For me, climbing Mt. Elbert would be the realization of one of my oldest dreams...to climb a Rocky Mountain 14,000'-er. We decided on Elbert not only because it was the highest in the state (and second highest in the lower 48) but because it has a well-travelled non-technical trail to the summit. Neither my wife or I are rock climbers so this was a necessity. We decided on the popular route up the north-east ridge of Elbert. The 9-mile round trip route climbs from an elevation of about 10,000' to the 14,433' summit. Sounds straight forward enough but for a couple of flatlanders the sheer elevation would be a powerful obstacle to overcome. It promised to be a memoravle day on the trail...
11,600' - The clearing also gave us our first views back to the east...
11,700' - As we neared treeline there were some decent size snow drifts still hanging on amongst the pines...
11,750' - I noticed quite a number of dead or dying Douglas Fir trees as we climbed, I'm curious as to the cause...
11,750' - These early morning clouds worried me...afternoon thunderstorms are an every day occurance in the high peaks...
11,900' - Treeline...the mosquitos were pretty bad at this point and we were looking for a nice breeze...
12,000' - We got our first up-close look at the ridge ahead..."It doesn't look so bad..."
12,000' - At this point were just over half way along the trail (2.3 miles) but still had around 2,400' of vertical to climb...
12,200' - The trail above treeline continued to climb relentlessly...
12,200' - Mt. Massive (14,421') sits in the sun to the north...
12,300' - This shot gives you an idea of the angle we were hiking at much of the time...
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