All posts tagged as Mount Elbert CO

This Sunday past, (August 10th 2014), I successfully summited the 14,440′ Mt. Elbert which is the highest mountain in Colorado. There was a software update that prevented one of the plugins from posting the real time satellite updates to the blog during the climb, yes this stuff even happens to me. But I got them posted after the fact and added some photos to them as well.

Here is the content from the climb:

Trip Report: www.robertdangerbyrd.com/highpoints/mount-elbert-trip-report

Blog Posts: www.robertdangerbyrd.com/tag/mount-elbert-co

Photo Gallery: www.robertdangerbyrd.com/gallery/mount-elbert

GPS Track: www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2920123

You will find the post climb content and status for all of my highpoints here: www.robertdangerbyrd.com/us-state-highpoint-list

Back at the trailhead and feeling pretty good aside from some blisters. Got a few thousand photos, will post later. About to head back down the jeep road.

Finally got below the weather. It’s overcast, cool & easy going now. Making good time. Hungry, taking a food break now at 12,260′.

Praise God! I’m standing on the 14,440′ summit of Mount Elbert. I can see the Twin Lakes from here, but the sky is gray and overcast. Cant stay long, storm heading this way, feeling rain already. Felt strong coming up, took hundreds of photos testing out the new camera gear.

Break at 13,650′, nice view of lakes. Low clouds rolling in, very cool, feels like rain is coming. Last break, will push for Mt. Elbert summit from here.

Photo Break!  I’m just above the tree line now, at 12,138′ and have my first decent view of the Twin Lakes.

Light 23′ pack, easy climb, perfect weather, but can’t stop taking photos!

Sunrise came around 6:15 and found me lower on the mountain than I had planned, so I was not in a good position to capture the sun coming up across the lakes as I had hoped.

Best I could do is the log featured in this post.

We took in a Jeff Brinkman concert at the Tabor House, and it was a very impressive display of musical talent. Jeff’s and his band, are very precise and work together to create a very rich musical expirerience. They also seemed to be having a really good time doing it, especially the drummer who was grinning maniacally  as he ruthlessly beat the drums into submission.

The show was further enhanced by the astoundingly good acoustics of the Tabor Opera house. For the last song they came down off the stage and played unplugged. We were sitting in the front, so they were only a few feet away. I really don’t have the words to do it justice, and I have never heard anything more magical.

The downside is I’m climbing a 14K mountain tomorrow, and I’ll get 5 hours sleep at best.

Susan and I have been spending the day in Leadville which at 10,152 feet is Americas highest city. They get over 300 inches of snow each year and 300 days of sunshine, although aft on thunderstorms are typical. Weather is perfect at the moment, with some light cloud cover.

I’ll hit the Mount Elbert trailhead early in the morning, and try to get up and down to beat any potential weather.

Sorted out my gear last night and decided what clothing and tech I’ll be carrying up the mountain based on the current conditions. If you visit the blog, you can see the  gear photo.

Tech includes the Delorme InReach satellite uplink, a Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus USB battery pack, (sans solar panel), a Surefire St. Minimus Headlamp and 4 cameras including an iPhone 5s in a Lifeproof Fre Waterproof case. The iPhone will mostly be used to interface with the satellite uplink to send and receive messages. Also taking the awesome Olympus TG-2 outdoor waterproof camera and it’s waterproof wide angle lens. This camera is soon to be replaced with the new Olympus 16MP Tg-3. Also carrying a pair of the latest Black Edition  3+ GoPro cameras which are new to my kit. One mounted on a pack strap, and the other with the new sports mount on one of my Leki Carbon TI trekking poles. The pole mounted camera, dubbed “DangerCam1” is controlled via the GoPro iPhone app which allows full control and viewfinder functions via WiFi. I used this during my Oklahoma climb and found it very useful. With the camera mounted on the pole, I’ll be able to stab it in the ground or use the pole as a boom and take some cool selfies without a lot of fuss. The pack strap camera, “DangerCam2” is fired with a CamDo Intervalometer board which automatically snaps a photo every 2 minutes for 22 hours straight on a single battery. I won’t be taking a solar panel, so I’ll also carry extra batteries for much of the gear.

I’ll check in tomorrow morning at the trailhead.