Route Climbed: Guanella Pass road Date Climbed: May 18, 2003
Skinned most of the way up Mt Spalding and then climbed to the summit of Spalding. Then hiked to the summit of evans and teleskied back to the car from the saddle of Evans and Spalding. This was quite a long day (about 11 hours) and an excellant workout.
big_g - Mar 3, 2003 3:44 pm Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2002
Route Climbed: Summit Ridge from Summit Lake
Fun route from the lake and I got Mt. Spalding too.
Route Climbed: Summit Lake Date Climbed: September 1, 2002
A cold and windy day when we got out of the car, we got out of the wind for parts of the trip. It was a great way to start a long Labor day weekend. On the way down we saw some mountain goats which made the trip even more special. I would climb Evans again. I had made one attempt across the sawtooth from Bierstadt but didn't get there due to weather. Would like to try that route again.
Route Climbed: North couloir from Summit Lake Date Climbed: July 24 2002
Flew in from sea level last night. I meant to traverse some grassy ledges that I saw from Summit Lake traversing up to the left across a buttress to the right of the couloir, but got stuck on a ledge after climbing about 30 ft. of 60 degree slabs that seemed easy going up. Somebody was there before because there was a 20 ft. piece of twin rope jammed into the rocks, but not long enough to downclimb even if I did have any gear. After thinking a long time, I wrapped the rope around my wrist (better than no protection, but not much) and made a scary traverse across a gap with a low roof and awkward holds and back down to the relative safety of the loose scree and talus, which I took to the ridge just west of the summit. Yeah, I know it's easier to drive there.
Route Climbed: Sawtooth Ridge from Bierstadt Date Climbed: June 21, 2002
I summitted Bierstadt from Guanella Pass first and then around 10 am traversed the Sawtooth ridge toward Evans. The class 3 ridge takes quite a bit out of you, but I have to believe that going this direction is a lot easier than the other way around since you are climbing up the steepest parts of the ridge. There were a couple of scary spots, but nothing to worry too much about. The long trek from just past the Sawtooth toward Evans is a killer though. Long and demoralizing. On top of that, the weather started to turn windy and cold.
Made summit of Evans by 13:20. By then, the wind is really howling, and I had to put on all my cold weather gear. It was disheartening to see all those energetic tourists driving around the peak in their shiny SUVs, and even more tempting to hitch a ride down with one of them! Had I not come from Bierstadt, I probably would have tried.
Hiking back, I decided not to tackle the Sawtooth again. Instead, I went straight after the saddle and took an alternate route down and across the Willows. Mistake! The Willows sucks all energy out of you. In places, the plants were taller than me and so thick, I had to raise my arms and force my way through using my body. Millions of aphids flying around, I probably inhaled at least 20. The marsh beneath my feet was soggy and soaked my shoes, not to mention made me weary of quicksand. I had to use the branches of the willows that I displaced as "stepping stones" to keep from sinking. Took me about 2 hours to get out of the Willows. Fortunately, I can see the top of Guanella Pass most of the time. Otherwise I would have gotten lost for sure.
So take my advice, if you decide to do what I did, go back on the Sawtooth. It may be steep, but it'll save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run!
Route Climbed: Guenella Pass Date Climbed: August 8, 2001
Climbed with my son Patrick. We left the Pass about sun up, and now that the trail through the willows is so improved we made good time to the trees. It was an easy climb but it was longer than I expected. Some minor scrambling along the west ridge.
Route Climbed: North face from Summit Lake Date Climbed: June 27 2001
Chickened out on the class 4 pitch at the top of the Snave route and went around on the ledge to the right and around to the summit. Still a nice class 3 route. Have climbed this several times, various routes from Summit Lake, by car (and then to Bierstadt and back to make it count), and by bike from Idaho Springs.
Route Climbed: Road by bicycle Date Climbed: May 1992
Chuck and I rode up with our road bikes from Idaho Springs. Saw a black bear on our first attempt, but had to quit because of bad weather. Were successful a week later.
Route Climbed: Summit Lake Date Climbed: 04 May 2002
Climbed road to the summit. A snowstorm came in while we were having lunch at the summit. Lots of sheep -grreat day! Descended very quickly down NE face.
Do I still get to sign the summit register if I parked at the summit and walked for 10 minutes? What if I then did the sawtooth ridge to Bierstadt, then back up to Evans summit? Does that count? What's more pathetic, to walk up a road, while others drive, when you could be spending your time and energy on a more remote and satifsfying peak? I don't know.
Route Climbed: Diamond II Date Climbed: June ??, 2001
We went to do the "Snave" route but the snow had melted out significantly and we had to improvise. This was the only route left from Summit Lake that wasn't a scree scramble. The rock sections were great as well.
Route Climbed: Ridge surrounding Summit Lake Date Climbed: 06/29/2001
Started at Summit Lake and climbed the ridge to Mt. Spalding and then followed the ridge south to the Summit of Evans. Total distance one way was about 2 miles. I hitched a ride down with some people in order to spare my knees. For a 14,000 footer, I would have to rate this climb as easy.
