TrishandAlex
New member
I know there a few highpointers on this board, so I thought I'd post our TRs from our recent highpointing trip. The girls and I just returned from a three week+ highpointing expedition out west. We lucked out with the weather and we spent a week acclimating before we hiked anything, so we were able to get Colorado's Mt. Elbert, New Mexico's Wheeler Peak, and Nevada's Boundary Peak. This is my report for Mt. Elbert; I'll post the other two TRs later this week.
This report is an abbreviated version of what's on my blog. Accompanying pictures can be found HERE. There are also a few videos on my YouTube page.
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South Mt. Elbert Trail from the upper trailhead (end of "4WD" road).
About 8 miles roundtrip and 4100 feet of elevation gain.
We had a Plan A and a Plan B for this hike. Plan A was to drive the "4WD" road to the upper trailhead for South Elbert Trail and hike the East Ridge route. Plan B was to drive the all-vehicle road to the North Elbert Trail and hike the Northeast Ridge route. Plan A involved 8 roundtrip miles and 4100 feet of elevation gain while Plan B involved 9 roundtrip miles and 4900 feet of elevation gain. The night before our hike, I drove to Elbert and checked out the "4WD" road with our 2WD high-clearance rental (a Ford Escape). All went well -- I actually think I could have gotten my Honda Civic up that dirt road with a little care and a lot of caution. There were no steep drop-offs, it was just a dirt road with lots of ruts and rocks. For those of you who live in New Hampshire's White Mountains, it was no worse than Sandwich Notch Road. On the way down from the trailhead, I gave a ride to a nice couple from Canada who had parked at the lower lot in the morning and had hitched their way to the upper trailhead. Hence, if one wants to hike this route but is worried about the 4WD road, I'd say go the day before your ascent and check it out...even if you decide you don't want to drive the dirt road, you can probably park low and hitch a ride up on your hiking day.
We slept in a Leadville motel the evening before our hike (elevation 10,200 feet...highest town in the USA). The girls were a) thrilled to be in a motel after four nights of camping and b) ecstatic that they didn't have to take a shower until after the Elbert hike. None of us had bathed or showered since we'd left New Hampshire, and the girls were taking great pride in their filth.
I woke everyone up at 4am on September 3. Hugh was leaving that morning to go back to Boston; the girls and I bid him a fond farewell before lacing up our boots and heading out the door.
We arrived at the trailhead around 5:15, about an hour before sunrise, and, thankfully, there was another group of people already there and gearing up. The girls and I had been wondering how to handle the start time for this hike...on one hand, we wanted to get a predawn start so we could be back at the car before the standard afternoon thunderstorms hit...on the other hand, we wanted to begin after sunrise in order to minimize our chances of a run-in with a mountain lion.
Yes, I know, mountain lion sightings and attacks are extremely rare. However, I hike with two small people who probably look like an easy meal, and one of them speaks in a squeaky soprano. May as well tape a sign that reads "DINNER" on their foreheads. Also, I'd stumbled across a video from two years ago of a mountain lion hanging about the woods of Mt. Elbert...and I'd read one too many posts about mothers of young children fighting off mountain lions...needless to say, my maternal paranoia was running high and I couldn't shake the thought of a cougar pouncing on one of the girls. And yet...the thought of being caught in an afternoon thunderstorm on the bare summit of America's third highest peak didn't sit too well with me either. We could hit the trail early and get eaten in the dark, or we could leave after sunrise and get fried by afternoon lightning. Decisions, decisions.
The sight of the other group vanquished all (ok, most) of my mountain lion worries. I approached the two men and one woman while they were putting on their packs and asked if it would be okay if the girls and I hiked behind them. I sheepishly explained my paranoia about mountain lions and said that I'd like to put the girls in the middle of the adults...at least until the sun came up.
The three adults, Mike, Dee Dee, and a kind fellow whose name now escapes me, were extremely nice and outgoing. They welcomed us into their group and we all set off around 5:30am.
The group was from out-of-town; the folks lived at low altitude and had not acclimated for the hike. Their pace was therefore a bit slower than ours. The girls and I felt fine -- in fact, so far, the hike was a cinch since the footing was easy. New Hampshire trails generally look like this:
[Typical New Hampshire trail]
In contrast, the South Elbert Trail was a generally smooth dirt path.
As the day broke, my mountain lion paranoia diminished (somewhat).
We began to break away from the nice folks who had allowed us to join them. They were feeling the altitude bigtime and were slowing down. If we hadn't just spent five days acclimating, then I'm sure we would have been in the same boat.
