I was planning to hike Mt. Powell up in the Gore Range this weekend, but once I got up there I had kind of a bad vibe about it, and I couldn’t find a camp site, so after driving all the way past Vail, I called it off and rushed over to Mt. Elbert. It’s not the most exciting hike, but I was pretty sure I’d get a campsite, and I hadn’t done a 14er in like 4 or 5 weeks.

It was pretty close finding a campsite. I think I got the last one in the entire area, but I DID get one, so it worked out.

The hike itself was a lot of fun. It was crowded, but could have been a lot worse. Since this was a repeat and it was crowded, I didn’t waste much time or take many pictures. Basically just some random summit pics, and this panorama:

The 9.35 mile round trip took 3:09, including 15 minutes to eat lunch and take pics at the summit. So far it’s my fastest time on a 14er, but I think I could do better if I had brought my running shoes and a smaller pack. Maybe next time…

In anycase, here’s the GPS track.