14,433

Last week I hiked to the summit of Mt. Elbert. While not known as one of the more difficult 14ers it is still exciting to stand on the highest point of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain range as well as the second highest point in the continental U.S. The standard hike is a bit over 4 miles one-way on good trail with about 1,000-ft elevation gain per mile. What the route lacks in scrambling areas it makes up in steepness. Even though I didn't start really, really early for the good morning light, I enjoyed the hike and the late-morning sun did a nice job of evenly lighting the exceptional view. I was far from alone on the summit which prevented me from getting a full 360-degree view without other people in the shots but the pano image here is about 3/4 of the way around and blended from 14 exposures. The weather was great but jet contrails were also plentiful.

So how many other 14ers can you count and ID from the panoramic? (Hint: Pikes Peak is the closest to the left edge, Mt. of the Holy Cross is the closest to the right.)

Click here for the LARGE (about 4mb) view: http://www.viewfindermedia.com/forumpics/Elbert_Pano1-LG.jpg

Here is most of the rest of the view seen from the summit that was not included in the first panoramic. This is looking toward the east/northeast and the town of Leadville. There are also some of the Mosquito/Tenmile 14ers in this shot as well as several other peaks.

Click here for the LARGE view: http://www.viewfindermedia.com/forumpics/ElbertEastView1-LG.jpg

No post would be complete without the quintessential summit marker image. Thanks for looking and replying.

Holy Moly! The clarity in that pano is incredible, Joshua! What lens do you use to shoot those?

Morris: These were taken with my trusty old (and lightweight!) Sigma 17-35mm on a Nikon D300.

Quite a day and quite a view, Joshua! All those basins sure look inviting. Do you suppose that's San Luis in the San Juans that you can see way off in the blue distance?

Joshua..pano view is just awesome!!

Josh, that pano is KILLER! Love the detail and colors

Awesome pano Josh!!

That big pano is awesome!

The pano shot is wonderful.

Awesome seems to be the word of the day on that pano, and I cannot disagree! Great shots all, Josh. I counted as many fourteeners as I could, but was having a hard time confirming some of the ones beyond Princeton along the hazy horizon line to the south. Antero and Shav/Tab are probably there. I also suspect Uncompahgre can be seen in clearer conditions, but perhaps not in this due to the haze to the southwest. Capitol and Snowmass sure stand out.

Thanks for looking everyone. After some Google Earth research, in the big pano I could clearly identify the 14ers (L to R): Pikes, Oxford, Harvard, Princeton, Belford, Yale, Antero, Shavano, Tabeguache, Missouri, Huron, La Plata, Castle, Pyramid, North Maroon Peak (I think "South" Maroon Peak is covered up by Pyramid), Snowmass, Capitol, Massive and Holy Cross. You can also see the very north part of the Sangres and parts of the San Juans way out in the blue haze. I can't quite make out the individual San Juan peaks though.

In the east pano you can see the summits of Quandary, Democrat, Cameron/Lincoln, Bross and Sherman. So from Elbert you can see about half of all of Colorado's 14ers. Pretty amazing!