Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help?

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rking007
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Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help?

Post by rking007 »

Hey all,

Was just sitting here looking at the google earth maps for the Mt Evans area and was wondering if anyone can confirm my approximate guess as to this loop/line I want to do in terms of elevation gain and mileage...

Parking at, I believe, the Mt. Goliath Natural area or a turn off around there (at around 12,100 just above Lincoln lake), heading up Rodgers peak, over to Mt. Warren, down to Summit Lake, up and over to Gray Wolf Mountain, over to either Spalding or the Sawtooth (can't decide what to hit first here), and then up the ridge to get West Evans and finally Evans proper. My plan is to meet up with some family in the upper parking lot (they are from Florida and have never been up on a high peak like this) and then either hike back down to my car or more likely have them drive me down and go get pizza in Idaho Springs.

So, based on eyeballing it it looks like about a 7 mile trip from the parking lot to the summit of Evans with about 4150 in total elevation gain... is this accurate-ish? Thanks in advance!
- Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
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Rainier_Wolfcastle
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Re: Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help

Post by Rainier_Wolfcastle »

I have covered all that terrain, but not as a continuous loop. I would put it at around 8.0 miles and 4,500 ft of gain from the upper Goliath lot (which is before Lincoln Lake) to Rogers (1.5 & 1200), Warren(1.0 & 400), Spalding (1.5 & 1000), Gray Wolf (1.25 & 600), and ending on the Summit of Evans (2.75 & 1300).

Maybe somebody has better advice, but I would descend Warren to Summit Lake, then take the established trail to the North of the lake right up to Spalding (ie hit up Spalding before Gray Wolf). Of course after that, it is just a long slog to Gray Wolf and then back to Evans...the first time I was up there, it really suprised me how far Gray Wolf and Evans are apart.
Shawn
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Jim Davies
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Re: Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help

Post by Jim Davies »

Following the rim between Spalding and Grey Wolf is pretty neat, as views of the cliffs and down into Chicago Lakes from there are great.
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Mark A Steiner
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Re: Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help

Post by Mark A Steiner »

You can also stroll from Spalding to the Sawtooth across the rolling granitic highland with no technical effort - sort of like hiking Sawtooth through the back door. As Jim said, views are awesome.
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Re: Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help

Post by rking007 »

I'm definitely planning on hugging the rim for good photo opportunities. Hoping to get some cool perspective of Evans from Rodgers or Warren too. Figure it's an easier day out, close to Denver, and should avoid the masses for the most part except of course at the upper parking lot area, plus I wanna give my new Canon f4 24-105 L series lens a workout... hopefully will bring back some good shots.
- Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
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Re: Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help

Post by HuskyRunner »

rking007 wrote:I'm definitely planning on hugging the rim for good photo opportunities. Hoping to get some cool perspective of Evans from Rodgers or Warren too. Figure it's an easier day out, close to Denver, and should avoid the masses for the most part except of course at the upper parking lot area, plus I wanna give my new Canon f4 24-105 L series lens a workout... hopefully will bring back some good shots.
You'll likely start having company on Spalding, did the Sawtooth a few weeks ago and took a jog over to Spalding, plenty of people hiking up from Summit Lake to Spalding then over to West Evans, Evans, looping back to Summit Lake. Should be a nice outing though.
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Re: Mt. Evans area 13ers... approx ele gain and mileage help

Post by TravelingMatt »

HuskyRunner wrote:You'll likely start having company on Spalding, did the Sawtooth a few weeks ago and took a jog over to Spalding, plenty of people hiking up from Summit Lake to Spalding then over to West Evans, Evans, looping back to Summit Lake. Should be a nice outing though.
Maybe if it's the weekend. I did the Spalding/GW combo yesterday from Guanella Pass and didn't see another person all day. Well, I saw people going up and down Bierstadt and in and around the various parking lots, but none anywhere on "my" mountains. :)
You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough. -- William Blake
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