Drive up Mt. Evans

Most people that go to CO for vacation have hear about Pikes Peak and a lot of people go there.  However, Mt Evans (near Idaho Springs, CO) is about the same height as Pikes Peak and a lot of people have never heard of it.  We went there twice in 2011.  The first time we went it was really cloudy and when we got up the next morning (we were staying near to Mt. Evans) it was clear so we decide to go again.  The pictures below are from the drive up the mountain.  Note: The road to Mt. Evans is not as good as the road to Pikes Peak so if the drive up to Pikes Peak scares you I wouldn't recommend that you drive this road.

Mt. Evans--II

Not to be outdone by the weather we got up the next morning and decided to head back up Mt. Evans for a second time.  The time the weather was a little more cooperative.  It was absolutely gorgeous as we drove up and back.  The road is not for people who are scared of heights.  In some places if you went over the edge you wouldn't stop rolling for a long time because it's straight down.  The road is not exceptionally wide either and you ALWAYS meet a few people who shouldn't be driving it because they want to take their half of the road in the middle.   You can see their face and see that they are scared to death. The only thing that would ever concern me is other people like the ones I just mentioned.  If you don't have confidence that you can stay in a lane 8 feet wide then you shouldn't be driving that road.

Mt. Evans

Before I leave the reunion I want to show one more thing and that is a short video of one of the hummingbird feeders there.



On of the first things we did on vacation after the reunion was to drive up Mt Evans (14,200 feet at the summit) which is near Idaho Springs, CO. Mt Evans is advertised as the highest paved road in North America...don't know whether is true or not but that is their ad.  The weather didn't cooperate with  us when we went up.  It was okay at the bottom but as we went up it got foggy and then eventually started raining.

Above....Look at the road down there. It winds back an forth and there is no guardrails any place so you have to pay attention to what you are doing.

On the way down we saw the mountain goats crossing the road.  They must be used to humans because the didn't seem very afraid of us.

The two shots above are of Georgetown, CO where we spent the night.  In the bottom picture you can see  I-70 as it winds it way past Georgetown.