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My girlfriend Kristen Janusz and I left from South Mount Elbert Trailhead (9,560 ft.) about 4:10 pm. Very sunny, 50F+. Hiked to camp at 11,700 ft, just shy of treeline, arriving about 6:30 pm. We had a little dinner and were blessed with a beautiful starlit night. We awoke at 6 am and prepared our daypacks. We had decided the previous night to forego a cooked breakfast, and simply eat on the trail. This worked out very well, although it took a bit of time to feel very energetic. Although we started out rather slow (7:05 am), there was no heavy feeling and we soon warmed up. The skies were clear blue, no wind. There were two guys just ahead of us (for the entire hike), with two more guys (from Fort Collins) that passed us at about 13,200 feet. (They were part of a larger group trailing behind.) We summited about 10:00 am. There had been a number of snowy patches that we were able to walk across without postholing. Although we had snowshoes, we never needed them. Even if one were to have arrived later in the day, one could get around most of the snow, with perhaps small sections to cross. I hiked most of it with a long sleeve shirt, putting on a jacket only as we neared the summit.
Several other groups arrived while we paused at the summit. Some of these people were utilizing other routes, perhaps the Southeast Ridge and the Northwest Ridge??? The wind was rather chilly and we headed down about 10:25 am. The clouds were gathering, and before we arrived back at camp at 12:20 pm, the rainclouds were pretty thick. We packed up, and as we left camp at 1:05 pm, a bit of snow fell. However, as we lost elevation it became a bit warmer and we arrived back at the Trailhead at 2:25 pm under partly cloudy skies and perhaps 45 F. One could see that it was still fairly socked in up high, though. We stopped in Buena Vista at a sandwich shop and we were back in Denver by about 5:30 pm. |
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