We reached a clearing and enjoyed our first views of the day...
Onward, through the meadows and toward the summit...
Looking back through the trees of the meadows...
Breaking above treeline for good...
We were on our own at this point; we didn't see Mike, Dee Dee, or the other nice fellow again until we began our descent.
Up up up we continued...
We were on the last push for the summit when someone abruptly turned off the oxygen. We were probably at 13,800 feet or so when it hit all three of us at once. We could no longer hike at our normal pace without having to stop every ten feet to gasp for air. Alex started complaining of a slight headache. After a bit of experimentation, we discovered that all three of us could breath normally and Alex could ascend without a headache if we restricted our movements to baby steps.
The baby steps worked. We kept moving nonstop, me setting the pace (Alex and Sage kept going too fast).
All three of us made it. Highpoint number 40!
The time was 9:30. We had taken exactly four hours to ascend. We could have gone faster if the high altitude hadn't sucker-punched us during the final 600 feet.
Views from the top of Colorado...
Sage was touched by the views and by the hike itself. She actually had tears in her eyes while we were on the summit; she told me that everything was so beautiful, and that she was so happy she was on Mt. Elbert. She was amazed that we were able to hike so high with so little trouble. I reminded her that the mileage and elevation gain was similar to what we do on a weekly basis in the Whites, and that I never had any doubt that she could take this mountain fairly easily, as long as she was well-acclimated. Sage's euphoria lasted all the way down the mountain. Alex was in great spirits too; the two took turns leading on the descent, and they skipped as long as they could get away with it (I had to periodically fuss at them since I didn't want them to break their ankles).
We saw Mike, Dee Dee, and the nice fellow whose name I can't remember (my apologies!) on our way down. They were slowly ascending the final 200 or so feet when we (figuratively) ran into them. I give those three a lot of credit; I'm not sure we could have hiked this mountain without acclimating first. They looked tired but determined -- I've no doubt they made it to the top.
We passed a lot of people going up as we were coming down, which surprised me a little since I had that leave-at-dawn-to-avoid-thunderstorms rule firmly entrenched in my mind. That being said, it never did thunderstorm that day, so these folks may have gotten some last-minute early-morning forecast details that I missed.
We were back at the car at 11:15. It had taken us four hours to ascend and one hour forty-five minutes to descend.
We enjoyed Elbert. The footing was easy, the views were outstanding, and the weather was perfect. Couldn't have asked for a better day.
This report is an abbreviated version of what's on my blog. Accompanying pictures can be found HERE. There are also a few videos on my YouTube page.
**************************
South Mt. Elbert Trail from the upper trailhead (end of "4WD" road).
About 8 miles roundtrip and 4100 feet of elevation gain.
We had a Plan A and a Plan B for this hike. Plan A was to drive the "4WD" road to the upper trailhead for South Elbert Trail and hike the East Ridge route. Plan B was to drive the all-vehicle road to the North Elbert Trail and hike the Northeast Ridge route. Plan A involved 8 roundtrip miles and 4100 feet of elevation gain while Plan B involved 9 roundtrip miles and 4900 feet of elevation gain. The night before our hike, I drove to Elbert and checked out the "4WD" road with our 2WD high-clearance rental (a Ford Escape). All went well -- I actually think I could have gotten my Honda Civic up that dirt road with a little care and a lot of caution. There were no steep drop-offs, it was just a dirt road with lots of ruts and rocks. For those of you who live in New Hampshire's White Mountains, it was no worse than Sandwich Notch Road. On the way down from the trailhead, I gave a ride to a nice couple from Canada who had parked at the lower lot in the morning and had hitched their way to the upper trailhead. Hence, if one wants to hike this route but is worried about the 4WD road, I'd say go the day before your ascent and check it out...even if you decide you don't want to drive the dirt road, you can probably park low and hitch a ride up on your hiking day.
We slept in a Leadville motel the evening before our hike (elevation 10,200 feet...highest town in the USA). The girls were a) thrilled to be in a motel after four nights of camping and b) ecstatic that they didn't have to take a shower until after the Elbert hike. None of us had bathed or showered since we'd left New Hampshire, and the girls were taking great pride in their filth.
I woke everyone up at 4am on September 3. Hugh was leaving that morning to go back to Boston; the girls and I bid him a fond farewell before lacing up our boots and heading out the door.
