Mt Elbert (14,433) by Brian Schultz Saturday July 23, 2016

Roundtrip mileage: 9.5 miles from North Mt Elbert trailhead
Elevation gain: 4,400'
Start to finish: 6 hours 45 minutes
Participants: Brian Schultz and grandson Tyler

Tyler had desperately wanted to climb Mt Elbert last year in June but the high peaks held such a heavy snow cover that we didn't even attempt it. This year would be different. The conditions were excellent and although the weather forecast called for 50% chance of storms/showers after noon, I was confident an early start would put us on the summit before any storms rolled in.

We made the short drive from Leadville to the trailhead and got the last parking spot in the crammed lot. Hikers were milling about, in particular a large group of youngsters, whom we found out later were students from San Antonio, Texas training for their cross country team. They were in Colorado for two weeks, climbing and camping up high in hopes of gaining an advantage for their upcoming season.

We began our hike at 6:10 AM. We passed, and were passed by, many hikers as we made our way up the excellent trail. After we stopped for a short break above timberline, Tyler went ahead and joined up with two of the students from Texas. I didn't see him again until I met him on the summit at 9:50.

As expected, there were throngs of people on top and I wouldn't be surprised if the total amount of people seen today on the summit and on the trail exceeded 125. We stayed on top for 35 minutes and as we began our descent we noticed hikers using the south trail on Elbert as well.

When we descended to timberline, we took a short break and thought we'd seen the last of the hikers going up. But no, they kept coming and coming. Luckily for all the late starters, no storms ever materialized.

When we got lower, Tyler went ahead of me again and I didn't see him until reaching the parking lot. I had a genuine worry at a trail junction wondering if he remembered which way to turn but he figured it out and told me at the parking lot that if he hadn't been sure, he would've waited for me there. That was a relief to hear. My arrival time at the lot was 12:55 and we headed to Leadville so he could burn off some more of his endless energy at the town's skatepark.