Colorado 14-ers – Mt. Bierstadt & Mt. Blue Sky – Adventuring with Mel and John

Saturday, July 18, 2026

We knew this was going to be a hard day. It started with getting up at 3:15am. Since we stayed in Georgetown, the drive to the trailhead at the Guanella Pass was about 30 minutes. We went straight to the upper parking lot, not even looking to see if we could get a spot in the lower one. People were already parking on the side of the road, though the upper lot was practically empty. There were two outhouses, and after a quick visit, we were on the trail by 4:40am. Our objective for the day was hiking both Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Blue Sky via the class-3 Sawtooth. If we’re successful, we will have completed all of the 14-ers of the Front Range.

It was still dark enough to use our headlights for a little while. The sky is lightening behind Mt. Bierstadt on the right and Sawtooth on the left. Mt. Blue Sky is not visible. It’s amazing to me that people had already started their hike. The light from their headlamps is brightly snaking up the mountain via long switchbacks.

We’re making good time. It’s a magical time of day.

The sun is up, casting long shadows. Grays Peak and Torreys Peak are in view.

Looking back toward the trailhead. I desperately needed to eat something, but we passed so many people, and I didn’t want to “leap frog” with them, I just kept going. Usually I can eat as I’m hiking, but we’re already more easily out of breath because of the higher altitude and less oxygen.

On the summit of Mt. Bierstadt. Right behind us is Sawtooth. First we have to down-climb a massive pile of rocks.

Here’s a great look at the Sawtooth. We don’t want to get too far from the top of the ridge, but we also don’t want to go over the entire ridge (we’ll go over some of it for “fun” and to test our guts). Luckily, there was a well-defined herd path with cairns placed here and there indicating the most stable route on the talus.

Looking up toward Mt. Bierstadt. This section took longer than I thought it would. Way more time than on the “ramp”.

Climbing on top of the ridge. We didn’t do this the entire time, but we wanted to experience the exposure. It seemed more “mild” to me than Father Dyer.

Looking back toward the summit of Bierstadt.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any pictures of the next section, what some consider to be the crux of the hike: the gendarme, or pinnacle of rock on a mountain ridge. There are two recommended ways to do it, and both involve class-3 moves. You can go over the top or around the side; the top is steeper. Up close you can see how tricky it is. John scouted for me by first going up and over, as the way was more obvious. He called down to me that it’s doable, but he had to reach on some of it. Since he’s quite a bit taller than me, I decided that I’d try to go around. He backtracked to where I was and went up what he thought was the less-direct way. It turned out to be somewhere in between the direct and in-direct route, but from above, he could see the way for me to take, or so he thought.

Looking from below to where he was, I thought I found the way up to him. I got stuck and couldn’t go farther. At this point I started feeling scared. I had to turn my body around to down-climb, while making sure that my bag did not bump me off. In these situations I can’t help but imagine the worst, so I totally envisioned myself falling and landing on my face into sharp rocks. It’s a horrible curse, but maybe it helps?

I successfully climbed down to where I started, and looked up again. This time I shifted to the right, which looked doable until I got stuck again. This was even worse to down-climb, so I had to continue climbing up. I hate to admit it, but my fear was full-on. I asked John to keep talking to me; he told me that I’m doing great, even though neither of us could see each other. I knew I couldn’t go down, so I collected myself and took the risk. Luckily, the handholds were good, and the rock was solid and secure or I would have been screwed. I had to use all of my upper-body strength to lift myself high enough to place a knee and pull myself up. John and I could finally see each other.

Once I was “safe,” I had a panic attack. John kept a hand on my shoulder as I hyperventilated. Eventually, I got my breathing under control, though my legs were still shaky. This had NEVER happened to me before. I have NEVER been this scared. Turns out that we were not on the go-around route. Did I find myself in a class-4 spot? I don’t know, but despite this, I knew that we’d keep going.

After the crux, you hike up to the notch and take a left to traverse the west side of the ridge. This is what you see. The drop-off is truly incredible. First there is a narrow ledge, though it isn’t as narrow as it looks from here. Then you go up the “ramp”.

A closer view of the “ramp.” You go up that to get to the other side. It looks impossible.

John is about to start.

Going up the “ramp”. It had rained the day before, and the dirt was still a little wet. I think that helped keep the dirt more stable.

Looking back. Mt. Bierstadt and our down-climb is in view, along with the ridges that we went over and the gendarme (crux) that we went around. I’m taking a second to enjoy the view (and not shit my pants).

