21 June, 2009
Mark and I did Mt Evans from the Summit Lake parking lot for Father's day. The day started at 4:00 AM and we got home again around 2:00PM. It was probably the most badly planned trip I've done in a long time but it turned out OK and we both had a good time. In the photos that follow you can probably spot one or two things that are not a good idea to do above 12,000 ft.
Mt Evans is easy to do mostly because there is a paved road to the top. This makes it popular with the Larson types, and also with cyclists, and also with lady bugs which Mark spotted along the side of the road in the hundreds. There were also a lot of cyclists and a fair number of stupid motorists who think it's OK to pass (the cyclists) on narrow curves despite oncoming traffic. Next time, we'll do it on a week day.
Did I mention that it was windy? That's not starch holding my pants in that funny shape. And yes, those are my legs. It was 35F in the parking lot when we arrived and I'd guess the wind was doing anywhere from 30 MPH to over 50 MPH at the top. But it was almost sunny. We'll talk more about that later.
Me almost at the top. Lots of snow, and yes, I've forgotten my sunglasses. I have sunglasses all over the place but didn't bring any on this trip. (Actually, it turned out that there was an old aviator-style pair in the truck but I didn't find those until later when we were driving home.) Nice hat eh? That's my skinny little hood on my down jacket. So not points for hat, pants or sunglasses. At least I remembered to bring the water and first-aid kit. I also forgot to bring my Yak Tracks - crampons might have been best.
Me on the top. Did I mention it was windy?
We were pretty happy to find how high we were :)
Mark poses in fine style. Note that he too forgot sunglasses despite a recent
trip up Pikes Peak with all the right gear. He also forgot gloves. He's wearing
my hauling gloves from the truck with a pair of my liners inside. But - he's
happy to be here.
About 150 feet below the top is the parking lot where it was windy. That's ice on the sign, blasted in place by the wind.
Did I mention the wind? We went and hid in the bathrooms for a few minutes so we didn't have to shout at each other.
Here we are on the way down the road. A nice warm June day. We should have brought skis. The road takes a very, very long winding route back down to the Summit Lake parking lot.
So we decided to cut off the corners. The snow here is pretty good with a decent crust. Just as well as I had bare legs.
Mark drops into one of many holes. Imagine this same situation in shorts. I can - I was up about as deep several times.
The view from the parking lot. The peak is the one on the left. There were a couple of people skiing the gully you see here in the center as well as the East face which is off to the left.
The drive down consisted of avoiding the many cyclists and trying very hard to stay on our side of the road but far enough away from the edge so that we can come back and do it again another day.