On Monday we walked to Snooze’s for breakfast and returned with take-out to eat with J, J, J’s mom and little N.  Around noon we headed west again, driving past the old Argo mine in Idaho Springs again before heading south and up Mt. Evans.  The highway going to the peak of Mt. Evans is the highest paved roadway in America at 14,240 feet.  At many points it was a scary drive, but well worth it for the views.

As it turned out, we were visiting the park and road on the very last day before it would close for the winter. Before entering the road to the summit we stopped by Summit Lake.

view of Echo Lake from the road to the top:

At the top we found many resting mountain goats and many excellent bouldering opportunities.

As before, the air here is so thin that any exercise will wear you out very quickly.  We hopped around the peak though, as the view sliding down to the lake below could not be missed.  It’s much steeper and more dangerous in person than it looks in the photos.

That little bubble is the Meyer-Womble Observatory:

Over the cliffs just north of the peak was Summit Lake.

Driving back down the mountain was very slow both because of the danger, but also because I wanted to stop and take photos every two minutes.

At the higher elevations there were herds of mountain goats.  Below them were smaller critters.

At one point I walked down to a vantage point and came across a family of marmots.  They shriek like humans when they see you and scurry away.

The views were spectacular and (Sam stayed in the car on this stop) and I was the only human in sight.

The ground was a mix of moss, grass, and natural stone.  Sometimes on my way back I would stumble on duffel bag sized slabs of pure white marble just jutting from the earth.  It was an otherworldly setting that I’d like to return to on some warmer day when we have more time to enjoy it.

After leaving the road from the summit we ate dinner at the lodge by the lake as rain started to fall again.

I had a buffalo burger and it was probably the last one served until spring as the lodge was getting ready to close for the season.

And we had a big brownie sundae for desert.

We stopped a few more times on the road back down Mt. Evans to photograph the stormy pine covered lower ranges.

 

When we got closer to Denver and the sun was setting we exited the freeway and did a u-turn so we could watch the sunset next to the Buffalo (Bison?) field.

As always, higher res versions and many more photos from this trip here.