My First 14er: Mt Bierstadt

There are 53 mountain peaks in the state of Colorado that are above 14,000 feet - the most of any other state in the continental US. This past Saturday Mr X and I climbed our first 14er. We meant to have a go at one last summer but somehow time got away from us. Our goal was to do one a year. This summer we need to do two to catch up. Some of these hikes can be pretty grueling so we chose the easiest one on which to start. Mt Bierstadt: 14,060 feet.  The trail head starts at 11,669 feet and so the elevation gain is only 2,850 feet - not bad at all.

This photo is from the parking lot. That rounded peak in the distance was our ultimate destination.

Me almost there!

Mr X at the top with a gorgeous view in the background.

This is a regular shot of one section of that panorama.



I took this picture just to show you how many other people were doing this climb as well. Way too many - that was the only crummy part of this hike.



This is the marker on at the highest point.

We started our hike at 6:30 in the morning, which was smart because we found out later that apparently that afternoon the weather got a bit crummy and a tornado was even spotted near one of the neighboring peaks (Mt Evans, also a 14er). I'm glad we weren't still up there to witness that but I also kind of wish we were, just to see it. But we might have been struck by lightening and killed so I'm more glad we weren't there. 90% glad, 10% bummed we missed it.