| Peak(s): |
Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Mt. Spaulding - 13842 The Sawtooth - 13766 West Evans - 14256 |
| Date Posted: | 10/04/2014 |
| Date Climbed: | 09/01/2014 |
| Author: | MtnHub |
| Peak(s): |
Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Mt. Spaulding - 13842 The Sawtooth - 13766 West Evans - 14256 |
| Date Posted: | 10/04/2014 |
| Date Climbed: | 09/01/2014 |
| Author: | MtnHub |
| Mt. Evans, et. al. |
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Mt. Evans, et. al.Sept. 1, 2014 Mt. Evans (14,264') Mt. Spaulding (13,842') The Sawstooth (13,766') West Evans (14,256') Summit Lake Trail Head (12,850') Elevation Gain: ~2000' Distance: ~ 6 miles Climbers: Peter A, MtnHub Introduction: The past week was marred with poor weather making it difficult to find a good day to climb anything new in either the Sangres or the Elks. To avoid wasting time and expense by traveling somewhere farther away and then getting rained out, I stayed with a friend in Beuna Vista and managed to get in a few repeat climbs: Missouri, Belford, and Yale. And I did have an excellent climb on Keller Mountain with some other friends two days previous, my first peak in the Gores. But Labor Day was coming up and my planned partner bailed out on me at the last minute. This left me with time on my hands, reasonably good weather predicted, and my agenda clear. I was staying once again in Longmont with my friend, Peter, and I didn't want to travel very far, but I also knew that anything in Denver's close proximity would be pretty crowded because of the last summer holiday. Peter and I had done Pawnee Peak about a week and a half ago as a warmup climb so I asked him if he would be interested in doing something else. I suggested Mt. Evans from Summit Lake. It would be a short and fairly easy climb, and although I knew it would be very crowded, I thought if we started early it wouldn't be too much of a problem. He agreed. The Climb: I drive us to the Mt. Evans Road and finally get a chance to use my Senior National Land & Parks Pass for the first time! I love the rental car I got, a Nissan Altima, but it did have a few little annoying warnings that kept popping up. On the way up the narrow, winding road, it first warns: Low Tire Pressure! This is not a warning you especially want to see on a remote roadway with absolutely no shoulder! I first saw this message a few days ago in the Sawatch. But when I checked all the tires they didn't appear to be visibly low. So not really having any options at hand, I can only hope the warning is erroneous and possibly due to the change we were making in elevation. We were nearly at 12,500' by this time. Then another warning goes off: Low Outside Temperature! This however is a bit more surprising, as the outside temperature that's indicated on the dashboard is 36 degrees! Maybe the auto engineers were just having a little fun putting dumb little warnings into the computer. We just keep driving up to the Summit Lake parking lot. When we arrive at Summit Lake a little after 7 a.m. there are already about 20 other vehicles parked in the lot. Gathering our gear we start up the walkway around the eastern edge of the lake. Mt. Spaulding is blazing brightly in the morning sunshine.  Before we get to the actual trail up the mountain, we make a quick stop at a visitor overlook with the valley of the Chicago Lakes stretching out below.    At first, the trail is a just a well-worn pathway. It sees a lot of traffic during the summer months and there are many hikers who are ascending along with us. We soon discover that today is also the last day the Mt. Evans Road is even open. It will close for the season beginning tomorrow. No wonder it's so crowded.    A short while later the trail passes over some rocky sections and a little scrambling is necessary.    Peter begins to feel the altitude about halfway up. He is struggling a bit and needs to take frequent breaks to catch his breath. As he knows I also want to hit a few of the surrounding peaks, he suggests that I go on ahead of him and we will meet somewhere in the saddle between Spaulding and Evans. He has a bright red jacket on which should make him easy to identify. It's agreed that this is a good plan. There are lots of other hikers around in case he gets into any serious trouble, so I start up the trail at my own pace.  At the summit I stop only briefly to quickly grab a granola bar and drink a little water.   Looking to the southwest, I see Mt. Bierstadt and the jagged edge of The Sawtooth, my next stop.  I start down the slope to the flat area between peaks and as I do, I come across another hiker in very unusual climbing garb. She is dressed in a religious habit complete with a white coif and veil, flowing tunic, and a black ankle-length cassock. She looks like the flying nun with a lacy white overlay. I ask how she is doing thinking that maybe all the fabric she needs to maneuver in might be rather cumbersome when climbing over unsteady rocks. But she replies with a jubilant voice, "I'm doing great!" Mountain lovers do come in every flavor! I continue on across the plateau and then up the slope to Sawtooth. From this side it isn't very striking but the view over its edge is pretty amazing. It gives an excellent perspective of the valley with Lake Abyss and the sharp jagged edge of the Sawtooth Traverse with Bierstadt towering above! It's great!   