Happy July 4th! What a better way to celebrate our freedom than climbing a 14er and enjoying the beauty of our incredible country. Mt Bierstadt is in the books!
The route to Mt Bierstadt (14,066’) was absolutely stunning. The landscape, views, and trail were amazing. There was snow on the route but we were equipped with microspikes which helped immensely. We also picked up some convertible pants from REI (they unzip into shorts and vertically up to the knee which is great if you don’t want to switch to shorts yet!), and made sur we had buffs/face gaiters with us this time. Oh, and add on new hooded puffy jackets – we were set!
We also prepared a bit better by getting into bed by 7PM and asleep by about 9PM (eye masks helped a lot!). So when the alarm went off at 1:50AM again, it wasn’t as much of a shock and we felt so much better rested than when we did Grays Peak.
The trailhead parking was much more open (maybe 30% full) at 4AM and so we wondered if we could have slept in just another hour or so. We looked toward the mountain from the parking lot and could see headlamps way up high – what time did these people start??
The trail drops down in the beginning, crosses a small creek (a bit slippery over the rocks and log – my feet got wet) and then starts climbing.
There was quite a bit of snow to trek through and some of it was a little steep, but nothing our microspikes and trekking poles couldn’t handle. We found we like the Black Diamond Carbon FLZ trekking poles as there are adjustable which is great for uphill and downhill.
We had incredible weather, views, and fellow hikers. The peak was amazing and it was actually…warm?? Well, warmer than the last hike we did and so we hung out at the top with other hikers for a bit. The trek down wasn’t too bad though I found I need to do some heel-lock shoelace tying as my toes were slamming into the front of my boots (this is a common issue for me – I have narrow feet and heels). The route was pretty busy but it was also a Holiday.
This was an absolutely beautiful hike and drive back down Guanella Pass. We took over 100 pictures! The town at the base is super cute too: Georgetown. We plan to head back and spend some time there this fall as the drive up the pass should be amazing (lots of evergreens and aspens!).
7.25 miles
2850’ elevation gain
5.5 hours roundtrip
West Slopes Route
Class 2
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Mt Bierstadt in the Books!
Happy July 4th! What a better way to celebrate our freedom than climbing a 14er and enjoying the beauty of our incredible country. Mt Bierstadt is…
2 responses to “Mt Bierstadt in the Books!”
[…] Mt Evans can be deceiving – it is a shorter distance and less elevation gain than Mt Bierstadt which is also a class 2. BUT, I kid you not, it was definitely harder! Honestly, Mt Bierstadt to me […]
[…] great day, not my favorite 14nr (I know some people really like this one though!) and so Mount Bierstadt still holds my record for best 14nr so far. (Joe gives the gold star to Mount Evans). Now we […]