Matt Mahoney's 2008 Colorado Vacation
Matt Mahoney's Home Page
I climbed Mt. Elbert for the second time this year. My first climb from the trailhead on Halfmoon road took 2:19 to the summit. This was 5 days ago, and one day after flying from Florida. I wanted to see if the last 5 days of altitude acclimation made a difference. This time I ascended in 2:07, but I was pushing rather hard. My heartrate was 140 at about 11,000 ft. I checked it with my watch. I didn't need to take my pulse. I could just feel it pounding.
I was concerned about this dark cloud that hung over the mountain for most of the climb, but nothing came of it.
There was a big party at the summit as usual...
...including a group from Mississippi that was staying at the hostel. They started climbing at 6:30 AM. I started at 8:52 AM and met them on the summit.
View toward Mt. Massive. I stayed on the summit for 35 minutes and returned at 1:00 PM.