Mount Evans

We found out that the Mount Evans road (half of the Mount Evans "Scenic Byway") was going to close for winter on Monday. The road - the highest paved in North America - is 14 miles long and goes pretty close to the summit. Mount Evans is 14,265' tall

The Byway is 28-miles long with the additional 14 miles between Mount Evans road and I-70. Foliage is awesome right now





The final 5.4 miles to the summit has been closed for a month now - which is great if you want to run to the summit. We parked under the peak at Summit Lake



It was a sunny cool day and very quiet with no vehicles









Mount Bierstadt - a 14'er just 1.5-miles away. It is considered an easy 14'er so we may try it in the next few weeks



Grays and Torreys - a pair of 14'ers Leadville Chuck wants to do next week



The approach. A parking lot for when the entire road is open and a University of Denver optical observatory (third highest in the world)



The summit is another 1/4 mile and an easy 300'

Obviously a "controversial" 14'er for the pure. We're taking credit and claiming it as our 2nd 14'er





The views are spectacular - although not as spectacular as either Quandary or South Arapaho. Maybe the sun was too bright





Saw critters on the run back. Mountain goat



Marmot



We hustled down best we could as there were a few stormy clouds but the pavement took a toll. We're used to dirt trails or packed gravel. It was more of a slow steady jog



Back at the car. No storm



The road is very sketchy to drive at times - no guardrails and steep drop-offs



The drive back to I-70. Plenty of folks pulled over taking pics