It's also easy to identify Grays and Torreys Peaks off to the northwest.  Turning my eyes back to the southeast, I see where I'm headed next: the Mt. Evans ridge. I haven't been on West Evans or the ridge to Mt. Evans summit before and this climb gives me an excellent opportunity to do it.  The wind has been stiff all morning, and again my fingers get cold and partially numb even with my mittens. It is blowing hard from the west, so at least while I'm climbing up to the ridge it will be at my back. It practically blows me right up and it's probably the first time climbing up steep rocks is almost easy. I do find some places where ice or snow has been hidden from the sun so a little care needs to be taken on occasion. There are also a few false summits and notches to go up and down along this ridge and I'm surprised at how fun it actually is. It is a super scramble and I enjoy it a lot more than I anticipated. West Evans offers some amazing views as well from a slightly different angle.    When I look along the ridge, I see that the summit really isn't too far away.  I was going to meet Peter somewhere in the flat saddle area which is now behind me quite a ways. I drop down to the trail where other hikers are traversing and look down the trail. I don't see any bright red jackets but I truly doubt that Peter has passed by either. I find a semi-sheltered spot from the wind and wait along the trail for about 10-15 minutes. After a little while I see the same nun that I saw before with two other nuns also in full habits and I ask them where they are from. They tell me they are all teachers at a Catholic school in Denver. I'm still amazed that they would have to keep their religious dress on even when hiking but they all seem to be having the time of their lives. When I meet a couple of other hikers I recognize from before on the way up Spaulding, I describe Peter to them hoping they remember seeing him. They confirm he is still coming up the trail, so I wait a little longer. But with the strong, chilly breeze, I get cold just sitting and not moving, so I start down the trail keeping my eyes peeled for Peter's jacket to come around the bend. I finally spot him, but he is moving very slowly and he's still a long ways down the trail. I continue to descend and when I finally reach him, he tells me he is not feeling well at all. He is obviously suffering from a touch of AMS as his breathing is difficult and he even feels a little nauseous at times. He needs to get to a lower elevation but there is little I can do for him at this point. I suggest that I go on ahead and climb back down to the car. I can then bring the car up to the Mt. Evans parking lot and pick him up but he will need to make it to the summit by himself. This seems the only logical thing to do. It will take me roughly an hour or more but I predict at the pace he is going, Peter should arrive on the summit in about the same time frame. I make it to the summit in about 15-20 minutes and I immediately drop down the Northeast route. This route is shorter but much steeper, and is composed of loose scree and gravel for the most part. It eventually drops down to the road and then follows it about a quarter mile back to the parking lot. But walking along the road with nearly bumper to bumper cars, I can tell right away that it will take some time to even drive the four miles up to the summit now. I get into the car and merge into the upward-bound lane. As expected, the flow of traffic is extremely slow, made worse because there are also several bicyclists going up the road as well. With all the traffic coming down, every vehicle going up needs to wait until there is a break in the flow in order to pass each biker. When I finally reach the top traffic is frequently stalled. The few parking places the lot holds are all filled and as a result, traffic circles around it ever so slowly. This is bad and good. It means I certainly cannot expect to find a place to park and then get out and look for Peter. But it also means that hopefully Peter is up there waiting and will see me before I have to completely circle around and exit from the lot. I can't assume I will be able to just stop and wait for him before someone behind me gets annoyed. I'm not sure I would even be able to circle back around again if I needed to; I might be forced to just exit. Fortunately I see Peter waiting just outside the visitors center and honk the horn. It takes several honks before he sees me and recognizes the car. He gets in and we slowly drive down the road and back to the highway and finally return home. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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