Walking / Sightseeing TourMount Evans Scenic Byway

With summer just starting the weather has been warm enough I thought it would be a good time to give the Mount Evans Scenic Byway a try. The byway is the highest paved highway in North America. The mountain is 14,264 feet (4350 m) with the road taking the visitor to the 14,130 foot (4307 m) level. The last little gain in elevation must be done on foot.

Near the top is also located the University of Denver Meyer-Womble Observatory. This is the second highest observatory in the world at 14,148 feet (4312 m).

The beginning of the ride starts with an exit off I 70 at Idaho Springs. The interstate exit is clearly marked. The first part of the drive is not going to give cause to anyone for its steepness. The forests of the Rocky Mountains are very close to the road and the views are very pleasing to the eye.

Shortly however the road starts twisting and turning. The elevation starts gaining as the roads incline gets steeper and steeper. The first major stop off is Echo Lake. It is a nice sized lake with lots of people stopping for a little fishing or a picnic. There is a restaurant nearby with a gift shop. This is also the point that one can elect to go straight to Evergreen or take a right to start climbing the mountain in earnest.

There was a nominal fee of $10 for vehicle. It is only $3 for motorcycle and bicycles. In addition the resulting ticket is good for the next two days, a pretty good bargain for the price. This is used a lot by bicyclist. It is considered a very good challenge.

We paid our fee and started up the road. In just a short distance we started to climb. Soon we pass the Mount Goliath Natural Area. This is part of the Denver Botanical Gardens. It is currently under construction and was closed. As a result we were not able to visit yet. However it is scheduled to open sometime this year. This it will open in the next six weeks as here there are only three months June, July and winter. The upper portion of the trail from the visitor center leads the visitor to a section of the Mt. Evans Wilderness Area where the bristlecone pine grows. Members of this family are the oldest known living organisms on earth. There are known individuals in this area that are in excess of 1600 years old. The record is over 4000 years old and it was from the Great Basin area in the United States.

We continued up the byway until we reached the area near Mt. Warren. At this point, unfortunately the car overheated. While we were waiting for the car to cool my son went on up to the top to try and get a couple of shots from there. I stayed with the car. While he was gone I went across the road to a small area that was safe to stand and look down to the valley below. At first blush it was beautiful scenery and not much else. On closer examination however some of the view below my feet was moving. I grabbed the video camera and pull on full telephoto. At my feet was a large heard of elk spread out across the opening. Soon my son returned and we continued up the road to Summit Lake.

Summit Lake so called because it is the lake closes to the summit, has a short trail to an overlook with fantastic views. From here we could see the Chicago Lakes. This is also a major birthing ground for the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep and the Rocky Mountain Goat. The Bighorn is the Colorado State Animal. The Rocky Mountain Goat was never native to the state but was transplanted in the 1940's and 1950's. They have done well ever since. From the parking area to the overlook is a short quarter mile hike overlooking the lake. It is still covered with ice except around the fringes were subsurface ice looked emerald green.

Photographs that I uploaded included views of the Chicago Lakes. The one captioned Cliffs over Summit Lake was one taken from the top of Mt. Warren by my son.

After the hike we returned to the car. A brief discussion we decided to return home instead of going to the top in case there was something seriously wrong with the car. By the time we start back it is about 4 p.m. Which means many of the larger animals are going to start coming out. Near Lincoln Lake we saw a large Billy (male) goat. We stopped to get some photos, most of which were caught with his head down so I did not upload any of them. On the way back to the car we cast a glance down the ravine and noticed the bumper of a car where someone was not paying attention to the road and went over the edge.

Down and around a few more hairpins we came across a small heard of Bighorn Sheep. These did get uploaded. They were right on the road near the edge of the downhill slope. Near the edge brings up a good point. Much of the road has no guard rails nor shoulders. There is the mountain going up on one side and a cliff on the other. When driving the road pay attention. One small lapse could send one to an uncertain fate. Also some of the corners allow the passenger to view nothing but air as the road goes right to the edge. However the views are far reaching. We could see downtown Denver, 40 some odd miles away. We could also see Denver International Airport another 30 plus miles away. It is something special to see. There were small children up on the mountain but they do need to be watched. Many places are steep, the costs for inattentiveness could be extreme.