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  • Mt. Bierstadt Group Summit - Front Range, Colorado
  • A rest before the summit push on Dallas Peak - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Broken Ankle + 6 Miles = Tired
  • The classic San Juan approach - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Overlooking Noname Basin from Twin Thumbs Pass - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Upper Noname Basin - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Nearing Noname Cabin - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Twin Thumbs Twins - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Nearing the summit of Pt. 13,736 - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Blustery day on Iowa Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Morning snow at 15k, Cerro Ramada - Cordillera Ramada
  • Artesonraju from the summit of Nevado Pisco - Cordillera Blanca, Peru
  • February crowds on Gray's Peak - Front Range, Colorado
  • Kicking steps on Cerro Lliani - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Final traverse to the summit of Wheeler Mountain - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
  • The long walk to Pachanta - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Afternoon at 17k on Cerro Ramada - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
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    The final ridge on Iowa Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Summer summit on Longs Peak - Front Range, Colorado
  • A rest day at the Pachanta Hot Springs - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Mind over matter on Mt. Parnassas - Front Range, Colorado
  • Rest stop on Cerro Lliani - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Post nap surprise on Cerro Ramada - Cordiller Ramada, Argentina
  • Summit on Cerro Lliani - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Ridge walking on Grizzly Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Enroute the summit via the West Ridge on Pacific Peak - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
  • Mule train bound for Chilca - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Taking in the view from Fletcher Peak - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
  • Hiking on Silverheels - Mosquito Range, Colorado
  • Traversing! Gladstone Peak - San Juan Range, Colorado
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    The best of times at Willow Lake - Sangre de Christo Range, Colorado
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    High Altitude Cerebral Edema? - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
  • Bound for Chilca - Vilcanota Range, Peru
  • Going alpine light, Holy Cross Ridge - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Cumbre! Campa I - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
  • Roadside lunch with the best of company - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
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    Long ridge walk to the summit of California Peak - Sangre de Christo Range, Colorado
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    Crossing el Rio Colorado . . . in the afternoon - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
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    Dealing with Fall snows high on Casco Peak - Sawatch Range, Colorado
  • Moonrise over Mercedario - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
  • Still climbing at 20,900 on Cerro Ramada - Cordiller Ramada, Argentina
  • Talus on Halo Ridge, Mt. of the Holy Cross - Sawatch Range, Colorado
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    Deteriorating conditions on Mt. Arkansas - Ten Mile Range, Colorado
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    After the climb - Cordillera Ramada, Argentina
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    Taking in the view from the summit of Crystal Peak - Tenmile Range, Colorado
  • Topping out on Mt. Arkansas' North Couloir - Mosquito Range, Colorado
  • Glissade on Mt. Arkansas - Mosquito Range, Colorado
  • Hard snow morning on Teakettle Mountain - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Spring snow announces the start of the climb on Dallas Peak - San Juan Range, Colorado
  • Crossing the Eolus Catwalk - San Juan Range, Colorado

Mount Evans

July 25, 1999 - via Bierstadt and the Sawtooth Ridge

(see Bierstadt - Sawtooth Ridge for photos of later trip across Sawtooth)

Trent and I decided to notch up the challenge level of our climbing and try the Sawtooth Ridge during our climb of Mount Evans.  Climbing 14’ers from the easy to the hard is a neat way to gain basic climbing skills one piece at a time.  I had eleven climbs behind me and we were both ready to add a bit more challenge to the game so we decided to try the Sawtooth Ridge.  The approach was the same as the month before, overnight below Guanella Pass, early start, Bierstadt, and then we planned to add Evans to make a long climbing day.  On the way to the top of Bierstadt, we met up with a solitary climber who by our reckoning was out too early just to be bagging Bierstadt.  We inquired and found that he too was heading out for Evans via the Sawtooth.

We joined up and soon summitted Bierstadt and then headed down the ridge following some trail segments and boulder hopping to the lowest part of the saddle.  Keeping an eye out for cairns here and there, we scrambled past the various pinnacles and then crossed over onto the Guanella Pass side of the ridge at the appropriate point.  The route then traverses a ledge, which does have some loose scree and very serious exposure in the event one takes a slider.  When I say serious, it is “airy” and a slider would result in the vertical component of your velocity increasing at a geometric rate (you go over a cliff).  We took our time, carefully crossed the down sloping segment and scrambled up onto the flank of Evan’s ridge.

From there, we just headed up the easy ground to the false summits that precede the true summit of Mount Evans.  We got to the top, passed the gas-powered climbers, touched the official summit and retreated to a quiet spot for lunch.  The three of us then backtracked our route and descended via the flank of Mount Spaulding.  Once we hit the flats below Guanella Pass, we lost the trail and had to bushwhack on trail segments through the willows.  Though it was early afternoon, we ended up soaked by the ever-wet vegetation before we emerged onto the grassy slopes that lead back to the car park. 

We covered a lot of ground that day, not only distance wise, but in raising the level of climbing difficulty we were safely able to take on.

 

Mt. Bierstadt in the summer and in the winter . . .