July 13th, 2009(Day 6)-Mt Bierstadt(14,060 ft)

Monday, July 13th, 2009:

Today is the day we attempt a 14,000 + ft peak....

Mt. Bierstadt
14,060 ft
Rank: 38th highest in Colorado
Rated: Class 2

We got up early, 4 am, and were ready at 5 am to drive to Georgetown to meet Bob & Ginny. Traffic was light,

we made good time, enjoyed the sunrise, and arrived at the Welcome Center at 5:45 am. Bob and Ginny arrived around 6:15 am, along with 2 friends, Sandy and Diane, plus 3 dogs. All would be joining us on the hike. There is construction on the road to Guanella Pass and the road is closed after 8 am (we originally thought it was closed after 7 am, so we made sure to get an early start).

We arrived at the trailhead around 7 am.

Everyone was ready to start hiking around 7:05. The weather was beautiful, a little cool, but very little wind.

After a couple of group shots the hike began,

Here we are.................

starting through a section called "the Willows" that was marshy. The trail was good with boardwalks to cross some of the wetter sections. It was cold enough so there was some hoarfrost on parts of the boardwalk.

The hike started downhill, losing 200 feet in altitude from the parking lot.

We reached Gomer Creek and found a place to cross.

Ginny slipped and took a plunge onto her back. Fortunately she didn't get hurt, just a bit wet. Cindy and Karl headed upstream to try a spot that looked a bit easier. Karl lost his balance and stepped into the creek, getting wet up to his knees.. But we were all safely across. After wringing out some water and drying off a bit, we were ready to start climbing....

We were enjoying the beautiful scenery.. here, a look back towards the trailhead....


This is the view back towards Georgetown................

There were flowers all through the Willows........

After gaining back the altitude we had lost, we started to climb. We took a break to catch our breath and eat a snack. Behind us you can see the parking lot where we started about 1 to 1-1/2 hours ago. We figured it would take us about 4 hours to reach the summit at a leisurely pace (1 mph)

At about this point, Dave began to feel the effects of the altitude and had to start back down. He would get a ride back to Georgetown before the road closed, and we caught up with him in town after our climb. Nitsa carried on to hold up the Benson tradition.

We were off again, along the beautiful trail...

Barb and Pete, with the 'Sawtooth' behind them...

And Ruth..............


Always, more flowers...............

After some steep sections, and some wet sections, we reached a snowfield at the ridge below the final pitch to the summit. Only about 200 more vertical feet to go....

Pete and Barb make their way over the final section to the summit.....

To join Bob & Karl....


Nitsa arrives and signs the register at the summit........

A close up look at the Benchmark at the summit.........

And here is a view of the 'Sawtooth' ridge that runs from Mt Bierstadt over to Mt. Evans...

Below the 'Sawtooth' lies Abyss Lake, quite a drop.......



Pete and Barb enjoy a well-earned summit shot, while we wait for the rest of our group to join us. It is about 11:15 am, and we will eat lunch once we are all together on the summit.

Here's a panorama view taken from the summit of Mt. Bierstadt............





Uh Oh! We have storm clouds moving in quickly! With lightning and sleet! We had not expected this until about 1 pm....

We had to start down, the rest of our group had made it to the snowfield, but had to turn around as well. Safety first.............

We joined the rest of the hikers on the descent, sometimes in sleet, then later with rain.....

This was shot before the rain began....

To the Northwest lie Grays Peak and Torreys Peak. If all goes well, we plan to climb Grays Peak on Wednesday.................



Well, we were now back at the parking lot, wet, cold, but otherwise intact. It was 1:40 pm, which meant that the road back to Georgetown would still be closed for another hour (It re-opens at 3pm). We might as well head back. The car heaters were at full-blast, and we drove back to the barricade to wait.....


By now, the sun had re-appeared and spirits were good. We talked awhile with the other hikers waiting. There were several lakes along the road, the views were beautiful, so no complaining....

Once back in Georgetown, we met up with Dave, who was feeling better. We headed back to Fraser for a pizza dinner.

Mt Bierstadt pins were awarded to Bob, Nitsa, Pete and Barb, and Ruth for a job well done....

Grays Peak is another 14'er we plan to hike. We were planning this for Wednesday, but the forecast for Wednesday is identical to what we had for today. However, the forecast for Thursday is much better, 10% chance of showers, as a cold front is moving in. So our plans for Grays Peak have been moved to Thursday. Let's hope the forecast is accurate.

Postscript..........................

As you may be aware, we decided to hike on a weekday instead of a weekend, so we could avoid some of the hoards that descend on the more popular (and accessible) peaks. I came across the following post on 14er's.com:

Guanella Pass Trailhead Information:

"August 1, 2009: I counted 237 cars parked in upper and lower lots and along the road. Two stop lights timed to about 10 minutes and a sedan can make it from Georgetown but it is a bit rough and muddy in places. No, seriously, 237 cars. " -- August 1st was a Saturday!

Also, lucky for us we climbed when we did.......
"2009-08-25
Guanella Pass is CLOSED for the season due to rockslide. You cannot get there from Georgetown
2009-09-01
Can still access from Grant side (using highway 285). Georgetown side is closed. "

"One of Colorado's scenic mountain passes is shut down because of the threat of rock slides.A section of Guanella Pass is closed until further notice. It's the stretch between Georgetown and the Clear Lake campground.The above normal precipitation that occurred this summer in Colorado has loosened rocks."With the amount of moisture we have had the rock mass has loosened up and there is concern about it sliding across the road," said John Bustos, spokesman for Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests in a prepared statement.Crews are also still working on a big paving project over the pass.Guanella Pass summit can be accessed through Grant from US Highway 285. Access is only to the summit and cannot be traveled through to Georgetown."

The following links have more of this story:
http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/by_size/1/?q=guanella+pass

http://cbs4denver.com/local/Guanella.Pass.Closed.2.1142345.html

http://cbs4denver.com/local/Guanella.Pass.Closed.2.1142345.html