Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
This is going to be another dumb question, when scrambling are hiking boots good to use or what shoes are recommended? This is my first class 3 route lol.
"Mountains are not Stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion."
-Anatoli Boukreev
Be humble enough to respect the mountain, but confident enough to climb it.
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
A friend and I were planning to do the traverse. Where do we go to start the tour de abyss? Sounds fun. We were planning to start from Guanella pass. I read the TR but it didn't describe where to start from and what it really is.
Anyone?
A few thoughts/suggestions on the Tour, from doing it last September:
Departing from switchback on the Mt. Evans Road described in the route description, a lot of people have told of descending the first gully that looked like it would go. That one turns out to be nasty loose, manageable but not ideal. The "next" gully is better terrain. My group ended up taking one further east, just before the saddle rises back up toward Epaulet Mountain. The gully we took was very nice terrain, a gentle, grassy slope. The only drawback for that gully is that it adds distance and some elevation loss/gain to the route.
In the basin, cross the creek at the first opportunity. Avoid the willows at all cost.
Bierstadt's East Ridge is great introductory class 3 terrain - fun scrambling, solid rock with fractures which provide easy handholds without destroying the integrity of the rock.
For the crux section on Point 13,641, traverse right along ledges to bypass the class 5 section described in the route description. That class 5 section did not look that hard in photos or to my eye from a distance, but I fully trust Bill Middlebrook's description. I'm sure there's some moves/exposure in that vicinity that are beyond what I would want to take on unroped. Look for a hairpin left turn back up a ramp to regain the ridge - but not too soon. There is a least one such left-turn ramp which puts you back on the ridge too soon - below the class 5 terrain. How far to you go before you come to the "right" ramp? Hard to describe, but it's always further than you think it will be.
From the summit of Point 13,641, it's still a fairly long ridge walk on class 1-2 terrain to reach Bierstadt's summit.
There are multiple cairned trail options for descending Bierstadt on the east side of the Bierstadt-Sawtooth ridge. As someone else noted, higher is generally better. If time and weather are working out and are enjoying the exposure, there are lots of fun scrambling options on the gendarmes along the ridge before you cross over to the exposed traverse on the west side of the Sawtooth. But bear in mind, it's a long way from the Sawtooth to the summit of Evans. Also, there's quite a bit of elevation gain from the low point on the Bierstadt-Sawtooth saddle, up to the point where you cross over to the west side of the ridge.
The traverse along the west side of the Sawtooth isn't nearly as spooky as it looks in photos. Yes there's a huge drop, but the ledge traverse is generally wide. And, there are also secondary ledges a short distance below the trail for the most part, which really alleviate any objective danger along there. I remember only one narrow spot with no ledge below, where it was necessary to focus and move carefully through.
Where the traverse dog-legs to the left, you have a choice of lower or higher routes. There's a thread on this site about that choice, including a poll, from last year - you can search for it if you're interested. Lower is wide, with some loose stuff, and enough incline to look a bit sketchy from a distance. I don't know what it's really like because we went high, and loved it. That's a much narrower ledge system that demands your attention. A fall would take you down steep slabs onto the lower trail, very bad news. But the upper trail never got too narrow and handholds were ample.
When you exit that traverse, the scrambling is essentially over but you have a long class 1-2 hike to the summit of Evans. I think it's around two miles. You first traverse the gentle north slope of the Sawtooth until you hit the saddle with Evans' west/north ridge system. Then the main trail winds below (south of) the ridge crest. I think following the ridge proper would be more fun if time/weather/energy allows - which was not the case when we were there, so we took the trail. You'll know you're getting close to Evans' summit when tourists wearing sandles start appearing, often with their dogs. But it's still further than you think to the summit. It always is.
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Once torched by truth, a little thing like faith is easy. Swede Landing, 'Peace Like a River'
The land is forever. - Steve Almburg, Illinois centennial farmer
We camped just on the saddle off the Mt Evans road that's over the gully you take to go down into the basin. Thats what I recommend. Definitely don't camp down in the basin unless you plan on hauling all your overnight gear over the entire Tour. At the end of the day it would definitely suck having to descend the gully again, packing up camp, then trying to climb that gully again with loaded gear.