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Peak(s):  Mt. Bierstadt  -  14,066 feet
Date Posted:  08/15/2007
Date Climbed:   08/14/2007
Author:  aperry780
 Mt. Bierstadt - Guanella Pass   

After starting to climb 14ers this year, my wife showed interest in my pictures and requested to come along for one. I thought Bierstadt would be the perfect mountain as it was not suppose to be very hard. We left Colorado Springs at 4:00 a.m. and headed to Georgetown. The drive was lonely as my wife slept most the way but we made good time and arrived at about 6:30 a.m. It took a little longer then usual to get started as I had to get the dog and wife all situated and ready to go. We finally hit the trail at 6:45 a.m. The trail began by cutting through a large field of willow trees but was easy to navigate and even had bridges going over the muddy parts.
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Every trip report I saw failed to mention the river that had to be crossed. This would be easy in most cases but the dog didn't seem to want to swim and nearly got swept down stream.
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The trail continued to cut through the willow fields until it finally started to climb up the side of the mountain. There were a few steep parts but easy for the most part.
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Again the trail leveled out and slowly crossed a large meadow. From here it wasn't hard to guess the rest of the rout and the summit could be seen from here on out.
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A look back down.
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The hardest part of the climb was ascending the ridge that led to the top. It was quite steep but well marked.
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At the top, the trail leveled off once again but was now an easy scramble or a good place to sprain an ankle.
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The last stretch was rocky and rout finding was best left to your own judgment. It was hard to get the dog up here because of all the cracks and crevices for him to fall in.
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A large patch of snow still remained but playing in it could be fatal as just on the other side was about a 1,500 ft drop. It was here my wife said she couldn't make it any further and said she would wait for me. I told her she didn't climb to within 200 feet of the summit to duck out. She agreed and continued to the top.
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We arrived to the summit at about 9:45 almost exactly three hours after we left. (I could of don't it in less then two if I were by myself). The wife and dog were much to tired for a summit shot and decided to take a rest and eat first.
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The whole gang!
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A look down at saw tooth my future rout up Evans. The summit was not that crowded for being Bierstadt, there were about 8 people other then us.
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Had to snap a pic in front on the way down. What an amazing place!
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Just as we got back to the river crossing we started to hear loud thunder and heavy rain could be seen approaching fast. I have learned that storms move in fast in Colorado and getting off the summit by noon is a good idea. Despite saying she couldn't do it my wife made it all the way up and down. CONGRATS ON #1 BABY I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!! I LOVE YOU! This was #5 for me and a reminder as to why I love these mountains so much.
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We arrived back to the car at 12:00 p.m. just in time to avoid the rain.
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Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions
ldreher13
User
Congrats to your wife!
8/16/2007 9:39pm
Good pictures and congrats to your wife on her first 14er. Hopefully she has the bug now, too.



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