Mt Bierstadt (14,060)  by  Brian Schultz   Friday  July 14, 2006

It's been a while since I've driven into Colorado from the flatlands of the Midwest and done a same day hike. This would be an early afternoon climb and I scheduled it strictly as a warm-up for my Quandary climb the following morning, if the weather permitted. The forecast calling for sunny skies in Denver and the mountains was holding as I passed through Denver.

The weather remained sunny as I neared Georgetown and road construction on the Guanella Pass road created only a few minor delays before I reached the pass and the new parking area at 12:30. A family of five asked me which peak was Bierstadt and where the trail was, so I steered them in the right direction while finishing preparing my pack. A threesome and a solo young woman also headed out before me, and at 12:45 PM I too departed the parking lot, hoping to make the summit in two hours if possible.

Hordes of hikers were on the trail returning from the summit, no surprise, and as I cleared the willows and started ascending the slopes, I passed by all the other late starters. I was pacing nicely when a fellow said hello and asked my name, and when I stopped to respond, he asked if I remembered him from Phoenix Peak two years ago. It was Nick, whom I never would have recognized had he not taken off his sunglasses. I asked how he remembered me and he said my appearance hadn't changed at all. Same clothes, same look. Nick had been the only other climber on Phoenix Peak when I ran into him that day and, interestingly, it was exactly two years ago to this day. What are the odds of that happening, considering he lives in Arizona and I in Minnesota? We talked for five minutes before parting company.

I arrived on the summit at 2:53, missing my goal by only 8 minutes. I was pleased anyway, especially after struggling in California two weeks ago but then again, my first hike out there was 20 miles round trip and I hadn't climbed in nearly a year. Enjoying the rare solitude on Bierstadt for all of a few minutes, I asked the solo young woman when she arrived where she was from. When she said St Paul, I could hardly believe it. Jennifer and I were the only two people on the summit and we're both from Minnesota. How very neat. The connection to a second person on the same peak, neither of whom were from Colorado, was pretty cool.

We left the summit together at 3:20. Two members of the prior threesome were nearing the summit as we descended while the third of the trio had quit and was waiting several hundred feet below for them. The family of five must've turned back long ago as they weren't seen, and we arrived at the parking area at 5:10 just before fast building clouds opened up and started raining. Great timing.

This was my fifth time on Bierstadt. It felt good to be on a fourteener again and share the company of a fellow Minnesotan on the descent.

Trailhead to summit- 2 hours 8 minutes

Summit to trailhead- 1 hour 50 minutes

Start to finish- 4 hours 25 minutes

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