Mt. Elbert Trip Report 09/04/2016

Peak(s):	Mt. Elbert - 14,438 feet
Date Posted:	09/04/2016
Modified:	09/05/2016
Date Climbed:	09/04/2016
Author:	smehta

Mt. Elbert-Northeast Ridge
I hiked up Mt. Elbert via the northeast ridge on September 4, 2016, with my dad. We've done 4 fourteeners before: Mt. Sherman, Mt. Bierstadt, Quandary Peak, and Mt. Democrat. We live in Denver and hike quite a bit in the summer, but we tend to be slower and more careful than most hikers, especially on the way down. We stayed in a small motel in Leadville the night before climbing. The drive from Leadville to the trailhead takes about 30 minutes because the last 3-4 miles are on a dirt road. The dirt road has many small bumps and is "washboarded". The ride is uncomfortable, but if you go slowly enough, there should be no risk to the car (we made it in a two-wheel drive). We started climbing at exactly 6:00 AM and used a small flashlight for the first 20 minutes or so. The hike from the trailhead at 10,000 feet to the tree line at almost 12,000 feet is probably about three miles long. At 6:35, about one mile into the hike, we followed the sign for Mt. Elbert. Just after this sign, there is a patch of flat (even slightly down-sloping) trail. Soon, it starts climbing steeply. You can catch some glimpses of Mt. Elbert and other mountains through clearings in the trees. At 7:50, we reached tree line, and a false summit of Elbert came into clear view. White and gray clouds were hanging over it and moving towards us, so we were a bit nervous, but we decided to press on because no one on the way down reported lightning. We climbed further and further away from the trees. The slope was continuous but reasonable. At about 12,700 feet, we reached the Northeast Ridge. You know you've reached the ridge when you see the long East Ridge in the distance, which also leads to the peak and has a fair number of hikers. The sky was now mostly cloudy and it was getting colder, but we continued up the ridge toward the peak after descending hikers assured us that they hadn't seen lightning. The hardest part of the whole hike was from about 13,300 feet to the point where we passed the false summit (about 13,900 feet). Although the trail is still fairly easy to see, it is quite steep, and we had to use our hands to get support from rocks in a few places. Sleet and snow had also started falling at this point, making the trail slippery. The forecasts had predicted a clear day, so the weather was an annoyance, but manageable. We passed to the right of the false summit, reaching 14,000 feet. The rest of the hike was gentler. There is one more false summit, but it is only 100-200 feet, by elevation, below the true summit. The sleet and snow had stopped, but it was becoming windier, and the cold and altitude made things difficult. We finally reached the summit at 10:43, but we spent very little time there because the wind was so intense. We were barely able to hand our camera to another hiker to take a picture of us with our homemade Mt. Elbert sign. The clouds (which moved very fast in the wind) broke up unexpectedly for a few minutes, allowing us to get a decent view of surrounding mountains and a partly blue sky. We descended by the same route. Going down from 13,900 feet to 13,300 feet was tricky, but the sleet had melted. Weather was not an issue on the descent, although clouds continued to pass over the peak. We reached tree line at about 1:50 PM and got back to the trailhead at exactly 3:45 PM. We descended especially slowly because my dad's knee started to hurt--several people passed us on the way down. In total, our hike took 9 hours and 45 minutes. Given that it's the highest point in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Elbert is relatively doable. It requires stamina (9.4 miles round trip, 4400 feet of elevation gain), but there is a good trail throughout and you rarely have to use your hands or scramble on rocks.

Mt. Elbert-Northeast Ridge

I hiked up Mt. Elbert via the northeast ridge on September 4, 2016, with my dad. We've done 4 fourteeners before: Mt. Sherman, Mt. Bierstadt, Quandary Peak, and Mt. Democrat. We live in Denver and hike quite a bit in the summer, but we tend to be slower and more careful than most hikers, especially on the way down. We stayed in a small motel in Leadville the night before climbing. The drive from Leadville to the trailhead takes about 30 minutes because the last 3-4 miles are on a dirt road. The dirt road has many small bumps and is "washboarded". The ride is uncomfortable, but if you go slowly enough, there should be no risk to the car (we made it in a two-wheel drive). We started climbing at exactly 6:00 AM and used a small flashlight for the first 20 minutes or so.

The hike from the trailhead at 10,000 feet to the tree line at almost 12,000 feet is probably about three miles long. At 6:35, about one mile into the hike, we followed the sign for Mt. Elbert. Just after this sign, there is a patch of flat (even slightly down-sloping) trail. Soon, it starts climbing steeply. You can catch some glimpses of Mt. Elbert and other mountains through clearings in the trees. At 7:50, we reached tree line, and a false summit of Elbert came into clear view. White and gray clouds were hanging over it and moving towards us, so we were a bit nervous, but we decided to press on because no one on the way down reported lightning. We climbed further and further away from the trees. The slope was continuous but reasonable. At about 12,700 feet, we reached the Northeast Ridge. You know you've reached the ridge when you see the long East Ridge in the distance, which also leads to the peak and has a fair number of hikers. The sky was now mostly cloudy and it was getting colder, but we continued up the ridge toward the peak after descending hikers assured us that they hadn't seen lightning. The hardest part of the whole hike was from about 13,300 feet to the point where we passed the false summit (about 13,900 feet). Although the trail is still fairly easy to see, it is quite steep, and we had to use our hands to get support from rocks in a few places. Sleet and snow had also started falling at this point, making the trail slippery. The forecasts had predicted a clear day, so the weather was an annoyance, but manageable.

We passed to the right of the false summit, reaching 14,000 feet. The rest of the hike was gentler. There is one more false summit, but it is only 100-200 feet, by elevation, below the true summit. The sleet and snow had stopped, but it was becoming windier, and the cold and altitude made things difficult. We finally reached the summit at 10:43, but we spent very little time there because the wind was so intense. We were barely able to hand our camera to another hiker to take a picture of us with our homemade Mt. Elbert sign. The clouds (which moved very fast in the wind) broke up unexpectedly for a few minutes, allowing us to get a decent view of surrounding mountains and a partly blue sky.

We descended by the same route. Going down from 13,900 feet to 13,300 feet was tricky, but the sleet had melted. Weather was not an issue on the descent, although clouds continued to pass over the peak. We reached tree line at about 1:50 PM and got back to the trailhead at exactly 3:45 PM. We descended especially slowly because my dad's knee started to hurt--several people passed us on the way down. In total, our hike took 9 hours and 45 minutes. Given that it's the highest point in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Elbert is relatively doable. It requires stamina (9.4 miles round trip, 4400 feet of elevation gain), but there is a good trail throughout and you rarely have to use your hands or scramble on rocks.

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