We arrived at the trailhead around 5:15, about an hour before sunrise, and, thankfully, there was another group of people already there and gearing up. The girls and I had been wondering how to handle the start time for this hike...on one hand, we wanted to get a predawn start so we could be back at the car before the standard afternoon thunderstorms hit...on the other hand, we wanted to begin after sunrise in order to minimize our chances of a run-in with a mountain lion.
Yes, I know, mountain lion sightings and attacks are extremely rare. However, I hike with two small people who probably look like an easy meal, and one of them speaks in a squeaky soprano. May as well tape a sign that reads "DINNER" on their foreheads. Also, I'd stumbled across a video from two years ago of a mountain lion hanging about the woods of Mt. Elbert...and I'd read one too many posts about mothers of young children fighting off mountain lions...needless to say, my maternal paranoia was running high and I couldn't shake the thought of a cougar pouncing on one of the girls. And yet...the thought of being caught in an afternoon thunderstorm on the bare summit of America's third highest peak didn't sit too well with me either. We could hit the trail early and get eaten in the dark, or we could leave after sunrise and get fried by afternoon lightning. Decisions, decisions.
The sight of the other group vanquished all (ok, most) of my mountain lion worries. I approached the two men and one woman while they were putting on their packs and asked if it would be okay if the girls and I hiked behind them. I sheepishly explained my paranoia about mountain lions and said that I'd like to put the girls in the middle of the adults...at least until the sun came up.
The three adults, Mike, Dee Dee, and a kind fellow whose name now escapes me, were extremely nice and outgoing. They welcomed us into their group and we all set off around 5:30am.
The group was from out-of-town; the folks lived at low altitude and had not acclimated for the hike. Their pace was therefore a bit slower than ours. The girls and I felt fine -- in fact, so far, the hike was a cinch since the footing was easy. New Hampshire trails generally look like this:
[Typical New Hampshire trail]
In contrast, the South Elbert Trail was a generally smooth dirt path.
As the day broke, my mountain lion paranoia diminished (somewhat).
We began to break away from the nice folks who had allowed us to join them. They were feeling the altitude bigtime and were slowing down. If we hadn't just spent five days acclimating, then I'm sure we would have been in the same boat.
We reached a clearing and enjoyed our first views of the day...
Onward, through the meadows and toward the summit...
Looking back through the trees of the meadows...
Breaking above treeline for good...
We were on our own at this point; we didn't see Mike, Dee Dee, or the other nice fellow again until we began our descent.
Up up up we continued...
We were on the last push for the summit when someone abruptly turned off the oxygen. We were probably at 13,800 feet or so when it hit all three of us at once. We could no longer hike at our normal pace without having to stop every ten feet to gasp for air. Alex started complaining of a slight headache. After a bit of experimentation, we discovered that all three of us could breath normally and Alex could ascend without a headache if we restricted our movements to baby steps.
The baby steps worked. We kept moving nonstop, me setting the pace (Alex and Sage kept going too fast).
All three of us made it. Highpoint number 40!
The time was 9:30. We had taken exactly four hours to ascend. We could have gone faster if the high altitude hadn't sucker-punched us during the final 600 feet.
Views from the top of Colorado...
Sage was touched by the views and by the hike itself. She actually had tears in her eyes while we were on the summit; she told me that everything was so beautiful, and that she was so happy she was on Mt. Elbert. She was amazed that we were able to hike so high with so little trouble. I reminded her that the mileage and elevation gain was similar to what we do on a weekly basis in the Whites, and that I never had any doubt that she could take this mountain fairly easily, as long as she was well-acclimated. Sage's euphoria lasted all the way down the mountain. Alex was in great spirits too; the two took turns leading on the descent, and they skipped as long as they could get away with it (I had to periodically fuss at them since I didn't want them to break their ankles).
We saw Mike, Dee Dee, and the nice fellow whose name I can't remember (my apologies!) on our way down. They were slowly ascending the final 200 or so feet when we (figuratively) ran into them. I give those three a lot of credit; I'm not sure we could have hiked this mountain without acclimating first. They looked tired but determined -- I've no doubt they made it to the top.
We passed a lot of people going up as we were coming down, which surprised me a little since I had that leave-at-dawn-to-avoid-thunderstorms rule firmly entrenched in my mind. That being said, it never did thunderstorm that day, so these folks may have gotten some last-minute early-morning forecast details that I missed.
We were back at the car at 11:15. It had taken us four hours to ascend and one hour forty-five minutes to descend.
We enjoyed Elbert. The footing was easy, the views were outstanding, and the weather was perfect. Couldn't have asked for a better day.
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