This is a tad overdue, but here's a fast recap of Bryan and Erica's visit to Boulder... it went really quickly but was a ton of fun.
Wednesday night Team Ohio, fellow Hudson '99 grads, landed... bringing clouds, thunder, lightning, and rain just like any you would find any given day in Ohio. [The previous 20-ish days had been clear as a bell, and the next 20-ish days afterward were clear as a bell...] We headed to Denver and had a night of food, beer, pool and shuffleboard at Wynkoop.
Thursday we headed up to the Indian Peaks to see Mt. Toll and company... it was beautiful but we were forced to turn around due to the weather. After lunch in Nederland, we headed into Boulder for a tour of Pearl Street, CU, etc... where we got rained on. We decided indoors was best, so we went climbing at The Spot. I tried slacklining for the first time, and didn't quite embarass myself as bad as I thought I would... was also rewarded with the advice that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step by Timmy O'Neill. (ps, it's pretty damn cool that your local climbing gym is where Timmy O'Neill, Lynn Hill and others choose to hang out)
Friday we set out for the Arkansas River by way of I-70, Mt. Evans, Leadville and Buena Vista. Unfortunately we didn't see any sheep or goats on Mt. Evans, but we did see a herd of roughly 40 elk at about 12,000'. I hadn't seen elk around Mt. Evans until then. We camped at Arrowhead Point campground. I'm not sure which was more awesome; being woken up by Erica whispering that a bear was outside the tent (which turned out to be the tent's rainfly) or being lucky enough to reserve a site next to West Virginia's finest specimen... who jammed to all-time favorites such as Rascal Flatts, Journey and 3 Doors Down into the dawn (sarcasm free of charge).
Saturday we rafted Brown's Canyon with Noah's Ark. Bryan fell out on the first rapid, which happened to be the one that they take your picture on, and I was his retrevial buddy so I had my first official man-overboard disaster recovery training... and (drumroll) was told I passed with flying colors. After we dried off we headed to Breck for food. On the way home we hit a wall and so we took it pretty easy Saturday night.
Sunday was laid back and then off to the airport. I really appreciated the visit and am looking forward to the next one. Here are some photos of the adventure...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Mt. Elbert - 14er #9, state highpoint #5
This weekend was an interesting one. I was able to spend another night in a tent this year, and to summit my 3rd 14er this year (9th overall). But perhaps more interesting is the fact that this weekend brought the first snowfall of the 2008-09 season! Winter is coming soon to the high country! But let's not get ahead of ourselves... the objective of the day was Mt. Elbert via the East Ridge (South Elbert trail), the highest mountain in Colorado and 2nd highest in the lower 48.
Saturday night me and 11 other folks from the Boulder/Denver area camped at Whitestar Campground overlooking Twin Lakes. We drove up from Boulder through everything from sunny skies, pouring rain and snow. At the campsite the weather seemed to change every 5 minutes, and Elbert was shrouded in clouds to the point where I thought our chances of summiting were slim at best. We could, however, see a ways up Independence Pass, and La Plata was clear most of the night. It was interesting to see (with the help of the full moon) the clouds concentrating in between peaks, then breaking up, then repeating. As we went to bed it started to rain with lightning nearby. Ryan and I discussed the idea of hiking in the rain and both felt it would be somewhat refreshing to have a hike where the elements played a factor in our decision making, ability to summit, etc... although the view would not be the same with clouds. I guess this makes sense, but it still seems worth mentioning that this weekend's weather was almost identical to the same weekend last year on Grays and Torreys. At any rate, after I fell asleep the rain apparently turned to freezing rain, but we woke up to clearing skies.
I think everyone was awake by 6:30, but I don't think we started our adventure until around 8:00 with Tim waiting for us about 1.5 miles below the official trailhead. We ended up hiking about 5.5 miles each way, for an 11 mile outing. Despite the 4000+ ft elevation gain, I think the South Elbert trail was the least steep trail I've head on any of my 14ers so far. We started well below the treeline and hiked through aspen groves past several nice campsights on our way up to the ridge. The topo (yep, the lesson from "the La Plata incident" was a good one!) also came in handy at one intersection. [Note: bear right where the road splits and the left fork heads steeply into the trees past a lake to your left.] There were a few steep hills getting to the ridge (enough to get me down to a short sleeve shirt despite temps in the low 40s), but once we gained the ridge the trail eased quite a bit and the elevation/lung conditioning was the only factor separating hikers. Just before treeline the humidity, grass, flowers, and sparse evergreen cover reminded me of balds of TN, WV or VA with an almost comforting sense of déjà vu.
