A couple of years ago I bagged 2 local mountains above 14 thousand feet. They were Torreys Peak and Grays Peak. This year Kim and I decided to climb another and after consulting with members of www.14ers.com we decided to have a go with Mount Bierstadt.

Leaving Castle Rock on Friday afternoon we headed up to Guanella Pass. This road links I70 and 285. Given that we were coming from the south we decided to head up 285. All was good until we hit heavy Friday traffic heading into the mountains. This was made worse by the road works in Conifer. However, once we got past this it was plain sailing to the Guanella Pass turning about 2 miles west of Grant.

Guanella Pass is in the last stages of a major face lift. The Federal, State and Local Government must have spent many millions of dollars on this project. Signs say that the work will be completed at the end of August 2006. While they are major excellent progress I would doubt if they will make this deadline. There seems to be a lot of work in progress. However, the improvements to the road are amazing.

We set up camp about 3 miles south of the top of the pass. According to my GPS we were at about 10,200 ft. Not sure if this helped us acclimatise, but it didn't hurt. Campsites in this area, right at the tree line, are pretty rudimentary affairs. Basically find a spot in the woods and camp. Do not expect to find any facilities. Bring all that you need in terms of water, toilet paper and a shovel! If you are looking for proper camp sites with all amenities you can find them closer to Georgetown.


We got up at 6AM, quick bacon and eggs, packed up camp and were at the top of the pass by 6:50. After a visit to the restrooms, we were on the trail by 7AM. This is critical for two reasons: 1. Afternoon thunderstorms are notorious in the mountains. On a mountain that is 14,060 Ft, you do not want to standing at 14,066 ft! Lightning has a tendency for striking the tallest point. 2. At this time of year Mt. Bierstadt is a VERY popular place. Setting off early in the morning meant that there very probably 10-20 climbing parties on the route in front of us with about 5 starting with us. Not too bad. However as the picture below will show, by 12 PM the route resembled sale day at Nordstroms. Packed. Luckily by this stage we were on our way down, but it wasn't exactly splendid isolation.
Packing correctly for climb like this is essential but packing light is also important. Once you get above 12,000 ft every pound seems to double in weight. Here is what we both carried:

• Water - Pretty obvious. A camelback is ideal. We saw many people carrying Nalgene bottles and store bought bottles. This looked like a pain in the arse.
• Snacks - Nuts, powerbars, apples
• Fleece - There was a temperature differential of about 20 degrees between the car park and the summit.
• Waterproof - We should have taken this,I know, but I did check the weather forecast and it showed a 10% chance of rain. So we risked not taking this item.
• Camera - As you can see from the pictures
• GPS - Probably did not need it, but it was a nice to have and provided some diversion from the pain of the climb.
• Climbing Poles - Love 'em or hate 'em, your choice.

The climb itself was hard (oh, really?), but certainly not technical. If you can take your eyes off the trail as you trudge along the views are of course world class and the flora on show is amazing.



The last part of the climb (about the last 300 ft to the summit) is worth noting. It's not tough, but it is a scramble.


We started on the trail at 7AM, were on the summit by 9:30 and were back in the carpark by 12. Total distance was about 7.5 miles.

The car park looks a long way away, probably because it is.

A great day. The weather was perfect. We had a brief calorie replen in the car park and headed back to Denver, this time via Georgetown. Watch out for the Cops!

P.S. Mt Evans is about 1 mile from the summit. Appearances can be deceptive. The Saw Tooth stands in between and it looks like something that should not be attempted without the right climbing equipment. It would certainly add at least 4 hours on to your day.