The willows of Bierstadt

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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mt_turtle
Posts: 88
Joined: 7/1/2008
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Re: The willows of Bierstadt

Post by mt_turtle »

I asked almost the same question a couple years ago and was given a great alternative. There are other trip reports, but you can see our tracks file on mine. You can use this route coming down Evans and completely avoid the willows.
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include
Psalms 65:5-6 By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation, You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea; Who establishes the mountains by His strength, Being girded with might;
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kbmountain
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Re: The willows of Bierstadt

Post by kbmountain »

CarpeDM has a TR which bypasses the willows and only adds on a small distance. Check it out.
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britdog
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Re: The willows of Bierstadt

Post by britdog »

highplaces wrote:I did the Bierstadt-Sawtooth-Evans loop on Sunday and the willows really weren't all that bad. A few sections of boot sucking mud. The trail was not nearly as faint as I had expected it to be. I would much rather walk through this wet/muddy section at the end of the day on the way to the car, rather than the start of the day. Have fun, it was a great loop!
I was with highplaces last weekend and agree on all points. You're going to get muddy, but at that point you're close to the end and it's probably warm. If the mud bothers you, just walk thru the shin-deep stream, instead of using the bridge about 3 minutes after you rejoin the Bierstadt trail. It's a fun loop. Don't sweat the mud at the very end.
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Doctor No
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Re: The willows of Bierstadt

Post by Doctor No »

I ran into the same issues at the end of my Evans summit (http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=8781" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - but yeah, you're so close to the car at that point, who cares? Rich people cover their entire faces in mud to look younger, and we're getting it for free.
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soybean56
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Re: The willows of Bierstadt

Post by soybean56 »

I checked out the TRs from mt_turtle and CarpeDM. That's enticing. I'd be all for including Spalding in our tour as well and then joining that alt route. Will have to see what the partner feels at that point.

Thanks again for the all the hints and opinions.
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coloradokevin
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Re: The willows of Bierstadt

Post by coloradokevin »

Personally, despite the reputation "The Willows" have earned over the years, I wasn't really too bothered by them when I climbed Bierstadt. Maybe my memories have faded with time, but I've been up there on a few occasions, and I don't remember them being a problem in the more recent years (last trip through the willows was probably in 2006-ish).

Hopefully you won't have any issues!
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