Mt Elbert (14,433) by Brian Schultz Sunday August 17, 2014

Roundtrip mileage: 9.5 miles from North Mt Elbert trailhead

Elevation gain: 4,400'

Start to finish: 6 hours 50 minutes

Participants: Colin Levey and Brian Schultz

Colin and I drove in from Buena Vista and arrived to a near full parking lot. Seeing all the vehicles was no surprise since this was a weekend day but Mt Elbert will draw crowds regardless since it's the highest fourteener in Colorado. Lots of hikers were getting packs ready and several headed up the trail a few minutes before we started at 6:35 AM.

The weather forecast called for 40% chance of storms/showers but we were starting early enough and I expected this to be a short day. It's hard to believe it's been 18 years since I last climbed Elbert but I was really looking forward to repeating it and wasn't bothered knowing that the trail would be crowded with gobs of people.

The peaks that Colin and I climbed over the past three days apparently acclimatized us well because we passed by many hikers. Others passed by us too but we kept a comfortable pace and only took one break. We arrived on the very crowded summit at 10:25 and stayed for twenty five minutes (photo 1, photo 2) under beautiful sunny skies.

We took an easy pace on the descent and arrived back at the parking lot at 1:25. Four college students who'd been lounging near us on the summit happened to walk by while we were sitting in my truck. One of them noticed my Minnesota license plates and let me know she was from Minnesota too.

Colin and I parted company. He was heading back to Salida for a river rafting trip in the morning and then to California for his flight back to Australia. It was great to spend time with him over the last four days and climb a fourteener, five thirteeners, and a twelver. Hopefully, more climbing adventures await us in the future.

-Back-