So glad you made this video. The trip to the top was one of my life changing moments back in 1972. My buddy and I took our two Honda sl350s from Denver all the way to the top in mid-august. The high in Denver that day was 90. We took heavy coats gloves boots and had them on by the time we hit the foothills. I was so happy to see that shelter house that you showed at summit lake because just like your adventure, it started snowing like hell and we got off our motorcycles and ran inside. In 1972 there were no need for reservations for the road in fact, we traveled on a Saturday morning and I don't think we saw more than 15 cars making the hill climb with us. The oxygen gets so thin on that last stretch from the shelter house to the top that our bikes could not get out of second gear because they begin to stall in third. It was snowing like hell when we reached the top, and we ran inside the crescent house which was open and serving hot coffee and hot chili! We probably sat in there for close to an hour letting the snow stop. Always clear so we headed out and we realized we had to put our gas tanks on reserve because we were running low on fuel. At that point we had a second adventure going all the way down with the engine off in neutral. What a great ride! One I'll never forget.
Ah, memories. We did it with a 550 and 750 Honda in 1974. Bikes would barely run at altitude since carburetors did not adjust to thin air. Neither did my lungs!
That’s awesome! The highest I’ve been was like 13,000 feet in Hawaii. But I couldn’t go any farther due to Altitude sickness, Which I believe was caused by Covid 😢. I wish I grew up in the 70’s. Life seems so much easier back then. The 60’s and 70’s were the height of America.
Very nice story, was fun to read! One can feel that this experience was something very special for you. And all this a year before I was born - greetings from Munich!
I visited Denver in 1972. My brother in law drove us to the top. On the way up, my mother wouldn't go past Summit Lake. She waited there for us to pick her up on the way back.
Wow ! What a great story. I was there in 1990 and we didn't need any reservations and there were no restrictions either. We drove a Toyota pickup truck which was carrying a slide-in camper on its back. No idea how it made the climb, now that I think about it. I think it had a stick shift. Good times.
Glad I stumbled across this. I worked as a waitress at the Crest House way back in the early 70's. We lived and worked up there. Had 'world-famous' donuts we made up there - so many memories! One time someone hiked to the top in bad weather, not realizing that lightning can happen during snow. He was hit, made his way back to the Crest House. Broken wrist - and amazingly, his jeans were mostly blown off. PIeces of the denim were plastered on the rock when we went up later. Interesting times!
New Sub Here. Do not change a thing about how you make these videos. Straight to the point, packed with info, no boring intro/outro. All of your videos are well done!
The Highest roads I ever traveled were the Pikes' peak road and the MT. Haleakala HWY in Hawaii. THe MT. Haleakala one gets up near 12,000 ft from sea level in like 25 miles or less... that one I recommend for the ocean side views and awesome landscapes. The HWY at 12000 Ft in Colorado Rockies National Park area is also a good drive. The Pike's peak road isn't very paved, but I did hike up the trail to the top of the mountain 20 yrs ago and saw the road and railway going down. It was snowing heavily up there, so my family decided to ride the rail down to the 1/2 way point and we hiked the last 2 miles into the campground from there. Then we got the rest of the way down on day 3 from the big campground.
I've driven through the Rockies just about every way you can. Years ago I asked my mother-in-law to suggest a scenic drive that I had not done before. She suggested RMNP and this road. While approaching the top of Mt.Evans in a pretty heavy thunderstorm it occurred to me maybe she didn't like me that much.
Englishman here. The most spectacular US road I drove was the Beartooth Highway. Chief Joseph Scenic byway was very good. The old fall road in the rockies. Driving to Muley Point gave me a spectacular view, followed by a hair raising dirt track down to Mexican Hat. So many memories. Just love the US National parks.
Drove Beartooth also. I actually got on it by mistake coming out of Yellowstone. NEVER again! My kids were like, "Dad, look at the scenery!" I was like, "I'm good, thanks". Scared the crap out of me.
