Mount Elbert Governor of the Territory of Colorado from 1873 to 1874. Henry W. Stuckle of the Hayden Survey was the first to record an ascent of the peak, in 1874. The easiest and most popular climbing routes are categorized as Class 1 to 2 or A+ in mountaineering parlance. Mount Elbert is therefore often referred to as the "gentle giant" that tops all others in the Rocky Mountains. Mount Elbert is visible to the southwest of Leadville, often snow-capped even in the summer. Many other fourteeners surround Elbert in all directions, and it is very close to central Colorado's Collegiate Peaks.
Aberdare Range and the distant Mau Escarpment can be seen from peaks in the range. The range has a maximum elevation of above sea level and is heavily forested. The former name of the range survives in Mount Satima ("the mountain of the young bull"), the highest peak in the Aberdare Range. The second-highest peak, at the southern end of the range, is Mount Kinangop at . Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro lies east of the Aberdare Range. The Aberdares are the water catchment area for the Sasumua dam and the Ndakaini dam, which provide most of