Road to the Sky

I have lived in Colorado for nearly 12 years, and had never been to the top of Mt. Evans. I decided to amend this when my mom was visiting (she's ALWAYS up for a grand adventure!), so we took the kiddos on an amazing outing.

The road takes you to the summit parking lot at 14,130 feet; it is the highest paved road in North America. On the drive to the top, you pass through 3 life zones. From the summit parking lot, you can choose to hike 1/4 mile (130 feet elevation gain) to the actual summit, which is 14,264 feet. The experience is all the things you would expect it to be: breathtaking, stunning, glorious, awe-inspiring and the epitome of grandeur, tossed with a bit of thin air and, at times, a heart-racing drive.

The stunning Echo Lake, near the Mt. Evans Entrance Station-

The glorious Summit Lake. At 12,830 feet, it is a gorgeous high alpine lake. The area to the east of the lake is Summit Lake Flats and is the only known area of permafrost located in the United States outside of Alaska. Pretty cool.

We several kinds of wildlife, including marmots, pika, and a lot of bighorn sheep (brown) and mountain goats (white), some so close we could smell them (not a good smell). Just fascinating. The kids were super excited to see baby bighorn sheep.

The views were... well, I think they speak for themselves-

I am fascinated by the tundra (have visited Alaska twice love it!). I tried to capture how tiny these lovely little blue flowers were next to Isabel's finger; it is blurry, but you get the idea-

The actual summit-

The remains of the Crest House at the Summit-

My mom, Connor and Lucas hiking to the summit-

Scenes from the drive. At times, the drive made my knuckles go white, my arms lock in fear, and my heart race. I drove up, and my mom took over the wheel on the drive down.

14,000+ feet will wear one out. (He's faking, she's not)-

I am so glad we did this! What an incredible day. Yet another reason I adore Colorado.