For Sheila's birthday
we again took to the mountains to climb Mt. Bierstadt, another
Colorado
14er.
We opted for the standard
"West
Slopes"
route in which starts on wooden bridges over marshy willows and
continues through willows for some time before a series of switchbacks
rises towards the shoulder. At around 13,000 feet the slope gets
steeper and we started to suffer, reminding us that there is
no such thing as an "easy" 14er. Eventually after frequent
rests, we made it onto the ridge and move across large boulders
and more rugged terrain to the summit.
Because it is a basic
14er that is easily accessible and because it was a Saturday,
we were joined by seemingly thousands of fellow adventurers.
This image shows the
West Slopes route, a fairly straightfoward ascent to the summit.
( Image
courtesy of www.14ers.com )
Getting started...
Continuing through the
willows...
Looking back from where we started...
This was the last time
Brendan would be seen smiling for some time...
Another look back....
This section was steeper
as we worked our way up to the shoulder...
Brendan suffering...
Almost to the ridge...
lots of stops for rest on this section.
A view of the summit
from below the ridge...
Finally up on the ridge...
The last push to the
summit...
Almost there!
Made it!
We ran into our neighbors
on the summit...
The ridge leading to
Mount Evans in the background...
A view of the Sawtooth
connecting Mount Evans and Mount Bierstadt...
