lunch.

Speaking of lunch, we had to take the shameless pics holding a Which Wich bag which we've both already redeemed for our free sandwich. Best promotion ever in my mind.

A look over at Mt Evans with shadows from the clouds.

And after the briefest of respites we were back on our way.

We couldn't identify any trail, boot prints, etc. leading down to the Sawtooth so made our way as best we could. We stayed too high though and soon were making more difficult moves than I remember from my summer run on it. It was too early to bail, but to be completely honest I was thinking about it.

The snow was really not much of an issue. Many places it was above our boots but rarely got as high as your knees.

After making a good bit of progress Jared is looking at Mt. Evans - thinking about it getting later and would we have enough time for everything we had planned?

A little further on Jared had the misfortune of breaking one of his already patched up trekking poles. C'mon, that's what the second layer of duct tape was for!

Having made it most of the way across the Sawtooth we could breathe easier. It honestly looks worse than it is. When you're in it you're just focused on the next few steps in front of you, but looking at the route as a whole you wonder how you ever got this far.

After getting back to more solid ground we had another bite to eat, took a look at the time and made an assessment about our immediate future.

Starting at 11 am, it took us only 2 hours to get to the top of Bierstadt. However, it took us 2 and a half hours to navigate the Sawtooth. With a stop on the summit of Bierstadt that meant it was 4 pm and we had to make a choice. Head straight to the car and be there around 6 pm but before sundown, or go for Evans as originally planned and then get back to the car after dark.

We were descending a less established route and I had a vague recollection from a few years back how thick the willows closer to the trail head got via the West Ridge route. We fought off the urge to succumb to summit fever and decided the most prudent option was simply to head back to the car and call it a day.

Another look back at the Sawtooth on the way down. The snow covering up the standard route certainly made this more interesting and it left me wanting to come back and try it again in the summer months.

Below is the route after you cross back over from the notch. Again, it looks worse than it is.

Heading down the West Ridge route.

Neither of us were used to getting back to the car so late but were fortunate to see the start of the sunset and even though we didn't complete everything we had planned we were incredibly happy to have had another successful day in the mountains.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Jay521	Nice report on a nice route! 10/22/2014 3:19pm The Sawtooth IS fun, isn't it? Nice job!
adamjm	Cross over the notch 10/30/2014 5:02pm In pic 12, you've drawn the crossover a bit too early. You don't come over to the other side until well after that. You can see the low point in the ridge behind you guys in pic 8, where you haven't crossed over yet. Just an FYI for anyone using this as beta.

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