Bierstadt

14,060 feet

As usual, click on a picture to see it in detail.

Mount Evans and Mount Beirstadt, AKA our objective. Shanon Martin, Jenifer Horne, and Aleshia ????? joined Dan and I, since they were passing through Boulder on their way from Washington D.C. to Yosemite Valley. It's hard to tell from this picture, but during the spring, summer the approach to Bierstadt can be quite the bush whacking experience. We approached Bierstadt from the valley to the east, which are full of willows.

In the photo to the left you can see (from left to right) Russ (me), Jen, Aleshia, and Shannon. Since our party was short one pair of snow shoes, we decided to just go without them - except for Dan, which proved to be the wisest choice of the day. That late morning in early June, the snow had a thin crust on it, that usually wouldn't break if you knew where to step, and treaded lightly. Of course, even that sometimes failed, and you started "post holing" or landing hip deep in the snow. Atleast I had gators (nylon tubes that go over your boots) to keep the snow out, most of the others were not so fortunate and gathered many blisters from wet socks. Speaking of gators, be sure to apply plenty of sunscreen to your knees when wearing gators and shorts. I got a pretty nasty sunburn on the front and back of my knee without a brace on it, eventhough I had windpants on for more than half the day. Doesn't take long to buy cancer tickets when the snow is reflecting the sun back at you. Similarly, Sunglasses are excellent things to have on these journeys. Shanon forgot his, so you can see him wearing mine.

I have been informed that this is the Mr Olympia Pose. You'll notice that Dan, being the well prepared person that he is, wore his jeans, which he reported to be soaking wet at the end of the day. This time around Dan beat me to the top by almost 2 hours. I believe the photo to the right details the "grunt and squeeze" pose, but then again, I'm not a weight lifter, so I'm not real sure. You'll notice Aleshia in the background to the left.

Jen was the second to reach the summit, despite recently breaking her neck. Not bad for only aclimating for a day, not being able to look up, and only lag Dan's summit time by about half an hour. The photo at the left, looks North or Northeast.

I made it to the summit about an hour after Jen. Again, looking North or Northeast.

I have affectionately started calling these guys the Bierstadt gang. They started just after us and finished just before us, primarily (in my humble opinion) since they all had snow shoes. In the background behind them is Jen. Shanon and Aleshia are off to the right.

From left to right is Doug in the red cap, Derby with the suspenders, and Alie in the red jacket, and Glen in the blue jacket. In the background, you can see the valley that we all trudged through.

Here they are again with Jen in the forground, and a South-Westward backdrop. Thanks again for the food! Mmmm Tootsie Rolls! Mmmm Cashews! Definetly worth the price of a few photos (They forgot their camera and I didn't bring enough lunch).

Fortunately, for about 2/3 of the way down we were able to go in style - the glisade. This was my first time glisading. Basically you just sit down on your butt with your legs straight and pointing down hill. Then you just use dig your ice axe into the snow to steer and stop. Again, this is just my geek-boy opinion, and should not be construed as an experts advice. In larger version of the picture to the left, you should just barely be able to make out the trail of the glisader in red. These trails turned out to be quite important, since after about the first 1000' or so, the snow got to soft to glisade, unless somebody went in front of you and packed the snow down. So we took turns "breaking trail."

Dry socks, gatorade, and finish lines make for excellent spirits back at the cars. Shanon is doing his not so world famous putting water in the gas tank imitation. Jen and I on the right, and Aleshia once again in the background. For a while I wasn't sure if she was going to make it. But I don't think I heard her bitch or moan about a single thing, so here's and official "You go girl" for her. Also, check out Dan's brand new Jeep there on the right.

Note: All these photo's were taken with a disposable camera and scanned in during development.