Summiting the Highest Mountain in Colorado

Colorado Trail Day 13 – Mt Elbert to Twin Lakes, 12 miles

My alarm went off at 3 am. Time to get up and climb Mount Elbert! I’d managed to get close to six hours of sleep, and found it easy to get moving. DJ was a bit slower but that was okay. I wanted my trekking poles for the climb and had decided that I’d pack up my tent and gear and stash it in DJ’s tent which had separate tent poles. No point carrying more than the basics up the mountain!

We started walking around 4 am, giving us plenty of time to reach the summit by sunrise. From where we were camped we had 2800 feet to ascend over the span of about two miles.

It was really cool starting out in the dark, with millions of stars overhead. We used the red light on our headlamps for a while, keeping our night vision intact.

Slowly and steadily we climbed. The trail was in really great shape. It’s a very popular trail and a lot of work has been done to improve it over the last couple seasons. Up and up, higher and higher we went. The air got thinner and the sky started to glow in the east.

We had a really steep section then gained a false summit. The trail continued a bit further to reach the lower end of the summit ridge. A few hundred yards later we were standing on the peak.

Incredibly, we reached the summit in two hours, well ahead of sunrise. It’s so hard to describe what it feels like to stand on the highest point around. Why do we climb mountains? Because they’re there!

The sky was gradually lightening and our views were getting better and better. Of course it was pretty frigidly cold on the ridge. There was a strong wind and the air temperature was probably close to freezing. We sheltered in a bit of a rock bivy as we waited out the final moments to sunrise.

Sunrise was absolutely beautiful. The sun rose over distant peaks to the East, lighting up the summit of Mount Elbert and all the tall peaks nearby. Mount Elbert even briefly cast a conical shadow on the mountains to the West.

We stayed on the summit another ten minutes or so past sunrise but were so cold that we really needed to get moving and drop down out of the wind.

The hike back down to our campsite was a lot of fun. We could see everything that was hidden to us in the dark of the climb up. We had silly happy energy and were saying good morning to every hiker making their way up the mountain.

We were back at our campsite almost exactly four hours after we’d left. We took a break to make coffee, then broke down our site and made our way back to the main trail.

The day was far from over though! We still had eight miles to hike to reach the town of Twin Lakes where we both hoped to resupply and get some food. I was also expecting to meet a friend and go into Leadville for the afternoon.

We reached Twin Lakes around noon and were incredibly surprised to see the tiny town jam-packed with cars and people. We’d heard that a big ultra race, the Leadville 100, was going on the next day but we hadn’t realised that the run followed the Colorado Trail.

The Leadville 100 is a 100-mile ultra run. Their course follows almost 50 miles of the Colorado Trail, winding below Mount Elbert, through Twin Lakes then up and over a 12,500 foot pass. Once they reach the valley floor on the far side of the pass, they turn around and race back to Leadville the way they came.

Twin Lakes was a support team location and everyone was setting up their tents and aid stations to be ready for the runners the next morning.

I was very quickly overwhelmed. I wasn’t mentally prepared to be among so many people and such chaos. The general store where hikers can buy food for the trail ahead was overrun and the one food truck in town had a huge line.

I found a quieter spot on the shaded porch of the visitor center and tried to figure out a plan. There was no way I’d be camping in the area that night, but pretty well every accommodation in the nearby towns was booked. I called my dad to help out, as he had access to a computer and could search easier than I could on my phone. He could also make some calls while I had minimal cell signal. He found a campground in the town of Buena Vista that had a bunkhouse for hikers and booked a bed for me.

Thankfully I had a ticket out of town. My friend Cherry Bomb had done an overnight hike in the nearby Maroon Bells Wilderness and was coming through Twin Lakes to pick me up. We were headed to Leadville to make the all important thru-hiker pilgrimage to Melanzana.

Melanzana is an apparel company that makes a micro-grid fleece sweater that is both ultra lightweight, warm and breathable. Thru-hikers love them. The company is a small local operation with very limited product runs. They don’t sell online. Folks who want to buy a “Melly” usually have to make an appointment and show up in person.

The store sometimes puts out factory seconds and clearance items for folks walking in off the street, but that’s very hit or miss. However, if you’re a thru-hiker on the CDT or the CT and are in Leadville for a resupply you’re welcome to come by for a “walk-in” appointment.

My friend was able to get a replacement for her old sweater, plus one for her boyfriend. I opted for the dress version of the sweater. Of course now I have to carry it the rest of the way!

Next we went for pizza at High Mountain Pies, considered one of the best pizza places along the Colorado Trail. With the race in town they were super busy but we were happy to have the time to catch up after months of not seeing each other.

Finally it was time to head to our accommodations for the night. Cherry Bomb dropped me at the campground near Buena Vista. I was pretty wiped by that point, having been up since 3 am, submitted a 14er, and caught up with a friend. All I wanted was to fall into a cosy bunk. Unfortunately the air conditioning was broken in the bunk room cabin. There was also a fellow passed out smelling very much of alcohol.

I turned around and walked right out, asking at the front desk for a campsite instead. I don’t like paying to sleep in my tent but it was my only reasonable option by that point. I’d been thinking about having a rest day but it wasn’t going to be very restful if I stayed there.

I got my tent set up, had my first shower in five days, and fell into bed. It had been an amazing, epic, chaotic day.