Mon 8/13 - AM 3 hour hike/run, Mt. Elbert

Not the most pleasant experience. The trail was much harder than I remembered it from the one other time I've visited here, only able to run for the first 20 minutes of the ascent before switching over to walking for almost the entire remainder of the trip up. Similar to the ascent up Pikes last week, I had pretty much decided to turn around well before the summit but kept going anyway. The false summit and  precipitously steep slopes above treeline did nothing to improve my mood. As an added bonus the clouds thickened and once above treeline the rain started, which became something more like ice pellets near the summit. The cotton gloves I brought which work well as potholders when cooking with the camp stove not so great under these conditions. With freezing hands and poor visibility at the summit I wasn't inclined  to stick around very long. Clouds descended faster than I was which led to pea soup conditions for a time while clambering down the steepest part of the trip down. Once things leveled off I was able to run the rest of the way although it was more of a get it over with putter. Rain continued  most of the rest of the day after that as well. Ugh.

 Twin Lakes, sort of

 the roof of Colorado with views for miles, or so I'm told

 summit ridgeline

the way down