I Did It

On Saturday, I knocked off my 7th 14er. I climbed Mt. Evans (14,265 Ft). I had been to the top of Mt Evans twice previously, but this is the first time I truly hiked to the top. I just can’t count driving to within a quarter of mile from the top as a hike. A lot of people drive up to Summit Lake (12,834 Ft) and hike up. I decided that was too easy and wasn’t challenging enough. So I started my hike from Echo Lake (10,597 Ft) by following the Chicago Lakes Trail. The hike starts off by losing about 300 to 400 feet in elevation. It felt like a lot more on the way back. I walked by the Idaho Springs Reservoir and after about 2 miles I came to the Mt Evans Wilderness Boundary. There was a sign that said 6.3 miles to Mt. Evans. I still had a ways to go. I hiked on by the Chicago Lakes. The lakes are worthy of hike all by their selves. They are extremely gorgeous with cliffs all around them.

The first Chicago Lake. Mt. Spalding is on the right in the sunlight.

Looking down on the first Chicago Lake from the 2nd one.

From the Chicago Lakes, I climbed up to the saddle between Mt. Warren and Mt. Spalding. It was a steep haul. Summit Lake is just on the other side of the saddle. Summit Lake is where I started seeing people. I hadn’t seen a soul before that.

Looking down on the Chicago Lakes. Longs Peak is visible on the horizon on the left.

Summit Lake and Mt. Evans

From the saddle, I took a right and started up Mt. Spalding (13,842 Ft). It was a little discouraging being passed by some of the hikers just starting out from Summit Lake. I was pretty tired at this point. I made it up and over Mt. Spalding. There were lots of people on the trail. Most had come from Summit Lake, but some had come from Mt. Bierstadt via the Sawtooth route. The summit of Mt. Bierstadt looked crowded. It was quite busy when I did it a few years ago.

Mt. Bierstadt and Abyss Lake

The closer I got to the summit, the more people I saw. The road came into view, and there were cars and people everywhere. It was too much to take. I went to the top, got my summit photo, had some water, soaked in the view briefly, and then started down the same way I came.

Summit Lake from the summit of Mt. Evans

Me on the summit

A marmot watching me in the saddle between Mt. Evans and Mt. Spalding

Going down was tough. The legs were tired and my energy was low. I had to take a few more breaks than usual going down. Going down can be dangerous if you’re tired. I was careful, and I made it. Looking back, I’m not sure if I would recommend taking the long way like I did. It is too discouraging seeing all the people who drove up after you’ve hiked all that way. At least I can say that I did it though. I’ll have to deal with this once more if I ever decide to make Pikes Peak legit. (It is not included in my 14er count.)

Happy Trails…

-MM