The Bristlecone pine is THE oldest living thing on earth. One in California has been certified to be over 4,800 years old. Yeah, BCP laugh at those snot nosed upstart old growth redwood trees which are barely 3,000 years old. THE Mt Evans road USED to have lots of guardrails but the visitors kept knocking them off. The Forest Service got tired of replacing them & gave up. !
I've been to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California a couple of times, but we also have bristlecones within an hour's drive of Las Vegas in the Mt. Charleston area.
Back in the '80s I lived in Denver and was a bicycle racer. I participated in the Mt. Evans Hill Climb several times. Truly an epic race with incomparable views!! Thanks for sharing!
Did it as a junior in 1965 and won. I think we just went to tree-line (14m?) and the seniors went to the top .I hope you still ride. I had to quit because of a vertigo issue.
Excellent. I had the pleasure of driving Mt Evans in the 1990s. No reservation (or fee) required at that time. It was a drive that I sometimes think I would like to do again so it was great to follow you on your journey. I don't recall mountain goats licking the car but I do remember them standing in the middle of the road with a "This is MY mountain" look.
I rode my motorcycle to the top a few years back. Beautiful scenery and wildlife on along the way. The craziest thing I witnessed was the kids riding skate boards down the mountain.
In the 90s, I used to climb Evans from Kite Lake quite often as a warm up for the summer season of 14er bagging, back when there were no crowds and Evans was free. It was fun staying out of site near the top and then popping up over the rocks to startle tourists. They'd always ask me, "Where'd _you_ come from?" I'd say, "Took the other trail." When they asked which one I'd point to the drop off and grin. One time, before I came over the top, I heard a lady proclaim to her friends, "I climbed a mountain!" Then I saw her: flip flops, designer sunglasses, casual clothes size 4X, obviously came straight from the parking lot. I thought to myself, "No, darlin', your _Toyota_ climbed a mountain, and it's angry."
I took my father up here this summer. He was terrified and told me to just turn around multiple times while driving up, lol. Granted, the upper half of the drive does have some spicy bits. Got him to the top and then did the short hike to the summit. He couldn't believe the views or the sleet that came down while we were climbing up in mid July (he's from houston). Saw goats, marmot's, chipmunks and loads of beautiful wildflowers along the way.
My ex wife was alot like your father. She ended up facing her fears, (I'm basically an a§§hole kinda guy, which it seems women love...go figure) and she actually said she was glad I was there to get her through her phobias.
A wet slippery, icy winding road with no guide rails. What could possibly go wrong? Glad you made it back safely. Not sure I would have liked the trip down.
Going down was pretty slow, but there was also a herd of bighorn sheep in the road that decided that's where they wanted to be and weren't going anywhere. Once we got further down everything was dry again.
Loved the video and your narration. Drove up 7-8 yrs ago and a bit unnerving passing bicyclists on the road - especially on the drop off side. Made the mistake of driving there straight from the airport and this Midwesterner got woozie on the last 4-5 miles (a bit scary with the bikers and drop offs)!
Thanks for bringing back memories for me. A couple of friends and I parked at Echo Lake and bicycled up to the top of Mt. Evans back in May 2005. I don't know if they still do this but, they opened the road for bicycles only about a week before they allowed cars. There was still snow around but the roadway had been cleared and the sky was blue. We had the road to ourselves. .... Truly spectacular!
Oooh! Sold us just with the bristlecones alone! Man, I have never seen (or HEARD) about bighorn sheep licking cars. That's a first for me! 😂 Gorgeous drive though! I mean if you want to do a 14er, I suppose driving the majority of the way is the best way to do it! 😅 Weather might not have cooperated but provided some drama!
I didn't know about the bighorns licking cars before this either, but they were absolutely insane for them. Watching a herd surround a car to make sure it couldn't move was something else.
