It took me 14 months to make it to Mount Evans...and I am so glad I was able to catch it on the last weekend they were open this season. Mount Evans highway is the highest paved road in North America and gains about 7,000 feet in elevation in 28 miles to reach the summit at 14,264 feet. Well, no, the parking lot at sign is at 14,130 feet and then you need to walk up 134 feet on a trail to get to the top.
Stiff and I made plans to head up to Mt. Evans. The morning of, I got nervous, my area had a massive cloud and I worried that visibility from the top would be horrible...and did they get snow from the rain the night before? But as we drove west on i-70 it started to clear up. When we got to the pay booth the attendant informed us that the road to the top was open....but it was 'snowpacked' and icy after mile 6. Since we got there around 11:30, I was hoping that the afternoon sun melted the snow but was happy Stiff was driving just in case.
The ride up was pretty.
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| Echo Lake, 10,600 feet |
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| Summit Lake, 13,00 feet |
The summit was only 35 degrees. While I brought my winter down jacket, gloves and an ear thing, I only wore my jacket...mistake. My hands and ears were freezing. The walk up the trail to the top wasn't bad...there was a dusting of snow in some places and a tad bit of ice but it wasn't bad at all. We spent some time taking in the views, getting pictures and then this photographer was there and we were a part of his picture too.
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| A few from the top |
and the way back down...
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| winding road....there are NO guard rails |
And I saw mountain goats in the 'wild' for the first time! I had my 200 camera lens with me...which clearly wasn't zoom enough and binoculars which really helped to see them.
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| My first Mountain Goat sighting |
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| It's Autumn! Down at the beginning of the highway |
I am so happy I finally got up here. And it was free for me because I have the National Park Pass, so I saved $10. It was such a perfect day. The timing of everything, the weather, the company...I had such a great day.
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