Mt. Elbert Trail Run Loop

An overview of the route starting from the upper-South Elbert TH. Click to enlarge.

With the Dirty 30 in the rearview and the San Juan Solstice only a week away, I was looking for a good training option to bridge the fourteen day gap between the two races. My eye landed on Mt. Elbert and the natural loop that can be made out of its two primary hiking routes. It wound up being a near-perfect run in the sun with Jax, and a fine way to revisit the roof of Colorado on foot for the first time since 2003.

More on that for a second… Mt. Elbert happened to be my first 14er, as it is for many, when I was still in high school and just 18-years-old. One summer weekend my Dad and his friend Terry decided to check it off their bucket list and they figured they’d drag me along. I remember the top part of the peak didn’t even have much of a defined trail, and we somehow descended the wrong ridge and had to hitch a ride with some German guys from the South Elbert TH back to our car. In many ways that day marked the beginning of my 14er journey, and subsequent pursuit of Colorado’s high peaks and the countless adventures they offer up in all seasons.

On the east ridge trail with Elbert still looking far off.

Fast forward to 2007 and true to form, Elbert was the first 14er I skied (I was actually on a snowboard) down the Box Creek Cirque route. Then in January of 2010 Carl and I returned with actual skis and made turns off the summit down the windblown east ridge on a cold winter day. And that was the last time I had visited the highest point in the state prior to this past Thursday.

Enjoying the bomber trail with the peak drawing nearer.

Anyway, onto the loop. The idea to connect the east and northeast ridges via the Colorado Trail is not a new one. And looking at a map it makes perfect sense, especially these days with wide, CFI-curated trails all the way to the summit and back down both ridges. I never really figured I’d return to certain 14ers to experience cruiser alpine trails from a running perspective, but it has certainly evolved into an enticing aspect of revisiting Colorado’s high peaks.

The Box Creek Cirque looking a little thin.

Jax and I made good time up the east ridge trail and hit the summit around 9am. Being a weekday there were only 3 or 4 people up there and I hardly ran into anyone the whole way up. Kind of crazy how even the most popular outings in the state can still be shared with a reasonable number of people depending on the day.

Summit views to the south. Still some snow on La Plata’s north face for all you summer ski crazies. Click to enlarge.

Jax cooling off on top of Colorado, his second summit of Elbert as Anna-Lisa had brought him up here once before.

After a short stay I began the descent and made sure to catch the North Mt. Elbert Trail just off the summit. The run back down below treeline went quickly and before long I was at the Colorado Trail junction, roughly 4 miles from the South Elbert TH.

Hang a left here.

On the Colorado Trail. It was lush through this section and the shade was welcomed by this point in the day.

Red Columbine coming into bloom. Click to enlarge.

After the mellow jog down and around the base of Elbert, with a few pit stops for Jax to cool off in the creek crossings, we capped off the 13.2 mile, 4,550 ft loop.

Although there are benefits to running the loop in either direction I’d have to say counterclockwise might be the way to go. The northeast ridge is slightly steeper and rockier than the east ridge and would’ve made for a better ascent route, with the east ridge providing a smoother, more gradual descent. That said the cruiser miles along the CT are nice at the end of the day and sometimes there’s something to be said for getting the bulk of the climbing over early before daytime temps heat up. Either way you can’t really go wrong. It’s a great loop.

A post-run brew in the shade, then it was off to work for the afternoon.

And with that I’ll be heading down to Lake City for another go at the San Juan Solstice 50 with Dave (Zambo). Here’s hoping for another successful day down there.

Happy summer 🙂