The drive out of Boulder heading west on Route 6 was great. You drive through a massive canyon, and cut though the mountains via tunnels carved into the base. Colorado is an amazing place. Once you enter into the Rockies, I think that’s when you really start to appreciate its beauty. Leadville is an old mining town and it sits at an elevation of 10,200 feet. Once I drove through the town center, It immediately reminded me Ludlow, Vermont. It has that small community feel to it and the store and restaurant fronts date back to the early 1900’s. It’s definitely unique. It’s not like a Vail, or an Aspen, CO. It’s very low key. I found a small campground called Sugarloafin’. Cheap. Clean. Awesome! The owner was very nice and informative. I wanted to know where I could find the trailhead for Mt. Massive or Mt. Elbert. He had told me Elbert was the highest point in Colorado, sitting at 14,433 ft. Obviously I’m going to go climb that bad boy! I settled in, ate and geared up for my run, hike, crawl to the summit of Mount Elbert. Late August nights in Leadville can drop to 40F! I recorded 46F @ 4am on the car thermometer. Dress Appropriately.
Waking up and seeing the sun rise paint the east face of the Rockies was just just phenomenal. I was driving to the trailhead and hanging out my passenger window trying to get a good picture. I love panoramic shots! Below, Mount Massive sits between the two wooden posts and Mount Elbert is to the far left. The weather is beautiful now, but at these elevations the weather can change at any minute.
Getting to the trailhead requires you to drive about 5 miles on a very narrow gravel road. Complete with gullies, potholes, and trucks buzzing by at 30mph. Both Massive and Elbert trailheads are in San Isabel National Forest. The Mt Elbert trailhead connects you with the Colorado Trail. You have to ascend The Colorado Trail heading west for 2ish miles before you reach the ‘other trail’, which brings you to the summit of Elbert, which is unmarked but easy to follow.
My plan was to run the trail. Obviously if you are ascending for over 4 straight miles you can’t just blaze up the mountain. Unless your some superhuman elite trail runner. You must hike portions of it. To break it down; Elbert trailhead: 10,175ft. Mt Elbert summit: 14,433ft. trailhead-to-summit: 4.55 miles. Simply put, it is A LOT of climbing in a very short distance. Once I came out above the tree line I was at 12,500ish feet. At this moment I was starting to feel the effects of the altitude ( like I hadn't already, simply sitting down at 10,200 I was short of breath). I passed several hikers on my way up. One had asked me if I was cold, I told her, no, I was fine. But truthfully I wasn’t. I was starting to shiver, and my hands were cold and pale. I was completely unprepared for this climb. The mountains out here are no joke. Not only that, I had only brought 28oz.’s of water, which was clearly insufficient. So, now, I’m nearly 1,900 feet from the summit, I have about 9oz’s of water left, The temperature is hovering around 50F, (and dropping, but luckily the sun was out), I’m wet, cold, and getting light headed from the altitude. There was a moment where I didn’t think I would make it back down. Amateur! I am now playing out scenes in my head of my pale white body strung out across the rocks, with vultures picking at my flesh. Maybe I watch too many movies. I had contemplated turning back several times.
Turning point! I catch up to a group of hikers, and stop for a moment. They notice I’m not carrying much water and one offers me a full 20oz bottle! He said he had brought too much. They told me if you’re feeling woozy, stop for 5 minutes or even 10. Let your body adjust. So I took 5 minutes, sucked down a gu and some water, and I immediately felt better. Still cold, but I could cope. I ran the remaining 1,000 feet to the summit. It was a gorgeous day and you could see for miles in the distance. Peak after peak after peak. It was simply incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it. As I sat shivering at the top of this mountain, I thought how fortunate I was. Fortunate to be alive and fortunate to be in good health. And fit enough to climb this beast! After lulling around the summit for ten minutes, It was time to descend. It was a steep, technical, quad-zilla descent. But fun. I had found a great stick with a healthy bow in it to aid in my descent. And after about an hour of knees, I had reached the trailhead. And that’s the story of my first 14er.
Waking up and seeing the sun rise paint the east face of the Rockies was just just phenomenal. I was driving to the trailhead and hanging out my passenger window trying to get a good picture. I love panoramic shots! Below, Mount Massive sits between the two wooden posts and Mount Elbert is to the far left. The weather is beautiful now, but at these elevations the weather can change at any minute.
Getting to the trailhead requires you to drive about 5 miles on a very narrow gravel road. Complete with gullies, potholes, and trucks buzzing by at 30mph. Both Massive and Elbert trailheads are in San Isabel National Forest. The Mt Elbert trailhead connects you with the Colorado Trail. You have to ascend The Colorado Trail heading west for 2ish miles before you reach the ‘other trail’, which brings you to the summit of Elbert, which is unmarked but easy to follow.
My plan was to run the trail. Obviously if you are ascending for over 4 straight miles you can’t just blaze up the mountain. Unless your some superhuman elite trail runner. You must hike portions of it. To break it down; Elbert trailhead: 10,175ft. Mt Elbert summit: 14,433ft. trailhead-to-summit: 4.55 miles. Simply put, it is A LOT of climbing in a very short distance. Once I came out above the tree line I was at 12,500ish feet. At this moment I was starting to feel the effects of the altitude ( like I hadn't already, simply sitting down at 10,200 I was short of breath). I passed several hikers on my way up. One had asked me if I was cold, I told her, no, I was fine. But truthfully I wasn’t. I was starting to shiver, and my hands were cold and pale. I was completely unprepared for this climb. The mountains out here are no joke. Not only that, I had only brought 28oz.’s of water, which was clearly insufficient. So, now, I’m nearly 1,900 feet from the summit, I have about 9oz’s of water left, The temperature is hovering around 50F, (and dropping, but luckily the sun was out), I’m wet, cold, and getting light headed from the altitude. There was a moment where I didn’t think I would make it back down. Amateur! I am now playing out scenes in my head of my pale white body strung out across the rocks, with vultures picking at my flesh. Maybe I watch too many movies. I had contemplated turning back several times.
Turning point! I catch up to a group of hikers, and stop for a moment. They notice I’m not carrying much water and one offers me a full 20oz bottle! He said he had brought too much. They told me if you’re feeling woozy, stop for 5 minutes or even 10. Let your body adjust. So I took 5 minutes, sucked down a gu and some water, and I immediately felt better. Still cold, but I could cope. I ran the remaining 1,000 feet to the summit. It was a gorgeous day and you could see for miles in the distance. Peak after peak after peak. It was simply incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it. As I sat shivering at the top of this mountain, I thought how fortunate I was. Fortunate to be alive and fortunate to be in good health. And fit enough to climb this beast! After lulling around the summit for ten minutes, It was time to descend. It was a steep, technical, quad-zilla descent. But fun. I had found a great stick with a healthy bow in it to aid in my descent. And after about an hour of knees, I had reached the trailhead. And that’s the story of my first 14er.
