Mt Elbert

This past Saturday Jen and I decided to do “something” with Strelka.  Strelka knows things aren’t like they used to be in the house, and I am sure she is missing Mushka as much as Jen and I are.  That said, we wanted to give Strelka some special attention and something else to think about.  The weather forecast was predicting +100F in Boulder so we looked to the high country.   As a matter of fact, we looked to the highest point in Colorado:  Mt Elbert.  Plans were finalized after a quick check to make sure dogs are allowed and that the trail was dog-friendly; Strelka was going to summit a 14′er, and not only that, the tallest 14′er in Colorado!

Even though we left Boulder early (a little after 5 am) we just barely reached the summit before afternoon thunderstorm started building up as they normally do this time of the year in the mountains. The following is a small photo essay of our successful climb of Mt Elbert.

Strelka donning backpack ready to go

Jen and Strelka heading up towards Mt Elbert

Strelka catching her breath in the thin air

Getting above tree limit

Strelka gets a drink of water

Still climbing; Mt Massive in the background

Looking up towards the summit

Strelka getting another drink of water

The ascent is steep and gets rocky towards the top

Looking back down on the trail we came up

View to the North

Jen and Strelka getting close to the summit

Strelka loves mountaineering

The “party” on the summit

Jen on the summit of Mt Elbert (14,440ft)

Summit marker

Jen grabbing a snack on the “top of Colorado”

The view to the North West from the summit

Strelka checking out the snow on the summit

Heading down again fast as dark clouds started to build up

Some moves are tricky, even with “4WD”

Jen and Strelka heading down

Dark clouds getting thicker as we are rushing to get off the mountain

Back down in the trees; sleet and hail started falling on us here

Looking back on Mt Elbert and the weather that moved in on us