Mount Elbert Hike

Mount Elbert Hike

On Thursday 6 August, 2015, Ray, Dave F, and I continued the Summer 2015 14er Series by attempting to summit the highest peak in Colorado, Mount Elbert, which rises to 14,439’ in elevation and is located approximately 20 miles southwest of Leadville. Trailhead access was by 4 wheel drive only, and Ray’s truck tackled it with gusto. As you will soon see in the photographs, the dirt road to that trailhead took us through a “Dr. Seuss-like” aspen grove.

With temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s at elevation, and a strong northwesterly wind, the weather was a little chillier that last week, but still quite nice. Best of all, and most importantly, there was yet again no risk of afternoon storms.

This was a pretty challenging hike, as it was at a moderate to steep grade for the duration of the trek, with really only one flat spot (Where the trail map image notes “Camp”). The 4WD accessible trailhead sits at just above 10,000’ with a total ascent of 4,389’ over 3.8 miles to the summit. Though tremendously demanding and requiring hard work and endurance to reach our goal, the day was enjoyed by all, and I am thrilled to have summited Mount Elbert with my Buddies Ray and Dave.

As always, I hope you enjoy the pictures, and I would love to hear some of your thoughts via the guestbook or photograph comments! Thanks!

6 August, 2015Showing 1-40 of 441597 visitsAlbum by Paul YarboroughPhotos by Paul Yarborough

Trailmap	Trail Topography		A Dr. Seuss Forrest

			More aspens. If you look closely you can see Dave in Blue ascending the trail from lower right to upper left. He is just a little right and down from center.
A panoramic shot taken with my I-Phone looking back at the Twin Lakes.	A view from the one "flat" area of the hike. Where "Camp" is noted on the trail map.	Dave on the left, Ray on the right.
			Another panoramic with the I-phone. Mount Elbert is the peak farthest to the right.
Twin Lakes.			OK, so now the trail begins to get really steep! Ugh! :o)
	Mount Elbert.
The northeast ridgeline of Mount Elbert accessible from another trailhead. Looked super steep, narrow, and dangerous. If you look very closely at the largest size of this image (larger size located at bottom of page) you can see little black dots along the ridgeline which are actually people hiking it!			A snow melt pond sitting at about 12,000'.
			Yes, it's really that steep.