Last month
I had a free afternoon and decided to drive to the summit of Mt. Evans which is the highest paved road in the U.S. Its just over an hour and a world away from Denver. It was 90 degrees in town and about 45 degrees at the summit. Temperatures drop 3.5 - 5 degrees for every 1,000 feet of elevation gained. The temperature is typically cold and windy, with an average summer daytime temp of around 42 degrees at the top. It can snow any day during the summer. Originally proposed as the middle section of the Peak to Peak Highway from Longs Peak to Pikes Peak it was to continue over the west side of the mountain to Grant, Co and connect with Highway 285. Linking these three 14,000-foot peaks by roadway proved unfeasible at the time. Construction began in 1917 and was completed in 1927 which was nearly twenty years after the road up the north side of Pikes Peak was completed in 1888. The road has some decent ‘pucker factor’ and I encourage anyone with the opportunity to drive it to do so. Unfortunately I grabbed the wrong lens bag and as a result I didn’t have any long lenses - everything was shot with an 18-55mm - less spectacular for sure. I should mention the road is open from about Memorial day to about Labor day depending upon the weather.
If I had planned to post these photos on SSP I would have taken more shots from the beginning of the trip starting in Idaho Springs, however it didn’t occur to me to post a thread until I returned. Anyway I jumped off I-70 at Idaho Springs and headed toward Echo Lake on 103 toward the Mt. Evans Scenic Byway.
Idaho Springs - elevation 7,526. A mining town founded in 1859 by prospectors during the early days of the Pike’s Peak gold rush.
Echo Lake - 10,600 ft. Added to the Denver Mountain Parks system in 1921.
Starting to pull a little now - we're near timber line.
That’s Pikes Peak (14,110’) in the distance. Approximately 61 miles or so as ‘the crow flies’.
Summit Lake Park - The highest park in the Denver Mountain Parks system at 12,830’. The site was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1965 due to its extraordinary characteristics. Despite its location in the alpine environment it is the only arctic zone in the lower 48. Permafrost, unique to the dry alpine tundra is present, along with rare plants usually found above the Arctic Circle. This has to be the highest city -owned park in the states. The next few shots are of Summit Lake Park.
Back on the road again above Summit Lake.
Looking back down at the road which I believe to be at about 13,000 feet through that section.
Getting up there now - That’s Abyss Lake down below - (12,654 feet)
South Park is off to the left in this view.
We’re around 13,500 feet here
Still climbing
I’m now at the parking area/turn around (14,130‘). You’ll have to take my word for it as I didn’t take any shots. Behind me are the remains of the Crest House restaurant and souvenir shop, which burned down in 1979 and the Meyer-Womble/DU observatory.
EDIT: I pirated this shot from flikr - the observatory at 14,148 ft. elevation.
PHOTO: vbronnik, August 8, 2009.
View to the north - Longs Peak (14,259’) is visible along with dozen or so 13’ers in Rocky Mountain National Park about 46 miles distant ‘as the crow flies’.
Well from here I’ve got to slog the last 134 feet - gonna be rough. Typically getting to 14,000 plus will cost you some time and sweat, I’ll be at the summit in a couple minutes. You really do notice the lack of oxygen though, if you hike briskly.
Mt. Evans has the deepest cirques in the Rockies. There are seven of them.
Colorado is sometimes referred to as the ‘rooftop of the continent - and this view shows why. Approximately 90% of all the acreage above 10,000 feet in the lower 48 is located in Colorado.
Another look back at Pikes Peak.
Just a few feet below the summit.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen this is your Captain speaking. We have reached our cruising altitude of 14,258 ft. We're six feet below the summit
The summit - winds of up to 224 MPH have been recorded here at the top by Ralph Reiner, the caretaker of the Mount Evans Research Station.
Summit Lake down below at 12,830 feet.
The Continental Divide is less than ten miles west of Mt. Evans. It lies between Evans and the Keystone ski resort which is about fifteen miles west ‘as the crow flies’. All the precipitaton that falls here on Mt. Evans ends up in the Atlantic Ocean, everything that falls by Keystone ends up in the Pacific.
If you look closely you can see Denver near the center here - 38 miles as ‘the crow flies’ and 9,000 feet down. Right about now I’m really chapped that my 300mm is sitting in my closet .
And turning it around here is Mt. Evans from Denver.
There are 54 peaks over 14,000 feet (known as 14’ers) in the Rocky Mountains and all of them are in Colorado. The Front Range where Mt.Evans is located has six of those 14’ers. The Front Range also contains 76 peaks between 13,000’ and 13,999’. Colorado as a whole has 637 peaks between 13,000’ - 13,999’ (using the standard 300’ rule of prominence). To put that in perspective the rest of the Rocky Mountain states combined have 59 total peaks between 13,000’ and 13,999’.
Descending
At least 75% of the times I have driven this road I’ve seen Mountain Goats or Bighorn Sheep - welcome to the 25%. Although I might have missed them since I was busy following the road and avoiding an untimely death complete with closed-casket funeral.
EDIT - What trip would be complete without the obligatory Mountain Goat shots so I found these by Alton Vance on his trip up Mt. Evans in June of 2006.
Photo: Alton Vance, June 2006.
Photo: Alton Vance, June 2006.
In a few places the road really isn’t wide enough for two vehicles to pass safely and is in poor condition. Not much time for maintenance up here and the weather can be a bit prickly. Air-mail it over the edge here and you won’t stop until you reach Idaho Springs. Lincoln Lake is below at 11,624 feet.
This is the view looking back towards the road in the above photo. There are zero guardrails on this entire road.
This is near the Mount Goliath Research Natural Area (11,540’). It contains 160 protected acres of Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine - the oldest single living organisms on earth. There are trees here that are over 2,000 years old. I was pushed for time and didn't hike for any shots unfortunately.
A view of Echo Lake down below at 10,600 feet.
I’m rolling back into Idaho Springs when I see this
I wheeled back for a closer look because this thing was moving so much I thought it might be animated in some way - turns out it was just a strong wind.
Well that was my ride up Mt. Evans - check it out if you can as it’s more impressive in person. Thanks for viewing.
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