Mountains are amazing piles of
rock--igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, or combinations of all three rock
types--thrust up from depths of the earths crust. They cause our
imagination to explore hobbits and dwarfs, pioneers and mountain men, Indians
and cowboys, miners and prospectors.
and the mythological and spiritual. They also inspire us
to seek revelation as did Moses, Elijah, Nephi, and even Jesus. Majestically
they tower above valley floors beckoning us to venture forth to climb their
slopes and summit their peaks as Bali Hai whispers on the wind of the sea,
"come to me, come to me. So it was
with Lorie, Kelly, and myself as we climbed Mount Bierstadt on Saturday the 22
of June 2012.
It all started innocently
enough about two years ago when Lorie became taken with Mount Blanca--a large
mountain in the central Sangre de Cristo range in south central Colorado--whose
peaks jut towards the sky from the floor of the San Luis Valley. She
mentioned that she would like to climb it. I agreed as I have never
climbed it's lofty summits even though I had lived near it for the first 19
years of my life, but i knew of the difficulties that await those who attempt to summit her peaks. .
Fast forward a
couple of years and I find myself working this summer east of the front
range. I have also recently read about some
disasters on some of the 14ers decided that I would like to attempt a
summit or two. Kelly has climbed about
three of the peaks that are close to his home, so on a break between wells
where I couldn’t go home, I decided to get Kelly to climb with me. Then talking with Lorie I found out that she
would like to come out and see me since she didn’t get to see me on Father’s
Day. I told her what we had planned and
she was on her way to join us in three hours.
Kelly picked out
a mountain that he had climbed that was close to his house. We wanted one that was possible to do in a
day and one that didn’t require expert climbing experience. The lucky winner was Mt Bierstadt with an
elevation of 14,060 feet above sea level.
Not the tallest mountain in Colorado but a 14er none the less. Lorie arrived at Kelly’s house late Thursday
night, so we had Friday morning to spend with Kelly before he went to work in
the afternoon. We went to see his bees, another story that he will likely tell anyone who wants to listen. We also had lunch
together at a new Japanese restaurant called Pew Wei, which he quite
likes. He then went to work and we went
and spent time together watching “Men in Black III”, shopping, and
talking.
Saturday morning
came early and we got up between 6:00 and 6:30 and loaded our preparations prepared from
the night before and drove west into the mountains to find the road to
Guanella pass. Guanella pass is where
the trail to Mt. Bierstadt and where our adventure would begin. We arrived at the pass about 9:00 and were on
the trail soon thereafter. We couldn’t
believe how many people were climbing the mountain that Saturday. Both parking lots were full and cars were parked
along both sides of the roads for maybe ¼ of a mile along both sides. We didn't count the people but I guess a close estimate would be about 2,000 hikers.
The pass
elevation is about 11,600 feet above sea level.
The trail head is accessed from the parking lot, and we walked quickly
downhill to the parking lot and began our trek.
The trail
crosses a hanging valley formed by glaciation of the Pleistocene age — this is
for my children who know I can’t write about anything without inserting
something about geology and just wait, there will be more posts to follow – and then traverses
the opposite face of the “U” shaped valley.
It doesn’t appear so steep
in this photo but it is. The face we
traversed is out of the picture to the left.
It was an important climb
for me as being in my early 50’s everybody is worried about my health. Everyone is worried about my heart, blood
pressure, and general health and it has caused me to wonder; I feel good just
like a teenager or twenty year old, but I do know I have slowed down. So, I was curious about how or if I could make it to the top and how I felt while climbing. I have hunted, walked, and
have no problem with physical exertion.
I needed to do this. I think
Lorie felt the same way and I wanted to accomplish this small feat. It was fun and difficult and gave me a lot of
confidence about my health and general well being. I know I am getting older and I do feel it; however, I feel now that I am ready to get better in shape and want to keep
healthy, so that when my grandchildren want to climb a mountain, I can. It was a very nice day and we had an
enjoyable time. It was also a wonderful way
to spend an anniversary which Lorie and I had to count as work would prevent me
from being with her on our anniversary.
Bierstadt from
on the ridge. If you look close you can
see a line of people that are on the peak and all along the ridge hiking up and
down the mountain.
Getting closer
to the top. These boulders were hard to
climb as it is 13,000-13,500 feet above sea level.
The first one on top or to reach the summit. Yea!
Way to go babe.
The three
of us on top of the world, well Bierstadt anyway.
Kelly
contemplating the view and life’s questions.
The guide for the day and with very sore feet.
A view from
on top of the world. Mountains for as
far as the eye can see.
A look back
at a wonderful and fun day filled with lots of wonder, awe, and life lessons
learned.
A map showing the trail to Bierstadt, Guanella Pass, and the topography.
