James Peak has an elevation of 13,294 ft, making it our first 13-er. There are several different ways to get to this peak, but we took the route through St. Mary's Glacier, which is 8.3 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of 3,064 ft.
The trail starts mostly rocky until you reach the lake at St. Mary's Glacier. From here, you ascend 1 mile up the 'glacier', which is more so an ice field on an incline. Don't wear Nike running shoes like I did. If you do this anyway, bring gloves so your hands are not constantly diving into ice every time you slip and fall. It doesn't feel good.
You can see the glacier to the right.
Once you reach the top, you will see James Peak directly ahead with Mt. Bancroft just to the left of it. The land here approaching the mountain plateaus for a bit. There have been reports of different types of wildlife being commonly found in this area, but we didn't see anything on our hike.
When you begin to ascend James Peak, you will see breathtaking views of neighboring Mt. Bancroft to the left.
This guy looks a little lost. ;)
We didn't get any shots from the summit because the second the reached the top, lightning and thunder struck, so we didn't stick around. We were out there late, and it started getting dark by the time we made it back to glacier. Again, proper shoes are highly recommended. I actually lost my camera out here that night, and it somehow survived 3 days on the glacier unscathed. (Shout out to Debbie in CO for finding it and returning it to me! I'm beyond grateful!!)
If you go:
St. Mary's Glacier to James Peak
Rating: Moderate - Strenuous
Elevation: 13,294
Distance: 8.3 Miles, round trip.
Elevation Gain: 3,064 feet
Highlights: Breath taking views, slipping and falling on the glacier, great camping area near the lake
