Mount Bierstadt

Mount Bierstadt is a 14,065-foot-high (4,287 m) mountain summit in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The fourteener is located in the Mount Evans Wilderness of Pike National Forest, 9.4 miles (15.1 km) south by east (bearing 171°) of the Town of Georgetown in Clear Creek County.[1][2][3][4] It was named in honor of Albert Bierstadt, an American landscape painter who made the first recorded summit of the mountain in 1863.

Mount Bierstadt
Reflections of Mount Bierstadt (right) and The Sawtooth (left)
Highest point
Elevation14,065 ft (4,287 m)[1][2]
Prominence720 ft (219 m)[3]
Isolation1.12 mi (1.80 km)[3]
ListingColorado Fourteener 38th
Coordinates39°34′57″N 105°40′08″W[1]
Naming
EtymologyAlbert Bierstadt
Geography
Mount Bierstadt is located in Colorado
Mount Bierstadt
Mount Bierstadt
LocationClear Creek County, Colorado, United States[4]
Parent rangeFront Range, Colorado Peaks[3]
Topo mapUSGS 7.5' topographic map
Mount Evans, Colorado[1]
Climbing
First ascent1863 Albert Bierstadt[3]
Easiest routeWest Slopes: Hike, class 2[5]

Mountain

Mount Bierstadt is located 1.4 miles (2.2 km) west by south of Mount Blue Sky and 43.8 miles (70.5 km) west by south of downtown Denver.

Because it is generally considered an easy climb, along with its accessibility from nearby Denver, Mount Bierstadt is one of the most popular mountains to climb in Colorado. As with most peaks in Colorado, July and August make the best months for climbing Mount Bierstadt.

The most popular base from which to begin ascent of Mount Bierstadt is Guanella Pass, located to the west. From Guanella Pass it is approximately a 7 miles (11 km) hike, with a climb of 2,391 feet (729 m). The trail descends slightly into the fairly level marshlands surrounding Scott Gomer Creek before reaching Bierstadt's western slopes. On the rocky upper regions of the mountain the route of the trail is marked by a series of cairns. The trail levels about 200 feet (61 m) below the summit at saddle point before beginning the final ascent. Alternative trails cover the eastern slopes for longer hikes.

Once at the summit, a popular option is to continue the hike to nearby Mount Blue Sky along a ridge known as The Sawtooth, an intermediate-level hike that overlooks Abyss Lake, which occupies the bottom of the valley separating Bierstadt and Blue Sky.

Albert Bierstadt's painting A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie is based on sketches he made during his 1863 visit to the area. That painting shows either Mount Spalding or Mount Blue Sky (it is ambiguous) from the Chicago Lakes, 3 miles (4.8 km) north-northwest, but Bierstadt and his guide William Byers climbed onward to the summit of either Blue Sky or Spalding (the account is ambiguous).[6]

Climate
Climate data for Mount Bierstadt 39.5812 N, 105.6671 W, Elevation: 13,494 ft (4,113 m) (1991–2020 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 20.0
(−6.7)		 19.2
(−7.1)		 25.3
(−3.7)		 32.1
(0.1)		 40.5
(4.7)		 51.2
(10.7)		 56.9
(13.8)		 54.3
(12.4)		 48.3
(9.1)		 37.5
(3.1)		 26.8
(−2.9)		 20.2
(−6.6)		 36.0
(2.2)
Daily mean °F (°C) 9.3
(−12.6)		 8.4
(−13.1)		 13.7
(−10.2)		 19.5
(−6.9)		 28.1
(−2.2)		 38.2
(3.4)		 44.2
(6.8)		 42.3
(5.7)		 36.2
(2.3)		 26.1
(−3.3)		 16.5
(−8.6)		 9.8
(−12.3)		 24.4
(−4.2)
Average low °F (°C) −1.3
(−18.5)		 −2.3
(−19.1)		 2.2
(−16.6)		 6.9
(−13.9)		 15.8
(−9.0)		 25.2
(−3.8)		 31.4
(−0.3)		 30.2
(−1.0)		 24.1
(−4.4)		 14.7
(−9.6)		 6.2
(−14.3)		 −0.5
(−18.1)		 12.7
(−10.7)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.18
(81)		 3.22
(82)		 3.26
(83)		 4.25
(108)		 3.07
(78)		 1.92
(49)		 3.81
(97)		 3.28
(83)		 2.18
(55)		 2.08
(53)		 2.86
(73)		 2.93
(74)		 36.04
(916)
Source: PRISM Climate Group[7]

See also

References
  1. "BIERSTADT". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  2. The elevation of Mount Bierstadt includes an adjustment of +1.790 m (+5.87 ft) from NGVD 29 to NAVD 88.
  3. "Mount Bierstadt, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  4. "Mount Bierstadt". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  5. "Mt. Bierstadt Routes". 14ers.com.
  6. William Newton Byers (1890). "Bierstadt's Visit to Colorado -- Sketching for the famous painting "Storm in the Rocky Mountains"". Magazine of Western History. Vol. 9, no. 3. p. 237.
  7. "PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University". PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University. Retrieved October 10, 2023. To find the table data on the PRISM website, start by clicking Coordinates (under Location); copy Latitude and Longitude figures from top of table; click Zoom to location; click Precipitation, Minimum temp, Mean temp, Maximum temp; click 30-year normals, 1991-2020; click 800m; click Retrieve Time Series button.
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