Ascent of Mount Elbert on 2020-08-26| Date: | Wednesday, August 26, 2020 | | Ascent Type: |  Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Mount Elbert | | Location: | USA-Colorado | | Elevation: | 14438 ft / 4400 m | Ascent Trip Report
Highest State HP and last mountain in Colorado of the summer! Brynn and I woke up at about 4 am at her house in Boulder, she drove the three hours to Leadville while I slept, I woke up just in time to drive through Leadville, cool to see the town again, been almost 7 years since I'd last been there. Elbert and Massive slowly loomed in the distance and we got to the trailhead. We were there on a Wednesday and the parking lot was very packed. We made up a spot, loaded up the packs, and hit the trail at about 7:30. In one of the first switchbacks, we walked by a guy doing a streamed sermon, I was eventually able to find it on YouTube, he's from a small church in Michigan, Brynn and I are now very popular within that church now for our cameo on the Mt. Elbert trail. Started very tepid and good going so far, I was still a little sore from Shavano days prior and my lungs hadn't quite adjusted yet. Brynn had never climbed a 14er but she had the benefit of living at altitude so her pain was more muscular and mine lung-wise. We cleared the tree line and the first of the false summits came into view. I had the mentality of stopping every 15min on my watch just to force myself to keep going, if I had stopped every time when my body told me too I would not have kept going haha. We got above 13,500 feet and the route got a little rockier and less dirt, though still incredibly easy to follow. We hit 14,000 feet and still had about 10min left, Brynn left me in the dust for the summit push while my sea-level lungs gasped for some more oxygen. Eventually, I dragged myself onto the summit. We had some sandwiches, water, Advil, and some very good, while slightly smushed from the backpack, brownies. The view was incredible on an unusually clear day due to the wildfires blazing in Colorado. It had rained a couple of times in the days prior ( I like to think I brought the rain with me nbd) so we had gorgeous 360 views. We took some photos, Brynn had made a custom sign with the date on it for us to hold up in our photos. We probably spent a little too much time on the summit, some thunderheads were rolling by so close it felt like I could reach out and touch them. Maybe it was her never being on a 14er before or her living in Colorado, but Brynn seemed much less concerned than I was but I was able to get her moving again down the mountain. Brynn did end up on her ass at some point but instead of cursing like I would have done she just broke out in uncontrollable giggles. Very strange that woman :). We were about 200 meters from the tree line when the skies finally opened up and pelted us with not rain, but hail. We made it to the tree line and took shelter under some branches on a log and had some munchies while seeing if we could wait it out. Eventually, we just went for it as I was dreaming about the case of vitamin water we had in the car and would be held back no longer. We left our shelter and within about 10min the hail ceased and the sun reemerged, making for a pleasant rest of the walk down the mountain. The last mile or so felt like it took ages, I swear there were switchbacks and parts of the trail that appeared on the way back that hadn't been there on the way up. We finally made it back to the car, where we collapsed onto the seats. We drove back into Leadville and just about ate our weight in Mexican food. I then got my first experience driving in the mountains while Brynn slept (y'all its hillier than the flat land) but successfully made it back to her house safe and sound! Mountain climbing is such a test of the mental and physical limits, and I look forward to the next climb I can stand on top of a 14er. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 4443 ft / 1354 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 9.7 mi / 15.6 km | | Trailhead: | 9995 ft / 3046 m | | Ascent Statistics | | Time: | 2 Hours 55 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Time: | 2 Hours 12 Minutes | GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
 GPS Waypoints - Hover or click to see name and lat/long
Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Eamon Kuhne
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