My Thoughts...



Risk is essential.
There is no growth or inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable.

Not all who wander are lost

Monday, September 6, 2010

Ascent of Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans via the Sawtooth linkup

Due to a last minute decision circa 12am Sunday morning I went out to climb Mt. Bierstadt last Sunday. My alarm clock went off at 4:30am and I was on the road by 5. I stopped in Idaho Springs and grabbed water and a little breakfast at 5:45 and pulled onto Mt. Evans road at 6:15am. The sunrise alone made the trip worth it. It was beautiful. Sorry to those of you that do not want to see sunrise pictures, I'm gonna post a few, and by a few, I mean 12. Bierstadt is known for being a tourist mountain. The standard route which ascends from Guanella Pass on the West side is a major known to be very, very crowded. They might as well put an escalator on that side of the mountain. That appeals to me not at all so I decided to ascend the seldom climbed East ridge. There was very little information online or in guidebooks about the East ridge but I decided to go for it. I had been planning to climb it for a while so it seemed like a good day for it. I got out of the car and immediately realized it was fricken cold. Wind was miserable and significantly stronger that forecasted. Thank you weather man or lady. To climb Bierstadt's East ridge you first descend from mile marker 11 on Mt. Evans Road at 13,300 feet, to the valley at 12,500 feet. It isn't difficult just a pain in the bottom and kinda sketch due to loose rock. About halfway down I ran into a twosome that looked like fish out of water. They had on athletic shorts and sweatshirts and had a dog that scared the breakfast right out of me due to violent barking. I asked them if they had climbed Bierstadt and they did not know what I was talking about. They said they camped. Well, Magellan number one and two, Bierstadt is the GIANT MOUNTAIN you were camping at the base of. Keep in mind they had no pack, tent or warm clothes. Nice. I came to find out later that they panicked on the way up from the valley and dropped their pack off the mountain. Anyway, I got down fine and started making my way across the valley making mental notes of where exactly to ascend to get back out of the valley. My plan was to climb Bierstadt's East ridge then descend the NE side of the mountain and hike back across the meadows past Abyss lake. About the time I was nearing the point that I wanted to gain the ridge I ran into a group of three guys also wanting to summit via the East ridge. I learned they were all military and one guy drives here from OKLAHOMA pretty frequently for the weekends. Yuck. That makes me want to vomit. I have done that drive enough times. Two of them had never climbed a 14er and 1 had some good experience. We headed onto the ridgeline altogether.

Route finding wasn't too bad however the route was a little more exposed than I expected. In basic terms you can replace the word "scary" with the word "exposed." It describes how much air you have under your feet or behind you and how much rock you are standing on. So there were a couple spots that were quite exposed and sketch but otherwise pretty nice. We summited in just under three hours. Upon arriving on the summit my inclination that the standard route was crowded was reinforced. There were people on the summit with a keg. A damn keg of beer...and a grill. I was pulling the last ridge to the summit and smelled hot dogs. I could not believe it. Yep they were grilling burgers, hot dogs, and drinking beer. It was dumb. Some person made the conscious decision to carry a keg and a grill up a mountain. I wonder if he knows that he could drink the keg at the bottom of the mountain and it would work just fine. Nevertheless, the summit was a disaster and I was pleased that I took the East ridge. About the time we were heading off the mountain the military boys told me they were gonna climb the Sawtooth, and Mt. Evans also and asked if I wanted to continue. Since my descent route was the same as their route onto the Sawtooth it didn't matter at the time what I picked so I didn't decide yet. I didn't really want to climb a second mountain that day but did know that I had wanted to climb the infamous Sawtooth for a while now.

Well when we got the the moment of truth was upon me I stayed on the mountain. I figured why not. So the Sawtooth wasn't as scary or hard as I had anticipated. It did have a section of steep climbing, 30 feet or so high, right in the middle of the ridge that was fairly exposed but pretty easy. After that we came to a part of the trail that was literally 1st class hiking (easy) but only about 2 feet wide with 800 or so feet to fall off the left side. It was a little uncomfortable but still fine. We finished the Sawtooth in just over an hour which I thought was pretty solid. After the Sawtooth is a really cool alpine meadow to cross prior to the final push to the Evans' summit. By this time I started noticing one of the guys possibly getting altitude sickness. I felt fine but had a little headache and knew that he had come from sea level two days prior. He was moving way slower than he had been earlier and seemed to be struggling with breathing. I mentioned to one of the other guys to check with him and see if he wanted to pause and slow our pace. We did slow up a little but kept pushing on. Not too long after this I noticed he was coughing and struggling more which got me pretty concerned. The first signs of major HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) are symptoms similar to those of bronchitis, which had set in for him. Another issue is that the only way to recover from HAPE is to descend, and the only way for us to descend, was to ascend. We weren't far from the summit which was very lucky. We made it a few minutes later. Upon summiting we realized why he, and all of us felt the elevation. We had been above 13,500 feet for over eight hours. That is insane. I ended up feeling the effects for the two days after.

Now Mt. Evans is also a tourist attraction because you can drive to the top of it. I am not generally a fan of this however we were parked 2 or 3 miles down the road from the summit. Few mountains wield the opportunity to hitchhike down, but this one did. We decided to try and got a ride right away in the bed of some guys truck. It made the trip down significantly more pleasant however that may have been the most danger we were in all day. He was driving quite quickly. We did make it down to the cars and were pleased.

Now, if you an imagine, I am sitting, drinking coffee, and watching rock climbing, and when my coffee runs out, I am going to go rock climbing. Have a good day and enjoy the pictures. I will post more when they are sent to me.


The morning's first light











My first view of Bierstadt



From the valley looking back up toward the car.

Same.

Bierstadt in the background and the start for the Sawtooth to the right.

Bierstadt and the Sawtooth.

Looking up toward the ridge.





Finishing an exposed section of the route.

After gaining the ridge.



Nearing the summit.

Joe on the ridge.

Looking West from the summit.

Donny, Joe, Jack and myself.

Evans and the Sawtooth looking quite intimidating.

On the way down to the Sawtooth.

Looking back up at Bierstadt.

Looking past Abyss lake. In the middle/left of the picture is
the chute I descended to get into the valley.

Steep section on the Sawtooth.

Small trail on the Sawtooth.

Looking back at the Sawtooth. You can see the trail faintly.

Meadows on Evans


Looking back at the Sawtooth and Bierstadt.

The whole East ridge route. I gained the ridge at the left of this picture.

In the back of the truck on the way down the mountain.