Mt. Elbert

Last weekend I hiked to the highest point in all of Colorado with my friend Blair. This would be my first ascent where I did all of the planning and didn't rely on other hikers/climbers to help with the preperation. Not that it took alot of preperation since it is considered one of the easiest peaks to hike, because it is so well traveled and not very technical. Also, no route finding is involved. I'm looking forward to tackling some more difficult peaks that require the use of some outdoor skills. We didn't have access to potable water, so I got to use my new Katadyn Hiker PRO water filter, which was fun.

The route was relatively busy, but we only got passed by one couple. We were hiking pretty fast for Blairs first 14er. Unfortunately, there were some fires recently in Grand Junction, so the view from the peak was pretty hazy. Hence I didn't take many pictures. This is a shot of Blair and I in a clearing just below treeline with Mt. Massive in the background.

Here is a shot on the summit with Mt. Massive in the back. You can see how hazy it is.

And finally, here is Mt. Elbert from the road after a great day of hiking.

I haven't edited any of these photos, so the quality is suffering. deal with it.

We decided not to hike Mt. Massive the next day (as originally planned) because Blair was pretty wiped out and had some other stuff to take care of. After a great soaking of the feet in the cold river by our camp site, and a delicious 30 minute nap, we were off to the traditional post-hike meal - Rosie's BrewPub.