Drop-off

John made it up the ramp. Now we need to go around the corner.

Look at that view! Did we really just do that?!

We didn’t know how long Sawtooth would take us; others’ reports noted that it could take 1-2.5 hours. It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The next part of the hike was getting to the summit of Mt. Blue Sky. For some reason I was under the impression that it was a “walk in the park.” Oh boy, it wasn’t. For one thing, I should have eaten something. The last substantial thing that I ate was on Mt. Bierstadt, just about two hours ago. I had some energy chews during the Sawtooth section, but that was only 190 calories. I thought the summit was closer than it was. I got so grumpy when we kept going and going. This is a time when I wish that the trail was more efficient and went directly to the summit, instead of the gradual switchbacks. I could have just made my own path, I supposed, but the path of least resistance was to follow the cairns and stable ground, instead of the talus that could shift under your feet. Take my advice: eat before your tank is empty; it will make it a safer and more enjoyable day.

This is when I was still “high” from accomplishing the class-3 Sawtooth. I thought the bump was the summit. It was not.

Finally on the summit of Mt. Blue Sky. There’s a road people can drive up. I’m thinking that this may be a reason why the trail is long switchbacks: to accommodate people who have driven up and may not be experienced hikers. John shared one of the Reese’s peanut butter cups he brought, and I forced myself to eat the peanut butter and jelly pita I brought. Though it wasn’t appealing, I needed to get calories in me. Cars are visible, and there is a bathroom. It was fun to watch a couple mountain goats walking on the sidewalk directly toward them. I’ve heard that the goats are attracted to human urine for the salt. Good thing goats can’t open doors!

We left the summit and backtracked. We didn’t go the way we came after we completed Sawtooth but walked some of the West Ridge Trail until it branched off to the left. We were looking for the hidden gully.

Approaching the gully. This part of the hike was a treat.

We’ve started the descent into the gully. I used my poles for this part, as it was steep and gravelly. We had caught up to three other hikers who also did both mountains via the Sawtooth.

The first Bighorn Sheep of the trip! They blend right in.

Looking back, about halfway through this section. I kept my eyes on the cloud, concerned that the sky would open up on us while we were in the gully. That would not have been good.

On our way down, we came across a couple of young guys resting on some rocks. They told us that their plan had been to get Mt. Blue Sky starting at the Mt. Bierstadt trailhead and going through the willows, the next section of our hike. They lamented that it had taken them five hours to get to where they sat, and they weren’t planning on going any farther. They said that the willows were awful, that they walked through mud up to their hips. Others’ reports on AllTrails were mixed: some said that the willows were the worst part of their day and had them questioning their life decisions; others that it wasn’t as bad as people were saying. Soon, we’d make up our own minds.

Looking back at the gully.

In addition to pikas, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep, there were plenty of marmots, sunning on rocks and flapping their tails as they walk. This is not a close-up shot; it was that close to us and showed no fear.

John in the willows. Reports noted that they could be over your head. I guess that they were at a few short sections, but there was a distinct path, and you’re not really bushwhacking through them. Some people are dramatic and seem to make things sound harder than they are (I hope that’s not me!). I actually really enjoy bushwacking and consider the scratches to be cool, so maybe I’m not a good judge of this.

I had to make this face for dramatic effect, but the mud wasn’t bad, as long as you stayed to the left of the creek, on the herdpath. Like I said, I kind of like this stuff.

The path through the willows eventually rejoins the Mt. Bierstadt Trail. Then you only have a quarter mile or so to go (a little longer for us because we parked in the upper lot). There’s a water crossing that I walked through to clean off some of the mud. Even though we were flying out early the next morning, I knew that my shoes and socks would dry quickly if I put them on the dashboard and let the strong Colorado sun heat them up. Works like a charm.

Looking back at where we started from. We lucked out and did not get rained on.

Getting Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Blue Sky meant that we completed all of the 14-ers of the Front Range. We went home feeling very accomplished, adding two more class-3 hikes under our belts (Longs Peak via the Keyhole was the first), and now have 19 of the 58 mountains over 14,000 feet.

STATS

12.1 miles
4,300′ elevation gain
8 hours

Other hikes you might like:

DeCaLiBron

Grays Peak & Torreys Peak

Father Dyer’s, Crystal Peak and Peak 10

Colorado 14-ers – Mt. Bierstadt & Mt. Blue Sky

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