Mount Bierstadt

Elevation 14,060 ft / 4,285 m

Mud, mud and more mud! Yet another reason to wear hiking boots instead of sneakers, even on the easy trails!

Mt. Bierstadt is the second closest 14er to Denver, although you can't see it from the city because it lies almost directly west of Mt. Evans. Because of this and the fact that it is one of the easiest mountains over 14,000 feet to climb, it is packed with people during the summer months. The mountain is named after Albert Bierstadt, one of the first, and finest, painters to portray the Rocky Mountains.

We've been avoiding Bierstadt for years, not just because it's an easy climb and we wanted to keep one of those in the hip pocket, but because of the notorious willows! Until recently (1999), the trail through the willows was not well marked -- you could meander around aimlessly for a long time, coming to one dead end after another in the maze, while making your way uphill. Eventually, around timberline, you got out.... but now where was that trail? And you had to comb the area looking for a decent way to go.

Starting in 1999, the Colorado 14ers Initiative is making an effort to keep the erosion down through the willows by better marking -- and in some cases establishing -- the trail. There are even spots in it where it appears they will be putting in boardwalks across some of the bog. This would have helped us out alot.

To get to the mountain, take I70 west to Georgetown, Colorado's first silver mining town and once the home of the Georgetown Loop, quite a piece of engineering marvel for its time. Follow the signs through the city for Guanella Pass, which leaves town and sharply turns uphill. The road is passable in a two-wheel drive car, but the road may get a bit bumpy after the pavement ends, due to rain washing away what's left of the road. At the top of the pass (about 12 miles from Georgetown) there is a parking lot on the left (east) side of the road. Park here, at 11,669 feet. The trail leaves downhill, east from the northeastern part of the parking lot (don't take the trail leading uphill to the south, or the one downhill to the southeast).

After you pass a lake off to your left (with steam rising from it if you're there early enough, as we were), you head downhill just a bit further till you come to Scott Gomer Creek at elevation 11,420. There is no footbridge across the lake, but if the water's not too high, you can skip across on the rocks. Once on the other side, the path leads gently uphill, rising through the mud and the bushes again. Following small creeks among the bushes, at 6:55 we got to the level where we started across the valley. Continuing on walking in a creek bed, the path eventually clears the bushes then turns sharply uphill to the north. Once you are out of the willows, the summit of Bierstadt appears to be not that far off.

After turning again toward the south, the trail leads pretty much straight, heading steadily up toward the ridge just to the right (SW) of the summit cone. At 7:40 direct sunlight hit us for the first time, our shadows racing down the mountainside. Across the valley, the parking lot was now nearly full and we could see people far below us making their way through the willows.

At 8:05 Klaus hit the ridge, turned left and waited for Ehtue to catch up (see Klaus in photo to the left). Together, we started up the cone, Klaus reaching the top at 8:45, the first to summit the mountain on this day. The view from the summit of the mountain is not nearly so spectacular as those in the Sawatch, Mosquito or San Juan Ranges. Of course, there is a good view of Mt. Evans to the east and of Sawtooth Ridge which connects the two mountains. To the northwest you have a fine view of Grays Peak and Torreys Peak (see photo), while to the south Pikes Peak looms all alone, growing east from South Park. But mostly, the view is just not that dramatic here compared other mountains in Colorado.

After about 20 minutes alone on the summit, we were joined by the next group of folks coming up. Then another group. Then another, so it was time for us to leave. We began our descent at 9:25. On the way down, we could see many, many people below, on their way up. Bierstadt is a very popular mountain because of its proximity to Denver and the ease of the trail. We highly recommend starting out early so that your hike will not be jam-packed with people.

We made it back to the car at 11:35 am, where Klaus had a victory Coke and Ehtue swilled a beer, which seemed especially appropriate in honor of this mountain.

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