We only saw five others on the mountain and we ended up with a little caravan of people ascending around the same time.  On its own, Bierstadt is a straightforward class 1 hike but can be combined with Mount Evans via the Sawtooth traverse to double up on the day (this traverse is a class 3 hike and better for the summer months). 

The first mile and a half is very flat until you begin up the switchbacks to the ridge-line. The posts set in the ground up to the ridge made for very easy route finding even in the snow. As we ascended we could see where a cornice had built up on the edge of the bowl. It was a pretty gradual climb and easy to spot the false summit (which sits just in front of the true summit) from the beginning of the hike. 

We had our snowshoes on but the last push up to the false summit was a mix of rock and soft snow so we were either dragging the shoes over rock or plunging into the snow. The last small push from the false summit to the top was a joy and the wind was subdued enough for some a little bit of drone footage. We climbed about 3,100 feet (including the extra from the winter parking lot) and summited at 12:30pm. 

We had our sandwiches and made our way back down. We zipped down until we reached the last few miles where we gradually climbed back up to the summer trailhead. This was made more tedious by the soft, sun-baked snow we continued to posthole in. We reached the car around 3:30pm and headed home with a quick pit stop at The Golden Mill in Golden for some chicken sandwiches, beers, and ice cream. In total our watches read 9 miles, 8.5 hours, 3,100 feet on the day from the winter parking lot. 

I didn’t realize a timed entry permit is required to access the summit and trailhead area. I ended up car camping the night before in the lot about .3 miles short of the Summit Lake lot (before the “fee zone” sign) and left my car there while hiking. I didn’t get ticketed here but I did see a ranger checking for permits in the trailhead lot. 
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You have a great view of the entire ridgeline over the lake as you start the hike up towards Mount Spaulding. I started up the standard Big Sky and Spaulding Trail around 6:45am. There is a bit of route finding early on, as you ascend towards Mount Spaulding make sure you stay climbers right and head up towards the ridgeline early on to stay in class 2 terrain. I ended up below the ridge and ended up traversing some class 3/3+ terrain and up the gully to the top of Mount Spaulding. It’s easy to do, it looks like a trail.

Soon enough the parking lot with the observation tower and rock structure came into view and a quick scramble brought us to the top of Mount Blue Sky. We saw a number of mountain goats on the trail minding their own business, including one at the summit perched on a rock ledge. 

You have a clear view of Mount Bierstadt to the west from the hike up Mount Blue Sky and a good view of the Sawtooth traverse. This Sawtooth connects Bierstadt and Blue Sky and does look like some fairly challenging class 3 terrain from a distance. 

The hike is just over 2,000ft and 5.5 miles. The route took 5 hours but I credit that to mixing up the ascent on Spaulding, the extra fun scrambling, and lots of mountain goats.