First 14er! Mount Bierstadt & Manitou Incline

July 17, 2019

First 14er! Mount Bierstadt & Manitou Incline

Mt. Bierstadt, Colorado

Mt Bierstadt stats: Elevation 14,060 feet, elevation change on hike 2850 feet, Class 2 hike

We hiked our first 14er on this trip, Mount Bierstadt! Woke up at 2am to drive about 2.5 hours from Colorado Springs to the parking lot at the base of Mt. Bierstadt. We started the hike around 5:40am, reached the summit at 10:40am-ish, had lunch (PB&J sandwiches) and hiked back down reaching the base around 1:30pm... almost 8 hours of hiking! (Referring to me and Brandon, the ones that live at sea level... Stephanie and Dane did everything in half the time!) The hike up was difficult and we stopped for mini breaks to catch our breath, drink some water and eat snacks, there's just no oxygen up there! I ended up drinking about 1.5 liters of water. The hike down was a whole other beast! I went into it thinking down would be easy but man I couldn't be more wrong! My legs and knees were so tired and hiking down puts a lot of strain on your knees. I ended up slipping and falling once catching myself with my elbow. We hiked with hiking poles which helped a LOT on the way down. I don't think I could have done it without them... saved me from slipping and falling down the mountain!