Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

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Chase_Rowdy
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by Chase_Rowdy »

Totally down, sent you a PM!
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polar
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by polar »

Came across this pretty good photo of Tour de Abyss on 6/19, from Stone Climber's Rosalie/Epaulie/Epaulet trip report.
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=17009" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image
"Getting to the bottom, OPTIONAL. Getting to the top, MANDATORY!" - The Wisest Trail Sign
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appleseeds
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by appleseeds »

I did the route this morning. The basin between Evans and Bierstadt is marshy so bring an extra pair of socks. Bierstadt east ridge is dry, there's some snow on the descent but you can avoid most of it without trouble and just kick steps to cross the bit where necessary. Once you get to the notch halfway across the sawtooth and begin regaining elevation, it's completely dry, including the west side once you've crossed over. The remaining route up to Evans has a few little snow patches but it's trampled down pretty well and easy to avoid with some rock hopping.
Bierstadt
Bierstadt
Bierstadt.jpg (302.3 KiB) Viewed 622 times
bichito
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by bichito »

appleseeds wrote:I did the route this morning. The basin between Evans and Bierstadt is marshy so bring an extra pair of socks. Bierstadt east ridge is dry, there's some snow on the descent but you can avoid most of it without trouble and just kick steps to cross the bit where necessary. Once you get to the notch halfway across the sawtooth and begin regaining elevation, it's completely dry, including the west side once you've crossed over. The remaining route up to Evans has a few little snow patches but it's trampled down pretty well and easy to avoid with some rock hopping.
Bierstadt.jpg
Thanks! I also tried this morning. Got a late start and underestimated the time it took to climb the east ridge. So I decided to return before I was totally exposed to thunder storms with nowhere to go. It is soggy but there are routes that keep your socks dry.
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appleseeds
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by appleseeds »

bichito wrote:there are routes that keep your socks dry.
I didn't manage to find one of those. :)
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polar
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by polar »

Did any of you go with colokeith? If not… that's a lot of parties doing the Tour in a single day.
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by appleseeds »

I solo'd it, saw one other solo and one group of 4.
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by bichito »

polar wrote:Did any of you go with colokeith? If not… that's a lot of parties doing the Tour in a single day.
Solo. I hear some voices on the Ridge
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by kircher »

I was probably the other solo guy you ran into on Saturday. If so, I hope you found a more pleasant route back down.

My favorite part of the day was towards the end of the East Ridge. About 100 from the summit, I looked up to try and see how many people were up there. I couldn't quite see anybody; all I saw was a solitary arm holding a beer bong. Bierstadt on a Saturday.

I modified the typical Tour by starting at Echo lake, up to Summit lake, up the NE face to Evans, to Abyss, Bierstadt, Sawtooth, then straight to Spalding and back down to Summit Lake to Echo. My watch died, but I'm estimating it's 21-22 miles, w/ about 7k of climbing. What I like best is it avoids the West ridge of Evans, which I've never really liked to0 much. It's a great route that I'd highly recommend it to anybody looking for bit more climbing on the day.
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polar
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Re: Tour de Abyss in the next 3 weeks

Post by polar »

kircher wrote:I modified the typical Tour by starting at Echo lake, up to Summit lake, up the NE face to Evans, to Abyss, Bierstadt, Sawtooth, then straight to Spalding and back down to Summit Lake to Echo. My watch died, but I'm estimating it's 21-22 miles, w/ about 7k of climbing. What I like best is it avoids the West ridge of Evans, which I've never really liked to0 much. It's a great route that I'd highly recommend it to anybody looking for bit more climbing on the day.
Wow, that's impressive! Sounds like my type of trip, thanks for putting the idea in my head.
"Getting to the bottom, OPTIONAL. Getting to the top, MANDATORY!" - The Wisest Trail Sign
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