An Epic Adventure

A few friends of mine, Karl and Amy, are planning to hike Mt. Rainier in July.  We planned a training trip months ago to help them know what hiking at elevation would feel like and how their bodies would handle a long day of hiking.  Initially, our plan was to hike Democrat, Lincoln, and Bross but as the trip drew nearer, we decided to hike the 14,433ft Mt. Elbert.  It is the second highest peak in the lower 48 states and slightly higher than the 14,411ft Mt. Rainier.  I wanted to best simulate their summit day on Rainier so we decided to leave Pueblo around 1030pm to start our ascent at 230am.  My oldest Finn really wanted to go but I was concerned about his ability to hike on little sleep.  I found out later in the day that this should not have been a concern!  The drive up was uneventful, lots of talking about gear and my experience on Rainier in 2014.  We made it to the trailhead at 2am and began to gear up for our summit bid.

Initially, the trail to Mt. Elbert is very tame.  Not a lot of elevation gain as you follow the Colorado Trail.  We hiked by headlamp through the forest as the trail slowly increased in elevation.  You leave the Colorado trail and that is where things get steep.  I didn't take any pictures in the early morning hours of our hike because we were making really good time.  We made it to treeline just as the morning light was shining.  I pointed up to what I thought was the summit and said "There's the summit!"  I was wrong.  The trail to the summit has about 3-5 false summits as you climb, this was just the first of many moments when you felt you had reached the top when in reality you had much longer to hike.  

Once above treeline, the trail really starts to pickup some elevation gain.  We stopped much more frequently to rest and regroup.  Karl and Amy were really beginning to feel the effects of climbing at elevation, on no sleep, and after coming straight from sea level the night before.  The climb from treeline to 13,000ft seemed to take hours.  At one of our rest stops, I took the first photo of our adventure.

Here's Finn resting around 13,000ft.  The conditions were much colder than we thought so we were wearing every layer we had throughout most of the hike above treeline.

As we continued hiking after this rest stop Finn was pretty tired.  I could tell that the excitement of the summit was wearing off.  I decided to ask him about the books he has read recently and this is exactly what he needed to take his mind off the lack of sleep and quick elevation gain.  From 13,000ft to 13,700ft he hiked almost continuously as he told me about the two most recent books that he read.  Up until this point we hiked close to Karl and Amy but Finn was in such a zone climbing I didn't want to stop him.  Before we knew it we were above 14k and closing in on another false summit.  When we reached the top of this false summit we were both a little frustrated but we could see that we were on the final ridge to the summit so we quickly regained our energy and continued hiking.  Finn and I reached the summit just after 8am after hiking for 5.5 hours.  We were ecstatic and tired!  It was windy and cold at the summit but we found a good place outside of the wind to rest and wait for our friends to summit.  I told Finn that I wanted to look down the summit ridge to wait for them as he rested in our wind-block.  When I came back a few minutes later to check on him he had fallen asleep!

Finn fast asleep at the top of Colorado.

Karl and Amy made it to the summit ridge just before 9am and the summit right at 9am.

The final push!

Finn and I at the summit!  So proud of him for making it to the top.

Some shots of the summit.

I was also very impressed with Karl and Amy.  They flew in Friday afternoon from sea level, drove down to Pueblo, we left for the trailhead at 10:30pm, started hiking at 2:30am and were at the highest point of Colorado by 9am.  That's impressive.  

Around 930am we started our decent back to the car.  This is usually the longest part of the day because you are tired and just want to sit and relax.  We stayed together for most of the descent, until one point when Finn was in the zone again and didn't want to stop, towards the end of the hike.

Finn, Karl, and Amy working their way down the mountain.

One reason I like early morning starts is to avoid the traffic going up.  These hikers were all on their way up as we were going down.

It's hard to see really how steep it is but some parts of the climb are quite steep.

Descending below tree line.  You can't tell from this picture but we were pretty exhausted and pretty miserable at this point.

My hiking buddy finishing strong.

Finn and I made it back to the car at 1pm after 10.5 hours of hiking.  Karl and Amy were not far behind.  We were spent!  The drive back was pretty quiet but we did have to make our traditional stop at K's Dairy Delite.  Any time we are in Buena Vista this is a must stop.  Some of the best burgers in the state and the shakes are pretty fantastic as well.

All in all it was a fantastic hike.  We made it back to the car safely, exhausted but feeling happy of our accomplishment.  Karl and Amy experienced a portion of what their Rainier hike will be like in July.  They both did very well and I'm sure they will crush their Rainier ascent in July!