Hiking to Colorado's Highest Point - Mount Elbert 14,339ft

Hike Colorado's highest peak, Mount Elbert, via the Southeast Ridge Trail to avoid the crowds. The Black Cloud trailhead where the Southeast Ridge trail begins is located a bit farther outside of Leadville than the other options and is a lot less traveled. We camped at the trailhead alone on a Sunday night in late July for an early start on this 11-miler. The hike itself is not technical (it's rated Class 2) but it is steep from the start, with a total elevation gain of just over 5,000 feet. Depending on what kind of hiker you are, this can make the downhill just as challenging and slow as the uphill. We spent 6 hours on the up and 5.5 on the down. From about the 2-mile mark on, the hike is above treeline, so you spend the majority of the hike up high and in terrain exposed to the weather. This hike has amazing views and in late July had an impressive variety of wildflowers.

Although we read that this trail is heavily used, we saw only 3 other people on our way up and just a few more on the way back down, not counting the dozens that were on top who'd used the more popular North Mount Elbert and South Mount Elbert routes.

This trip was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first hike up this same trail in July of 2001 where we got engaged! It was harder the second time ;)

00:00 What this video is about
00:25 Southeast Ridge Trail Info
02:11 Starting the hike
02:49 Daybreak
04:06 Above treeline
04:58 Super steep section
06:02 The first false summit
07:51 Final ascent to the peak
08:53 The peak of Mount Elbert!
10:37 Hiking down the mountain
11:33 Back at the van

#Colorado #MountElbert #Hiking #Leadville

Learning to Travel, is a travel video & social media company formed by Joyce & Daryle Dickens to help others identify and realize their dreams of “traveling more”. After years of “traveling more” talk with too little action, we finally went all-in on a life-changing 14-month journey to 23 countries and 23 US states. Since then, we’ve heard far too many people say “I wish I could do that” which has made us realize that most people need a little push to believe their travel dreams are possible and a little guidance to turn those dreams into reality. That inspiration and guidance is what https://LearningToTravel.com is all about.

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