When I hiked the Continental Divide Trail, I bagged my first three 14ers; San Luis Peak (14.023ft / 4,274m) Greys Peak (14,275ft / 4,351m) and Torreys Peak (14,272ft / 4,350m) and since I lived in the state now I wanted to bag a few more. Nah, I’m all in, eventually I will summit all 54 of them!
Mount Bierstadt
This is one of the easier hikes that is accessible via a paved road and does not have any sketchy scrambles. Just 7.6 miles over easy to follow trail with a pretty steady incline up the 2,700ft of vert. There were a few small patches of snow still hanging about but the trail was overall in great shape. I enjoyed a summit beer on the top and gazed along the Saw Tooth ridge that connects to Mount Blue Sky (formerly Mount Adams) which is another 14er. I was alone and there were some snowy bits and I knew nothing of the route so I opted to skip that traverse to hit a second 14er.
Also, I saw some mountain goats on the way back down as well as this marmot who was not the slightest bit skittish about my presence. I probably could have pet one but didn’t want to risk a bite. And LNT.
Sneak Peak: I hiked quite a few more 14ers this summer and made a little diddy to show ALL of my summit beers