From: ajs@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Alan Silverstein)
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 88 15:59:27 GMT
Subject: Trip report: Mount Bierstadt
Newsgroups: hpnc.general

Sunday, June 18 -- Mount Bierstadt (14060')

This was my first Fourteener climb of 1988; also my first outing worth writing about. I was reminded that there are no "mere" mountains. Even a "simple walk-up" can be an adventure, a long haul. I first climbed Mount Bierstadt nearly ten years ago; it was my eleventh Colorado Fourteener. This time it was my twelfth -- on the second go around!

Mount Bierstadt was appealing as a relatively nearby and easy Fourteener for a "work up" climb. I forgot just how nasty the willows are, and didn't realize what a lot of recent rain would do to the drainage below Guanella Pass, 11669', which you must cross to start up the peak.

The pass is 11.7 fun, twisty uphill miles off I70 through Georgetown, of which the first 7 miles or so are paved. I drove up Saturday night and arrived at the parking area at the pass near dark. I could see there were some patches of snow left on the west flank of the mountain. But it was too dim to search for the trail through the willows I knew about -- I found it on the way *down* the mountain the last time.

It was overcast and wet so I decked out in the back of my Datsun rather than pitch a tent or sleep on a tarp. (The pass is in Arapahoe National Forest, and is apparently an OK place to spend the night -- I wasn't the only person doing so.) At 0300 Sunday morning I talked myself into getting up. Stars were showing and it was relatively warm. I recalled a number of other memorable night climbs, all worthwhile despite the "jump start" required to get going...

This time it didn't work out so well. I started down from the parking lot at 0335 and searched for the trail with a headlamp. Within ten minutes I found myself ankle-deep in muck, wading through chest-high willows, in near pitch dark. I gave up going down and, now thoroughly wet, climbed back up and began traversing south, hoping to outflank the overgrowth.

After I'd side-hilled about a mile it started getting light. I had the brilliant idea of checking a map... to my dismay. Now both cold *and* disheartened, I slogged back to a 11990' knoll overlooking the pass road. I watched the dawn gather itself further, returned to my car just as the sun rose, and -- went back to sleep.

Alan climbs Mount Bierstadt for the second time, take 2:

At 0830, feeling a whole lot better rested (and warmer), I awoke ready to pack up and drive home. It was nice and sunny, but already there were little cumulus puffies forming: not a good sign. While having a second breakfast, a 40+ year old fellow came over and asked me if there was a trail through the willows... Well... that was all I needed. He had only climbed a couple of Fourteeners, and wanted to take a 60-year-old lady friend, a novice hiker, up Bierstadt. Here were some people to hike with, who could actually use a little guidance.

I told them where I thought the trail was, and showed them my marked topo map (from 1978). I told them we probably wouldn't even get as far as the bottom of the drainage, 160' lower, because the trail was probably under water. But what the heck, I said, let's go check it out!

So at 0855 -- way too late to be starting up a Fourteener -- we started down into the basin. Again, before long we encountered marshy, boggy terrain between damp willow bushes. However, we pressed on... and on... with the "old lady" leading the way. She set a mean pace. We crossed the drainage. We hopped creeks, glopped through or around mud, and pushed through willows. We found and followed a primitive trail across and up to tundra... where it lost itself frequently in mushy snowfields and boggy hillsides. Finally we got onto rocks, and reached the summit (me, at 1215, 3:20 for climb of 2550' from the low point, and feeling pretty good about it for the first real peak-bag of the year).

The other two arrived soon after me, but we didn't stay long. Clouds had formed all morning and now they looked serious. We started down as it corn-snowed and thundered across the basin to the west. It rained on us intermittently as we took our time picking our way back, with breaks, to return to the pass at 1550 (3:10 down, with a gain of 160' up from the low point).

The summit of Mount Bierstadt is a small ridgetop. The view from it is "nice, but not spectacular". Mount Evans looms to the east across a painful looking connecting ridge. Pikes and Longs Peaks are both visible 45-60 miles away, as well as the Mosquito Range, Grays and Torreys peaks ten miles distant, Mount of the Holy Cross (if you know where to look), and South Park to the SW.

If you want to climb this peak, I highly recommend waiting till later in the year when it dries out. Then, look for the unmarked trail starting from the left (NE) corner of the main parking lot off the road at Guanella Pass. If you can't find the top of it, try to catch it just right (S) of the large, 11510' lake in the basin. It's worth searching for, to miss the worst of the willows, which continue several hundred feet up the slopes of Bierstadt.