Mt. Elbert, CO

Elevation: 14, 433 ft.

Summit Attained: 08/12/08, approximately 10 a.m.

            Dave and I arrived in Leadville late in the afternoon on August 10th.  After checking into the Silver King Inn and Suites, we headed across the street to Pizza Hut to load up on some much-needed carbohydrates.  We wolfed down two supreme pizzas, and then made one last supply stop at the local Safeway for snacks and some AAA’s for the headlamps.  All stocked up and feeling ready for the climb, we decided to head to the local watering hill, the picturesque Leadville Saloon. 

Plastered with black and white photographs of conservatively dressed 19^th century figures and bustling with drunken Leadvillians, "The Saloon" definitely possessed a legitimate old-time feel, a real remnant of a time long past.  Dave and I moved in to claim the shuffleboard in the corner, figuring to squeeze in a few rounds while we waited for my cousin Andrew to arrive…

After a long and awkward forty minutes (it definitely seemed like a lot longer), Andrew waltzed through the swinging saloon doors like he owned the place.  Bad move kid.. A few dirty glances from the local crowd and his swaggering limbs caved like wet noodles.  The slight boost in our numbers did provide us with a bit of confidence, however, and we finally moved over to the bar and had a few drinks while we talked to the female bartender about her upcoming plans to slaughter her pet pig.  The festivities were interrupted when one of us glanced outside and noticed that Leadville was being hit by an apocalyptic hailstorm that was literally coating Main Street in marbles of ice. To us easterners, it was an amazing sight.  Not surprisingly, none of the locals seemed to pay the storm any mind.

Fast forwarding…the next afternoon found the three of us following the long, rutted Rt. 11 through the forests of the high Rockies.  After negotiating pothole after pothole, we finally made it to the trailhead parking lot.  We checked the tires and changed into our gear, and then immediately set off up the trail.  Our plan was to pitch the tent just below treeline, which would effectively shave a mile each way off of the next day’s climb.  After about a quarter mile, however, we met a descending climber who informed us that the stream near our prospective campsite was dry.  With the weather turning fast, we decided to set up camp where we were, about 30 feet off the trail next to a small cascading brook.  A sign at the trailhead had warned of Giardia, so much of the remainder of the night was spent boiling and UV-treating the stream water.

We left camp the next morning around 6:15 a.m., and made good time through the trees and up onto the North Ridge.  Dave and I were fairly acclimatized by now, while Andrew had just come from sea level two days earlier, but Andrew was feeling incredibly strong, and we continued to move at a quick pace, stopping only a handful of times before reaching the summit around 10 a.m.  We had once again lucked out with the weather, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky as we celebrated on the summit with about 10 other climbers.

After some photos and a short lunch break of the best cheese and crackers of my life (courtesy of some nice women who had the foresight to bring real food on their climb), we began the descent, stopping for some precarious staged photographs around 14,000 ft.  Surprisingly, the descent back to the tent took barely more than an hour.  Feeling pretty dehydrated, we quickly packed up camp and headed back to the cars, stopping back in Leadville on the way out of Colorado for a well-deserved lunch at the local Doc Holiday’s.