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Colorado has about 50-60 peaks (depending on who is counting) that are at least 14,000 ft above mean sea level. We've lived
here for over 9 years and finally hiked our first 14er this weekend. We had originally
planned to do Grays Peak, but learned that the road
there is not suitable for a low clearance vehicle, so we decided to do
Mt. Bierstadt instead.
We had previously arranged to meet Paul's uncle, Kevin, at the trailhead around 8am. We arrived around 7:50, and we started
on the trail just after eight.
Here we (Julie & Paul) are near the beginning of the trail. Kevin led the way across the creek.
Here are some views of the first third (the flat section) of the Mt. Bierstadt trail.
If you look closely (lower-left) you can see several people on the trail behind us.
The trail is starting to get steeper.
We hiked up a rocky frozen river bed.
These photos show the trail we had just hiked.
Kevin and Paul are taking a break before the last hike up a pile of talus to the peak.
You can see the cairns (top-left) used to keep the trail visible in the snow.
Several people were standing around at the peak (bottom-right) when we arrived.
We took a break at the top.
Views from the peak.
You can see Mt. Evans (bottom-left), another 14er, from the top of Mt. Bierstadt.
This is the U.S. Geological Survey Summit Marker (bottom-right) at the peak.
The three of us just before heading back down.
Some views from the descent. You can see the parking lot in the upper-right photo.
Julie and Kevin at the peak (left).
Julie on the descent (right).
More views from the way down.
Our last break.
The same view from both our cameras.
It felt good to have our shoes and socks off at the end of the hike.
Our view from the parking lot.
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