Our group naturally separated into sub-groups of 4, all summiting by 12:30. I felt like we made pretty good time considering about half of us were first-timers. I was pleased everyone that started made it to the top. The view was less than optimal, but the clouds broke apart enough for me to notice the basin between Elbert and Massive seemed worth exploring later. We could also see the south ridge of Elbert still had quite a bit of snow, with a stubborn (and probably permanent) cornice guarding some nice ski lines. This was the first 14er summit I've ever been on where I couldn't see at least one other 14er summit, and also continued the trend of snow on every 14er trail I've been on this year. I didn't stay on top long, as the clouds were closing in on us.
The weather on our descent varied from sunny and clear to whiteout... and changed quickly. At one point I stopped (convinced the snow was over) after whiteout followed by strong sun to take off my shell and fleece only to find that in the time I took off my pack and jackets I was getting snowed on again. If nothing else, it was good motivation to get back to the Jeep before it started raining very hard. I think everybody felt the downclimb in the same way, and we were a tired bunch driving east tonight.
By summiting Elbert, Colorado also now joins Ryan and my list of 5 state highpoints, which also includes Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Evidence:
Saturday night me and 11 other folks from the Boulder/Denver area camped at Whitestar Campground overlooking Twin Lakes. We drove up from Boulder through everything from sunny skies, pouring rain and snow. At the campsite the weather seemed to change every 5 minutes, and Elbert was shrouded in clouds to the point where I thought our chances of summiting were slim at best. We could, however, see a ways up Independence Pass, and La Plata was clear most of the night. It was interesting to see (with the help of the full moon) the clouds concentrating in between peaks, then breaking up, then repeating. As we went to bed it started to rain with lightning nearby. Ryan and I discussed the idea of hiking in the rain and both felt it would be somewhat refreshing to have a hike where the elements played a factor in our decision making, ability to summit, etc... although the view would not be the same with clouds. I guess this makes sense, but it still seems worth mentioning that this weekend's weather was almost identical to the same weekend last year on Grays and Torreys. At any rate, after I fell asleep the rain apparently turned to freezing rain, but we woke up to clearing skies.
I think everyone was awake by 6:30, but I don't think we started our adventure until around 8:00 with Tim waiting for us about 1.5 miles below the official trailhead. We ended up hiking about 5.5 miles each way, for an 11 mile outing. Despite the 4000+ ft elevation gain, I think the South Elbert trail was the least steep trail I've head on any of my 14ers so far. We started well below the treeline and hiked through aspen groves past several nice campsights on our way up to the ridge. The topo (yep, the lesson from "the La Plata incident" was a good one!) also came in handy at one intersection. [Note: bear right where the road splits and the left fork heads steeply into the trees past a lake to your left.] There were a few steep hills getting to the ridge (enough to get me down to a short sleeve shirt despite temps in the low 40s), but once we gained the ridge the trail eased quite a bit and the elevation/lung conditioning was the only factor separating hikers. Just before treeline the humidity, grass, flowers, and sparse evergreen cover reminded me of balds of TN, WV or VA with an almost comforting sense of déjà vu.
Our group naturally separated into sub-groups of 4, all summiting by 12:30. I felt like we made pretty good time considering about half of us were first-timers. I was pleased everyone that started made it to the top. The view was less than optimal, but the clouds broke apart enough for me to notice the basin between Elbert and Massive seemed worth exploring later. We could also see the south ridge of Elbert still had quite a bit of snow, with a stubborn (and probably permanent) cornice guarding some nice ski lines. This was the first 14er summit I've ever been on where I couldn't see at least one other 14er summit, and also continued the trend of snow on every 14er trail I've been on this year. I didn't stay on top long, as the clouds were closing in on us.
The weather on our descent varied from sunny and clear to whiteout... and changed quickly. At one point I stopped (convinced the snow was over) after whiteout followed by strong sun to take off my shell and fleece only to find that in the time I took off my pack and jackets I was getting snowed on again. If nothing else, it was good motivation to get back to the Jeep before it started raining very hard. I think everybody felt the downclimb in the same way, and we were a tired bunch driving east tonight.
By summiting Elbert, Colorado also now joins Ryan and my list of 5 state highpoints, which also includes Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Evidence:
- Mine: http://flickr.com/photos/
brett_burch/sets/ 72157606794433798/ - Brian's: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66324109@N00/tags/mtelbert/
- Tim's: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
timsegraves/sets/ (And for some info from the GPS ...it doesn't quite match exactly what's on the device): http://trail.motionbased.com/72157606798424417/ trail/activity/6542208
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