Route Climbed: Mt. Spaulding / Summit Ridge Date Climbed: 7/17/2001
This was my girlfriend's first fourteener, so I thought it would be a short (3.5 miles), easy one to start her out with. Not! We climbed over Mt. Spaulding from Summit Lake and joined up with the trail coming from over the Sawtooth. This took us around Evan's West side. Pretty interesting route for a first timer! We slid and stomped directly down the Northeast face back to the road. She was a real trooper through it all.
Route Climbed: Mt. Evans Road from Summit Lake Date Climbed: 8/17/2000
This was my second time up Evans, albeit it felt like a bit of a cop-out walking up the road! My partner and I were still green and didn't feel like doing a talus climb up the summit face from the lake, so we took the LONG stroll up the road. People driving up looked at us like we were from another planet. The summit was encased in clouds and we managed to get a ride back down to the lake from some folks before the rain started hard.
Route Climbed: Northwest face from Summit Lake Date Climbed: 5/30/2000
This was my first experience with a 14er. I don't really consider it my first bagged peak, as the route was so short and fairly easy, albeit there was still a good deal of snow around. Met a lady from Bosnia at the lake and we spontaneously decided to make the climb, with the NW face being the obvious way up from our viewpoint at that time. Found out later that the NE face is the preferred way up from the lake! We got a lift back down to the lake from the summit.
xskier77 - May 18, 2003 9:11 pm
Route Climbed: Guanella Pass road Date Climbed: May 18, 2003Skinned most of the way up Mt Spalding and then climbed to the summit of Spalding. Then hiked to the summit of evans and teleskied back to the car from the saddle of Evans and Spalding. This was quite a long day (about 11 hours) and an excellant workout.
big_g - Mar 3, 2003 3:44 pm Date Climbed: Jun 8, 2002
Route Climbed: Summit Ridge from Summit LakeFun route from the lake and I got Mt. Spalding too.
mtnhiker13 - Dec 27, 2002 12:18 pm
Route Climbed: Summit Lake Date Climbed: September 1, 2002A cold and windy day when we got out of the car, we got out of the wind for parts of the trip. It was a great way to start a long Labor day weekend. On the way down we saw some mountain goats which made the trip even more special. I would climb Evans again. I had made one attempt across the sawtooth from Bierstadt but didn't get there due to weather. Would like to try that route again.
zzril - Nov 22, 2002 12:28 pm
Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: July 1991Second summit, but didn't get caught in a lightning storm this time.
granddeity - Nov 2, 2002 11:18 pm
Route Climbed: Guanella pass Date Climbed: July 10, 2002Awful day, see trip report.
rmjwinters - Oct 6, 2002 2:22 pm
Route Climbed: Sawtooth Ridge Date Climbed: August 2 2001You'll have to read the trip report. Today was quite the adventure.
Matt Mahoney - Jul 27, 2002 8:33 am
Route Climbed: North couloir from Summit Lake Date Climbed: July 24 2002Flew in from sea level last night. I meant to traverse some grassy ledges that I saw from Summit Lake traversing up to the left across a buttress to the right of the couloir, but got stuck on a ledge after climbing about 30 ft. of 60 degree slabs that seemed easy going up. Somebody was there before because there was a 20 ft. piece of twin rope jammed into the rocks, but not long enough to downclimb even if I did have any gear. After thinking a long time, I wrapped the rope around my wrist (better than no protection, but not much) and made a scary traverse across a gap with a low roof and awkward holds and back down to the relative safety of the loose scree and talus, which I took to the ridge just west of the summit. Yeah, I know it's easier to drive there.
charles97 - Jul 15, 2002 4:27 pm
Route Climbed: Sawtooth Ridge from Bierstadt Date Climbed: June 21, 2002I summitted Bierstadt from Guanella Pass first and then around 10 am traversed the Sawtooth ridge toward Evans. The class 3 ridge takes quite a bit out of you, but I have to believe that going this direction is a lot easier than the other way around since you are climbing up the steepest parts of the ridge. There were a couple of scary spots, but nothing to worry too much about. The long trek from just past the Sawtooth toward Evans is a killer though. Long and demoralizing. On top of that, the weather started to turn windy and cold.
Made summit of Evans by 13:20. By then, the wind is really howling, and I had to put on all my cold weather gear. It was disheartening to see all those energetic tourists driving around the peak in their shiny SUVs, and even more tempting to hitch a ride down with one of them! Had I not come from Bierstadt, I probably would have tried.
