I was itching to get out and climb something, but just didn't have much time the last couple weeks. After my last successful climb of Pyramid Peak, I had to go into work on a day off that I had planned to use climbing the Tour D'Abyss again. The next week I was rained off Mount Wilson El Diente. This week I was on call for work, which meant I had to be available at least from 16:00 to 09:00 - during the day I'd be covered. I couldn't get an early start for a climb, but on Wednesday I decided to drive up to Mount Evans with a light pack and see what would happen.

The weather Tuesday was nasty: tornado warnings, torrential downpours and hail at our house. Wednesday's weather report didn't look much better. I thought I could at least drive up to the summit and bum around at 14K, maybe just watch lightning from the Jeep if it got bad. At around 11:00 I left home and after paying the $10 to use the Mount Evans Road I arrived at the summit at about 12:30. I got my gear together: Camelback, 1 quart water, a handful of GU shots, camera, shell jacket, hat and gloves. I walked up to the summit and evaluated the weather. It actually didn't look too bad; cloudy, but no electrical storms or rain. At 12:45 I took off down the west ridge of Evans, heading for the Sawtooth. Near the end of the ridge were a group of about a dozen mountain goats.

About 20 minutes later I was on the flats between Evans and the Sawtooth. I kept close to the edge of the Sawtooth, looking for the entrance onto the ridge. Last year I had come from Bierstadt when I did the Sawtooth, so I wasn't exactly sure where my entrance was. After 2 or 3 "teeth" I had to descend to avoid a sheer drop, then I found a few cairns marking the way on to the ridge. I scooted along the dirt ramp leading down to the ridge, which is the crux of the route. Following cairns and a rough trail, I made my way down the ridge and crossed over to the south side. So far, so good - then some graupel started falling. It wasn't very heavy but it was starting to make the rocks slick, and I discovered that my light hiking boots have horrible wet rock traction. This made the climb a lot more interesting, but it still wasn't too scary - I just had to be very careful when weighting my feet. It's back to my dependable old Makalus from here on out...

It didn't take too long and I reached the 13,200' saddle on the ridge. I cut left of the ridge on the way up to Bierstadt's summit, and was about halfway there when I heard the first thunder. It was far away, but I hurried up the talus slope and reached the summit at 14:15. I turned right back around and headed back down the ridge. I wasn't sure about the weather conditions, I was starting to hear more thunder but it still wasn't too close. Just near the saddle I heard a loud boom and decided to retreat off to the south below the ridge, into the head of the Abyss Basin. I went a couple hundred feet below the ridge and found a good spot to wait out the storm, and I put on my shell jacket. I was thinking of possible retreat routes if the lightning didn't get any better; I could go all the way down the Abyss Basin and climb up to the saddle between Evans and Epaulet, then hike or hitch up the road back to the summit when the coast was clear. It looked like I could bypass the Sawtooth and reach the flats from Abyss Basin, but it was steep looking. If I could get past the Sawtooth but didn't like Evans's west ridge, I could cut over to Spalding and descend to Summit Lake. I didn't really like any of these choices but they kept me off the highest ridges.

After 15 minutes of hearing no more close thunder, and seeing patches of blue sky coming over the Sawtooth from the north, I thought I had my weather window and climbed back up to the ridge. It didn't take long to reach the crux ramp leading off the ridge and onto the flats, then I heard a voice above and behind me. Another climber I had seen just before reaching Bierstadt was off route, must have missed the cairns marking the crossover to the north side of the ridge leading to the ramp. I hollered that the best way out was over here, and he downclimbed a little and found a nice ledge leading straight over to me. We both exited the ridge and found ourselves on the flats.

My new climbing partner was from Sweden, he had stayed the summer at Grand Lake to work and was trying to get in one more climb before heading back home. He had taken Bierstadt's east ridge to the summit, having reached the ridge above the crux tower (Point 13641), and was circling back to take in Evans' summit. We took my usual low line across the first half of Evans' west ridge, climbed back near the ridge crest, then reached the summit at 16:05. After relaxing a little while I thought I should start heading home, after leaving a message with Donna that I was on the way back. I gave Bjorn a ride back to his car, which should have been at the switchback near the Evans-Epaulet saddle, but he had pulled off too soon and he was parked at the Summit Lake side of the ridge. We passed another group of goats, and Bjorn took a couple pictures. I dropped him off and continued home, satisified with a nice short climb.

I learned a couple things on this hike: don't climb with my light hikers and don't rely just on GUs for fuel. For some reason the GU gives me a nice short burst of energy, but I crash too quickly, and I was starting to feel spent near Evans' summit. Maybe if I took them more often... but my usual combination of GUs and Clif bars seems to carry me through my hikes very well.