Mt. Bierstadt

June.06

A and I were in Colorado for a meeting and found a little time to head out to the front range West of Denver for a little bit of hiking. We went with a friend of ours from the West Coast who was also in Denver for the meeting.

Looking West towards the Front Range from Denver, 32 stories up!

We left the hotel around 7:15AM and headed West on I-70.

We arrived at Georgetown, CO, a former mining town, at around 8:00AM. The girls kept suggesting this would be a perfect setting for a horror movie in which the inhabitants kill strangers that stumble into their town - Deliverance style. After the hike we stopped here to have lunch and the people were actually very nice....Bro.

After making our way through town which took all of about 5-min, we turned onto Guanella Pass Road and made our way to the parking lot at the trailhead.

Guanella Pass Road was in excellent condition and the surroundings were beautiful.

A & A standing on a berm at the edge of the parking area with Mt. Bierstadt directily behind them and Sawtooth over their right shoulders.

Standing at the trailhead...all three of them.

We begin our hike under perfect skies!

Normally this area is considered one of the more difficult due to the bushwacking that is required and the nearly constant standing water. Now this high-altitude meadow has a nice boardwalk to make the going easier.

Well worn path.

About 30min into our hike we had to cross this small stream, or "river" as A & A liked to refer to it as.
A small break to catch our breath. We had just caught and passed a group of three, all guys, dressed in their best hiking gear who had set out about 45min before us. They are below us sitting on some rocks. They were not very happy to see two girls in tennis shoes and 'wife-beaters', one 5 months pregnant, overtake them.

Another break. Sawtooth on the left, Bierstadt on the right.

Quite a bit of snow in some places. Mostly easy to walk on but hard-packed and icy in some places and knee-deep in others.

Almost there! At this point breathing was very labored and we were stoping at every cairn (Blair Witch) to catch our breath before struggling on to the next one. Footing was a little sketchy.

We had to climb and crawl over these rocks, some of which were quite large.

14060Ft! As you see we had company.

More sights from the top.

My favorite photo.

A shot of other peaks.

More of the Range.

Me. A little dizzy but happy to be there.