Hiking back, I decided not to tackle the Sawtooth again. Instead, I went straight after the saddle and took an alternate route down and across the Willows. Mistake! The Willows sucks all energy out of you. In places, the plants were taller than me and so thick, I had to raise my arms and force my way through using my body. Millions of aphids flying around, I probably inhaled at least 20. The marsh beneath my feet was soggy and soaked my shoes, not to mention made me weary of quicksand. I had to use the branches of the willows that I displaced as "stepping stones" to keep from sinking. Took me about 2 hours to get out of the Willows. Fortunately, I can see the top of Guanella Pass most of the time. Otherwise I would have gotten lost for sure.
So take my advice, if you decide to do what I did, go back on the Sawtooth. It may be steep, but it'll save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run!
#4 of 6 fourteeners in 4 days of hiking.
wayneaflick - Jun 18, 2002 12:06 am
Route Climbed: Guenella Pass Date Climbed: August 8, 2001Climbed with my son Patrick. We left the Pass about sun up, and now that the trail through the willows is so improved we made good time to the trees. It was an easy climb but it was longer than I expected. Some minor scrambling along the west ridge.
ctruscot - May 31, 2002 3:42 pm
Route Climbed: Summit Lake Date Climbed: June 13, 1999Instead of traditional route, we went straight up and it was covered in snow. Ice axe came in handy. Could have used crampons.
Matt Mahoney - May 17, 2002 3:36 pm
Route Climbed: North face from Summit Lake Date Climbed: June 27 2001Chickened out on the class 4 pitch at the top of the Snave route and went around on the ledge to the right and around to the summit. Still a nice class 3 route. Have climbed this several times, various routes from Summit Lake, by car (and then to Bierstadt and back to make it count), and by bike from Idaho Springs.
tiefenthaler - May 13, 2002 11:30 pm
Route Climbed: Road by bicycle Date Climbed: May 1992Chuck and I rode up with our road bikes from Idaho Springs. Saw a black bear on our first attempt, but had to quit because of bad weather. Were successful a week later.
papillon - May 6, 2002 6:19 pm
Route Climbed: Summit Lake Date Climbed: 04 May 2002Climbed road to the summit. A snowstorm came in while we were having lunch at the summit. Lots of sheep -grreat day! Descended very quickly down NE face.
darinchadwick - Apr 3, 2002 12:19 pm
Route Climbed: Road Date Climbed: August 1996Do I still get to sign the summit register if I parked at the summit and walked for 10 minutes? What if I then did the sawtooth ridge to Bierstadt, then back up to Evans summit? Does that count? What's more pathetic, to walk up a road, while others drive, when you could be spending your time and energy on a more remote and satifsfying peak? I don't know.
jwclimbs - Jan 30, 2002 11:47 am
Route Climbed: Diamond II Date Climbed: June ??, 2001We went to do the "Snave" route but the snow had melted out significantly and we had to improvise. This was the only route left from Summit Lake that wasn't a scree scramble. The rock sections were great as well.
Zeke - Nov 28, 2001 1:45 pm
Route Climbed: Sawtooth Rigde via Bierstadt ridge & summit Date Climbed: Sept 1999Awsome ridge climb, do both Bierstats south and the Sawtooth ridge in one day.
check Roach's book on 14ers for details
some great 3rd & 4th class climbing on a longer day, about 8-9 hours.
dkeating2112 - Aug 24, 2001 6:35 am
Route Climbed: Ridge surrounding Summit Lake Date Climbed: 06/29/2001Started at Summit Lake and climbed the ridge to Mt. Spalding and then followed the ridge south to the Summit of Evans. Total distance one way was about 2 miles. I hitched a ride down with some people in order to spare my knees. For a 14,000 footer, I would have to rate this climb as easy.
odysseus - Aug 22, 2001 11:10 am
Route Climbed: Mt. Spaulding / Summit Ridge Date Climbed: 7/17/2001This was my girlfriend's first fourteener, so I thought it would be a short (3.5 miles), easy one to start her out with. Not! We climbed over Mt. Spaulding from Summit Lake and joined up with the trail coming from over the Sawtooth. This took us around Evan's West side. Pretty interesting route for a first timer! We slid and stomped directly down the Northeast face back to the road. She was a real trooper through it all.
odysseus - Aug 22, 2001 11:09 am
Route Climbed: Mt. Evans Road from Summit Lake Date Climbed: 8/17/2000This was my second time up Evans, albeit it felt like a bit of a cop-out walking up the road! My partner and I were still green and didn't feel like doing a talus climb up the summit face from the lake, so we took the LONG stroll up the road. People driving up looked at us like we were from another planet. The summit was encased in clouds and we managed to get a ride back down to the lake from some folks before the rain started hard.
odysseus - Aug 22, 2001 11:06 am
Route Climbed: Northwest face from Summit Lake Date Climbed: 5/30/2000This was my first experience with a 14er. I don't really consider it my first bagged peak, as the route was so short and fairly easy, albeit there was still a good deal of snow around. Met a lady from Bosnia at the lake and we spontaneously decided to make the climb, with the NW face being the obvious way up from our viewpoint at that time. Found out later that the NE face is the preferred way up from the lake! We got a lift back down to the lake from the summit.