Mount Bierstadt

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Mount Bierstadt

Reflections of Mt Bierstadt (right) and The Sawtooth (left)
Elevation 14,065 ft (4,287 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence 700 ft (213 m)[2]
Listing Colorado Fourteener
Location
Mount Bierstadt
Colorado
Location Clear Creek County, Colorado, U.S.
Range Front Range
Coordinates 39°34′57″N 105°40′08″W / 39.58250°N 105.66889°W / 39.58250; -105.66889Coordinates: 39°34′57″N 105°40′08″W / 39.58250°N 105.66889°W / 39.58250; -105.66889[1]
Topo map USGS Mount Evans
Climbing
First ascent 1863 by Albert Bierstadt[citation needed]
Easiest route 3 mile hike

Mount Bierstadt is a mountain in the Front Range region of the Rocky Mountains, in Clear Creek County, Colorado. It is one of 54 fourteeners (mountains with peaks over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in elevation) in Colorado. It is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west-southwest of Mount Evans. The nearest major city is Denver. It was named for Albert Bierstadt, a popular painter of Colorado's Rockies of the 19th century.

Because it is generally considered an easy climb, along with its accessibility from nearby Denver, Mount Bierstadt is one of the most popular mountains to climb in Colorado. As with most peaks in Colorado, July and August make the best months for climbing Mount Bierstadt.

The most popular base from which to begin ascent of Mount Bierstadt is Guanella Pass, located to the west. From Guanella Pass it is approximately a 3 miles (4.8 km) hike, with a climb of 2,391 feet (729 m). The trail passes descends slightly into the fairly level marshlands surrounding Scott Gomer Creek before reaching Bierstadt's western slopes. On the rocky upper regions of the mountain the route of the trail is marked by a series of cairns. The trail levels about 200 feet (61 m) below the summit at saddle point before beginning the final ascent. Alternative trails cover the eastern slopes for longer hikes.

Once at the summit, a popular option is to continue the hike to nearby Mount Evans along a ridge known as The Sawtooth, an intermediate-level hike. Often such a trip will involve a detour down to Abyss Lake 12,650 feet (3,860 m) elevation), which occupies the bottom of the valley separating Bierstadt and Evans.

Albert Bierstadt's painting, A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie, is based on sketches he made during his 1863 visit to the area. That painting shows either Mount Spalding or Mount Evans (it is ambiguous) from the Chicago Lakes, 3 miles (4.8 km) north-northwest, but Bierstadt and his guide William Byers climbed onward to the summit of either Evans or Spalding (the account is ambiguous).[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Bierstadt". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  2. ↑ "Mount Bierstadt, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  3. ↑ William Newton Byers, Bierstadt's Visit to Colorado -- Sketching for the famous painting "Storm in the Rocky Mountains", Magazine of Western History, Vol. XI, No. 3, Jan. 1890; page 237.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mount Bierstadt.


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