I went to Biomedical Equipment repair school at the Old Fitzimons Army Medical Center, in Aurora, in 1990. Myself and a couple buddies decided to hop in my Ford Escort at about 10 PM on a Friday or Saturday night and drive to the top of Mt. Evans. That was a white knuckle experience. It was a clear night with a full moon, The views of Denver off in the far distance on the plain was spectacular.
I'm glad you mentioned White Mountain Peak in California. I did that hike last year, almost entirely on the dirt/rock road. Golf ball to football sized rock dominate that road and it is sometimes easier and far safer to walk next to it rather than on it. Very cool video, thanks.
Looks more like graupel (snow pellets) than hail. Graupel forms in clouds at or near freezing and can fall even if the surface temperature is in the 40s. Hail only occurs during violent thunderstorms.
Yep never knew the proper name, but we get that in Nevada. Graupel is soft and you can crush it easily, like tiny snowballs. When I moved here years ago, I understood the old saying about Eskimos having 14 different words for snow!
Wow. Thank you so much ! I'm really happy this came up as a suggested video. What a walk down memory lane. Way back in August-October 1990, I was there at Lowry AF Base in Denver and my significant other and I drove his Toyota pickup truck with a slide-in camper all the way up to Mt Evans. I never knew until watching your video that I had driven on the highest paved road in all of North America. We stood there at that summit marker and took pics and video. I didn't remember the hike from the parking lot to the summit but this was a good refresher. Summit Lake was very pretty. Did you say Pike's Peak vista was the best of all mountain views in the USA or just better than the one at Mt Evans? I hope they leave the name alone. It's the name of the mountain and we aren't so fragile that we can't just accept that is part of its history. Come on, people. Man up. Leave some things alone, please. PS: Lowry AFB closed down right after we were finished with our training that Fall. I was always sad about that. It was a really nice little base.
The weird thing about the name change is that the mountain had another name before it was changed to Mt. Evans. When they changed it they gave another mountain the original name so they can't just change it back to the original!
I’m happy to hear about the name change. Once you learn how many millions of acres of treaty protected native lands were simply stolen by broken treaties and the murder and genocide that was allowed to take place against natives… you start to look at history differently. Early Americans could have honored the treaties and lived in peace with natives. They could have shared the wealth that came from land ownership. Any change to native names is fine by me.
Makes one wonder about 'hypoxia'.. I didn't see anything that referenced this.. Not a problem? I back packed from Denver to Grand Junction in the summer of 1975. Just me, my guitar and one large framed backpack. Most beautiful summer I've spent was in the Rockies. Have rock climbed and skied the Alps from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Marmolade (near 'Arraba') in the Italian 'Trento-Adige'.. NOTHING I've seen compares to the Rockies!
I do communicates, Ham radio, for the foot race up to the top every year. So get to drive it for free every June. Great video. That hail, is really called grapple,(sp) here in Colorado. They are light snow pellets.
Thank you for the video. When I did this road the weather was good at the start but by the time we got to the top it was hard to see the road. You had to go to the top because there was no place to turn around. Then it was back down in the fog. There is a bicycle race to the top of mount Evans. This year it was won by Lachlan Morton in 1 hr 52 m and 22 seconds. Than you for the video. Ben
Great video. My younger son that lives in Denver took me up there a few years ago. The views are spectacular if it's a clear day. Road is a bit hairy with no guard rails so you just go slow! Thanks for posting this!
Salt. The goats are looking for salt .I learned this hard way in the Yosemite backcountry when my Girlfriend & I hung out our clothes to dry after sweating in them all day & a group of deer torn them to shreds & I mean shreds!!. We were naked & had to wear our sleeping bags as clothes to get back to civilization!!
I have ridden my bike twice from Idaho Spring and up Mt. Evans Road to the top. The second time on the way down we were above the clouds and descended into a rain storm. It was a strange feeling...and a cold!!
@@SidetrackAdventures the road is very rough with cracks and hidden potholes. It really beats you up. The road after the gate going to Idaho Springs is really nice.
