Tuesday, August 4, 2009

"Tit & Tat Conquer The Tippety Tip Top of Colorado"

There are Fifty Four 14er's in the state of Colorado. On July 25th, 2009, Tit and Tat set out to climb to the highest of all of them. Mt. Elbert is the highest mountain in Colorado standing at 14,433 ft. It is also the second highest mountain in the continental U.S. aside from Mt. Whitney in California which stands at 14,495 ft.

The starting elevation from Halfmoon Creek at the base of Mt. Elbert: 10,040 ft...
Elevation gain from the base to the summit: 4,700 ft...
Distance from the base to the summit: 4.5 miles...
Time of departure from base: 6:45am...
Time of arrival at summit: 11:50am...
Time of departure from summit: 12:20pm...
Time of arrival at base: 4:00pm...
Driving into Leadville, Co. looking at Mt. Elbert to the left and Mt. Massive to the right.
Mt. Elbert...from bottom to top!
At the trailhead 10,040 ft.
10,500 ft.
Nearing tree line. Look! There's the top!!
...or so we thought!
Looking at Mt. Massive from just above tree line on Mt. Elbert at 12,000 ft. "That mountain's massive!"
Quick photo op at 13,000 ft.
Horses on the ridge of the trail coming up from Twin Lakes.
So close to the top!
...or so it seems...The moment we realized what we thought was the top in fact was not the top...
I found me some snow =) at 13,500 ft.

Look at the trailhead...waaaaaaaaayyyyy down below!
The Collegiate peaks in the background.
Woo! We made it to the top!! 14,433!!!
Relaxing...

Doodling...
Signing...

Looking Southwest at La Plata Peak near the center.Looking West
Looking North at Mt. Massive.
A teeny moss flower.

A small rainstorm near Twin Lakes.

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