New Possible: Bierstadt

We had pegged this weekend as the time to attempt Bierstadt at least a month ago. Planning an event that far in advance requires leaving some details to develop as they will and deal with them on the spot. In this case Murphy's law came calling on two fronts for this climb.

Health - About 4-5 days before the climb I got sick. Panic is the best word I have to describe my thoughts on it. After doing what I could to manage the situation I decided ignoring it was the best way to go.

Weather - We made a last min. decision to change the day from Sat to Sun based on a miserable wind condition predicted for Sat. Within hours of making that call and allocating some prep time to Sat afternoon making it difficult to change back the weather changed.....now Sun was calling for the worst of the wind. :(

Not having any way to change things at this point in time we set out for the trail head early Sun am.

We made a very important decision before we left to carry a second pack. We had a small pack that Angie carried.....in a bit this will turn out to be a vital bit of gear.

Here is a shot from the parking lot at what the day has before us.

Something different about Bierdstadt from others we have climbed is that a lot of it is in view to you much of the climb. Even from the parking lot if you look at the highest point in this picture....that is where you are going.

So we headed out with no issues and crossed Scott Gromer creek and got out of the willows with zero incident. Getting into a clearing the sun was amazingly bright coming up behind the Saw Tooth. I sort of like this funky picture and again that highest point on the right is the summit to shoot for.

By this time the wind was becoming a problem. We were having some serious sustained gusts of cold wind. The only good news might be that they were pressing up and not down but the wind was still knocking us around and making things a lot less than ideal. As time goes on this pesky wind was a real PITA. Good for us we had Carmex in the pack to keep from getting ridiculously chapped lips but I think we got some wind burn on our faces. Talking later on we both felt like we were wearing those giant face mask style goggles...that wind was sucking for sure.

Something I really like about this climb is the visibility. Just like you can see the summit from the parking lot, once you get up a little and turn around you get some good views of what is down below.

Well....the wind was beating us and as time went on it was becoming obvious that me not being 100% from getting sick earlier in the week was becoming a problem. I managed to get some more elevation and after some discussions Angie eventually asked "the question". I said I wasn't ready to decide yet and we moved up to a location pretty close to this spot...

I realized that for what we were hiking (relevantly easy terrain) I was in very bad shape. I understood that I was holding her back and said she should go on and I'd see here later. If we did not have that second pack it would have been a VERY bad situation but we did have it and she could take enough gear to move on. It was an easy call and we should have made it a little sooner but its tough and nobody wants things like this to happen. I was just not feeling good enough to keep the pace and as crowded a trail as this was this was the right decision to make.

I can't say anything more about Angie's climb from this point forward other than here are her feet up top.

So there I was....trying to figure out what to do next.

After a bit of feeling sorry for myself I made the natural decision to go on a little further just to see what would happen. I played all the "just to the next rock" games and all of that but eventually I got to a really bad spot. I was looking at the last 1,000' and a feeling came to me that I didn't even want it. I'm not sure if that was a real feeling or a defensive position but I was feeling it and that was my lowest point of this trip. I must have sat there for 5 min. trying to figure out what I was going to do next and for some reason I figured out I didn't have to choose between what I thought I did and I could make a new choice altogether. I decided just to keep making my way towards the summit and I'd meet Angie on her way down.

This new decision soon got me to a place where I'd have other decisions.....

*A note on climbers* I've come to believe that climbers have a way of reading each other and sometimes know when to say certain things and when to say either nothing or just Hi. I guess it was all over my face that I was having trouble and a guy coming up past me said to me "Yep...we only have 560' to go" and slipped on past me. This bit of info was important for me to learn. A while later a kid climbing with a group asked his Uncle how many more feet of elevation we had left and he said just about 400.

With only 400' of gain to make (but it's a doozy of a 400') I decided I'd go for it. I decided Angie would be coming down and I'd drop my pack with her and scramble up. As things would turn out something else was going to happen but here is a look at the last scramble over a boulder field....yeah, it's steep. Look close and you can see climbers scrambling about.(you might have to click the pic to make it larger).

So, something I didn't know is that Angie decided to have a nap, write a book, and interview folks up top and she never did come down to take my pack. But once I made my way to the boulder field obviously I was going to drag myself up.

I think this is Grays and Torrys as seen from the top of Bierstadt we climbed Grays a couple months ago and Torrys might be on for next year.

I'm not sure what lessons I've learned just yet about this climb but the days ahead will tell me I'm sure.

All I know right now is that we made both of the goals for this year and I've successfully grabbed my 3rd 14er now. With as tough a day as it was for me this picture could be my favorite.

Or maybe this one from laying down on a rock about 5min from being back at the car. And by the way a 14er trail is one of the few places you feel pretty good to lay down on a jaggedy rock and make yourself more comfortable.