(Continued from the previous page.)
ROOFTOP OF THE ROCKIES
There were ten or twelve folks at the summit when I got there. More arrived
from both trails in the 35 minutes while I was there:
About half the crowd while I was on the summit
The summit is large and will hold many people without feeling crowded. After all the effort to
get up there -- and with the fantastic 360-degree view -- most folks
hang out on the summit a while when the weather is as nice as it was
today. I always relax a few minutes, eat my lunch, talk
to people, and walk around to take pictures in all directions.
It was very comfortable on the summit this morning. There was some wind but it was
warm enough that I didn’t need to put my jacket or pants legs on. I
hiked in convertible shorts and short sleeves for all except the first mile today.
Here are some views
of the Rooftop of the Rockies panning clockwise from the top of Mt. Elbert:
View to SW over the dark southern shoulder of
Elbert
Looking west
West northwest
Northwest
North to Mt. Massive
Southeast to the lakes
My legs were pretty strong climbing to the summit but I had to stop
frequently to breathe. That’s mostly because of not being above 12,600 feet
till today (elevation at start/finish = 10,050 feet to 14,433 feet at the summit
then down to 9,600 feet on the CT and back up to 10,080 feet at the end).
My knees were fine going down my now-favorite way to descend this
mountain.
The eastern (Twin Lakes) approach is an easier
grade most of the way, although there are some steep spots both above
and below treeline. I had to be very careful through the aspens the last
half mile down to the Colorado Trail because the trail is so steep and loose.
One of the steep grades on the east ridge
Good place to take a break on a steep section if
you're climbing up the east ridge
Even if my knees weren't a problem going downhill I'd keep doing this
"triangle" in a CCW direction. Here's why I recommend other
runners/hikers do it this way, too:
I prefer going up the NE slope from the Halfmoon Road trailhead because
View toward Massive near treeline on Elbert
View toward Massive at about 13,000 feet on Elbert
Massive is to the right.
One last hump to climb . . .
. . . and I'm there!
Yes, there are "false summits" you may think are the real ones if you
haven't been up there before but that just adds to the challenge, I mean
fun!
The NE route from Halfmoon Road is steeper than the east slope and has more rocks but I
can handle that just fine going uphill:
Hikers ahead of me (arrow) on a rough section of
trail going up a false summit
I like going down the east slope toward Twin Lakes because:
-
in general, it is less steep
-
there aren’t quite as many sharp or loose rocks or big steps
-
the views of the three lakes (Twin Lakes and Elbert Forebay) are very
interesting going down
Folks going up from Twin Lakes (the east approach) can see the summit even
before reaching treeline, and most of the way up from there, too.
I don’t like that! I think it would be very discouraging because the perceived progress is so slow:
Looking back toward the summit (arrow) from about
two miles down the east ridge
I don't think the views of Elbert or Massive are as awesome going up the
east slope, either.
So the way I do my “triangle” (CCW) on Elbert works out just fine for me
both physically and mentally. Try it sometime!
There is one
more page of photos and narrative . . .
the descent and an unfortunate encounter with a renegade cyclist.
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
and Cody the Ultra Lab
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© 2011 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil
