Mt. Blue Sky Trip Report 09/23/2007

Peak(s):	Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet Mt. Spalding - 13,863 feet
Date Posted:	09/23/2007
Date Climbed:	09/22/2007
Author:	shotgung

Great Fun - Evans - Bierstadt - Spalding summits
Pre-hike Problems So I got a hold of my brother and we decided to try Snowmass on Saturday. I took off from work on Friday, thinking I could get a head start and we could leave Denver early. Halfway to Denver, the alternator on my pickup shelled out, so there I was, stuck between Kimball, NE and Ft. Morgan, CO. I called my dad and he drove an hour and a half and we eventually got a new alternator in the pickup and got back on the road to Aurora. I finally made it to my brother's house and we then decided Snowmass was too far to drive, so we decided to give Mt. Evans and Mt. Bierstadt via the Sawtooth a try. We've wanted to try a Class 3, so it was settled. My brother and I camped Friday night in a nearby campground and decided to go up the Northeast Ridge of Evans. An hour later, we were looking at mountain goats, sunning themselves. That was pretty cool and the closest I've ever been to a live mountain goat. So we summited Evans and then headed towards the Sawtooth. Picture of the Sawtooth from Evans with Mt. Bierstadt to the left. We walked down the west side of Mt. Evans and around the corner, to where we could see the west side of the Sawtooth. We then contemplated whether or not we wanted to try this. I told my brother my life insurance was paid, but wasn't sure if I wanted to do this or not. We then decided that we would ditch our packs here and walk to where we felt not safe anymore and then turn around. We ended up stopping on top of Mt. Bierstadt. Jerry coming down towards the Sawtooth. Almost there. I marked the route we took in red. This was actually easier than it looked and once we were walking along that route, it seemed pretty easy. Note: This route would have been a lot harder if it had been raining out. Jerry thinking he's a mountain goat. So after making it past the hard part, we decided to leave our jackets behind. Jerry marked the spot with his GPS and we headed up towards Mt. Bierstadt. Good times at the top of Mt. Bierstadt. Looking at the Sawtooth from Mt. Bierstadt. After leaving Bierstadt, we had to go and find our jackets. Jerry tried to pull it up on his GPS and it said they were 300 miles or so to the east, somewhere in Kansas. GREAT. We eventually found our jackets by backtracking our route after we crossed over onto the east side of the Sawtooth. Don't ask me how, but we did. So I'd say this was an accomplishment in itself. Not once did we go over the Sawtooth, but twice in the same day!!! Once back on the west side of Mt. Evans, we decided to take a look at the west gully between Spalding and Evans. There was still a football size field of snow in the gully along with a large cornice of snow at the top. We considered trying to go left or right of the snow and make it to the bottom, but thought better of it in the end. We decided to hike over to Mt. Spalding and cap our climbing off with a 13'er. We then descended via the East Ridge of Spalding. All in all, a good day for climbing. Lots of sun and lots more of fun and adventure. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Great Fun - Evans - Bierstadt - Spalding summits

Pre-hike Problems
So I got a hold of my brother and we decided to try Snowmass on Saturday. I took off from work on Friday, thinking I could get a head start and we could leave Denver early. Halfway to Denver, the alternator on my pickup shelled out, so there I was, stuck between Kimball, NE and Ft. Morgan, CO. I called my dad and he drove an hour and a half and we eventually got a new alternator in the pickup and got back on the road to Aurora. I finally made it to my brother's house and we then decided Snowmass was too far to drive, so we decided to give Mt. Evans and Mt. Bierstadt via the Sawtooth a try. We've wanted to try a Class 3, so it was settled.

My brother and I camped Friday night in a nearby campground and decided to go up the Northeast Ridge of Evans.

An hour later, we were looking at mountain goats, sunning themselves.

That was pretty cool and the closest I've ever been to a live mountain goat.
So we summited Evans and then headed towards the Sawtooth.

Picture of the Sawtooth from Evans with Mt. Bierstadt to the left.

We walked down the west side of Mt. Evans and around the corner, to where we could see the west side of the Sawtooth. We then contemplated whether or not we wanted to try this. I told my brother my life insurance was paid, but wasn't sure if I wanted to do this or not. We then decided that we would ditch our packs here and walk to where we felt not safe anymore and then turn around. We ended up stopping on top of Mt. Bierstadt.

Jerry coming down towards the Sawtooth.

Almost there.

I marked the route we took in red. This was actually easier than it looked and once we were walking along that route, it seemed pretty easy. Note: This route would have been a lot harder if it had been raining out.

Jerry thinking he's a mountain goat.

So after making it past the hard part, we decided to leave our jackets behind. Jerry marked the spot with his GPS and we headed up towards Mt. Bierstadt.

Good times at the top of Mt. Bierstadt.

Looking at the Sawtooth from Mt. Bierstadt.
After leaving Bierstadt, we had to go and find our jackets. Jerry tried to pull it up on his GPS and it said they were 300 miles or so to the east, somewhere in Kansas. GREAT. We eventually found our jackets by backtracking our route after we crossed over onto the east side of the Sawtooth. Don't ask me how, but we did.

So I'd say this was an accomplishment in itself. Not once did we go over the Sawtooth, but twice in the same day!!! Once back on the west side of Mt. Evans, we decided to take a look at the west gully between Spalding and Evans. There was still a football size field of snow in the gully along with a large cornice of snow at the top. We considered trying to go left or right of the snow and make it to the bottom, but thought better of it in the end. We decided to hike over to Mt. Spalding and cap our climbing off with a 13'er. We then descended via the East Ridge of Spalding.

All in all, a good day for climbing. Lots of sun and lots more of fun and adventure.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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