Once you are at Echo Lake, you start the climb to the top of the mountain. Follow
the signs and veer right after the Echo Lake lodge. Here you have to stop and pay
the $10 fee (as of summer 2001) to drive the road. Up until the summer of 1997, the
road was free. I asked the lady at the booth why they started charging and she said
it was because they have a guide at the Mount Goliath nature area (see picture) and for
road maintenance. I guess $6 isn't that much but it's a little disappointing after
it's been free for 70 years. In their defense, they do give you a pretty
non-informative brochure.Once past the gates, you immediately start to go up steep
hair-pin turns and get excited about what's to come. After a few miles of dense pine
forests, you get to the Mount Goliath natural area. In this area there are some
pretty interesting trees called bristlecone pines that they say have been around for about
2000 years! That's pretty damn amazing that you can get out and touch a tree that
was living when Christ was living. Other than that, not much to see (I didn't even
see that guide that the lady at the gate told me about).
After Mt. Goliath, around the next turn you hit timber line. To me timber line is
a strange phenomenon because it is always so sharp - meaning one minute you are in a dense
forest and the next it is totally void of trees. It just seems that it would be more
gradual. Off to the right, you can look down and see Echo Lake and the continental
divide above that - very beautiful.
After a few more turns, you get a complete view of the top of Mt. Evans and are treated
to incredible views of sheer cliffs all around you - kind of scary since there are no
guard rails at all on the road. Around this area, there are usually mountain goats
hanging out on the road.
To the left on a clear day you can see Pikes Peak off in the distance. After a
few more miles, you get to Summit Lake. Summit Lake is at about 12,700 feet and is
frozen most of the year. It only really thaws out in late July and August. It
is a very beautiful lake with massive cliffs surrounding it. There is a parking lot
there and some nice trails around the area. From Summit Lake you can look up at the
top of Mt. Evans. Now you are ready to make the last 5 miles of the road to the top.
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Map of Mount Evans Wilderness area
Entrance gate to Mt. Evans
The ticket they give you after paying
Clouds hover at the start of the road
Bristlecone Pine in the Mt. Goliath natural area
Looking down at Echo Lake the canyon right at tree line
Looking out towards the incredible number of peaks at timber line
Looking at the summit of Mt. Evans
Looking up a huge snow field at some mountain goats
Looking down one of the many glacier-carved valleys
Cool picture of some bighorn sheep on the road with massive cliffs in the background
Summit Lake - frozen
Mountain goat hanging out
Looking across Summit Lake at Mt. Evans
Looking North from Summit Lake at some good cliffs
Another view of Mt. Evans from Summit Lake
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