(Driving on the I70 West right out of Denver about 15-20 minutes from our house)
For today's day trip we decided to drive to the peak of
Mount Evans. We did not make it out of the house until almost 10 am but fortunately this was another nearby adventure. We drove from our house to Idaho Springs about 40 miles to begin 28 mile journey up 7,000 ft in elevation on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway. This road is the highest paved road in North America and loaded with tourist, motorcycles, bicyclists and hikers.
On the way up we passed by
Echo Lake Park, a beautiful, serene place to hike, picnic, fish or just hang out. There are barbecue grills here and the smell of hamburgers and hot dogs made the starving Jen crazy!
Once on Highway 5 the narrow switchbacks and bicyclists made for a nervous drive at times. But the immense beauty that surrounded us made it worth it.
Next we stopped at this nature center to view Wildflowers and the rare Bristlecone Pine Trees that apparently are the longest living organisms known to man?
Once we reached
Summit Lake we pulled over to use the restroom and get a few pics. Usually there is a hiking trail to take up to the peak from this point but it was closed in an effort to make it handicap accessible. We met so many people who were traveling from all over the country and would ask us where we traveled from? We would say oh just south of Denver, about 60 miles from here.
(Scott and I at Summit Lake)