Mount Columbia

I did my first 14er of the season on Sunday, and it was an awesome trip! I spent most of last week planning and researching. Not just for this trip, but for gear and supplies for the rest of the summer. That got me stoked to finally get out and enjoy what I came here to do. I can always ride my bike and climb in Austin, but I can't climb a 14,000 foot peak on the weekend.

I met a guy through 14ers.com to climb up Mt. Columbia on Sunday. Somehow I already had his phone number saved in my phone and he looked really familiar, but we couldn't remember how we knew each other. Our group of 5 took off from Avon at about 4 a.m. After talking for awhile on the drive to the trailhead, trying to figure out how we knew each other, we realized that we both went to the same high school and were on the wrestling team. I think I had quit wrestling before he started, but it goes to show you how small this world really is.

We had a nice approach and made it almost to treeline where we caught this view of the Horn Fork Basin with Mt. Harvard in the background.

We continued hiking through some steep and loose gravel, dirt, and scree until we reached the ridge. We had a great view of the mountains to our west. You can barely see the clouds that were still lounging in the valley.

We thought that the big peak on the right was Mt. Princeton, but after looking at a map it looks like Mt. Yale. You can see Mt. Princeton in the distance on the left. It looked like there would be a great ski line down the couloir (gully) from the closest peak all the way through tree line. I'll have to do some research and check it out.

Horsing around on the false summit just below the peak of Mt. Columbia.

A marmot joined us on the summit as we tore into our well deserved lunches.

Clouds were starting to build up to the south, but looked like they would stay clear of us on the summit. The clouds to the north were building, but weren't quite as threatening. Rockin' the summit with Mt. Harvard in the background.

Showing off on the summit.

We didn't want to get drenched by the clouds to the south on our way out, so we packed up and headed down. We headed down the face a little early and ended up in the crapiest scree/talus field ever. Imagine crawling around on a steep slope covered with boulders waiting to be dislodged so they could crush everything below them. Every step is a chance for a rock avalanche to tear down the slope. By the time we made it down I was out of water and happy we were all safe. We stopped at a little brook to refill our Camelbak's with some fresh water. I'm just glad he brought a filter because all I had was a bottle of delicious iodine tablets which take an hour before you can drink the wonderful chemical laden (yet safe) water.

We were able to scream down the rest of the trail and finally made it to the trailhead again for some celebratory beverages (a.k.a. beer) before the heavens opened and the rain came soaring down.

We stopped at Rosie's Brewpub in Leadville on the way back and scarfed down some delicious burgers and homebrew. Needless to say i passed out on the remaining ride home. All in all it was a great day with no incidents and some new climbing/hiking buddies.