Thanks for the video. I've driven both Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak in a Prius and I would have to say that the Mt. Evans road is much less steep. My little car labored mightily on Pikes Peak but handled Mt. Evans like a Sunday drive. The view from Pikes Peak is indeed much better, though, and the donuts they make at the Summit House are to die for! BTW, if you're not up to a mountainous drive, you can also take a train to the top of Pikes Peak.
I rode the train up when I was a kid. I remember the views were great but I don't remember it well enough to compare. Everyone seems to agree with you that the views on Pikes are better though.
Driving a Prius uphill at high altitude can definitely be a struggle, once the battery runs down you've only got the 98hp engine (which is more like 60hp at altitude) to pull it along. I recently drove one over Donner Pass and even that was kinda sketchy, I was flat out to keep up with the semis near the summit.
Minor correction; the highest paved road in the world is Umling La in the contested region of Ladakh at 18,964 feet in elevation . This road was paved in 2021 I believe so most websites don't know about it
Great video and I enjoyed viewer comments of their experiences as well. My recommendation stop naming anything after people because they usually end up disappointing.
I subscribed when I saw my first video. I know it wasn't your first but I got hooked. I don't understand how you don't have more subscribers. Kinda reminds me of a program on TV 30 or 40 years ago called armchair adventure
Inspiring video! I missed Mt. Evan’s this year. I arrived on Labor Day, and of course no reservations were available. At the time I figured “Oh well.” Now, after watching your detailed video, you inspired me to try again in another year. No more “Oh well.” I want to see it! Thank you for showing us!
Great video!! I thought I had been to just about every place in Colorado over the last 45 years, but for some reason have never been here, but it is definitely on my list of places to go see next Colorado trip! Have subscribed to your channel!
Back in the '80's I lived in Wheatridge, CO. Back then, no reservations were required for Mt Evans.. I did the Denver YMCA Mt Evans Fun Run in 1983. The run was only 15 miles to the summit parking lot. But that altitude made my marathoner friends say that it is a crazy run. I liked adventuring to any of the Colorado 14ers.
Was there a highway patrol station on the way down stopping cars and shooting their brakes with a heat gun? Coming down from Pikes Peak about 10 years ago, they were doing that. If your brake temperature was over 300, you had to pull of to the side for 5 minutes.
Great video. I'd really like to check this out, but I really don't do very well above around 8,000 feet if I try to walk around. I guess I could just drive up there and stand around and look. Walking around would be iffy.
I know this road well from my youth. I've been there many times. As for renaming Mt. Evans--it will be Mt. Evans to me, no matter what some politically correct government bureaucrat dorks have to say about it. By the way, Governor Evans did many great things for Colorado in his day. And, Evans was also a founder of Northwestern University in Illinois and the city of Evanston, Illinois is named for him. Oh, and the Sand Creek Massacre--the man most responsible for that was Colonel John Chivington, the commander of the U.S. Army troops that perpetrated the massacre. But, Chivington was also the leader of the Colorado Volunteers, the troops that defeated the Confederate Army at Glorieta Pass in New Mexico and was credited from stopping the pro-slavery Confederates from occupying a good chunk of the SW United States. History is never as sanitary as the PC crowd would like it to be.
Truth be known, Most of the Political Correctness crowd probably has plenty of bones in their own closets. Never judge peoples from the distant past, by using moral's or values from today. Things happened and you cannot change it. All you can do is try not to repeat the mistakes of the past. (But only if you know the mistakes of the past.) If we white wash history out of existence we and future generations will not learn from it.
The “PC Crowd”. 😂😂 Presumably a gaggle of cat ladies who read the New York Times and frantic about the “feels” of “People of Color” (but don’t ever call them Colored People) who need the protection of these latte drinkers.
They have the Bob Cook Memorial bike race up Mt Evans!! It starts at the stop light at the exit ramp at I-70 and finishes at the summit! 28 miles, 7000 feet climbing! I did the race back in the 80's and finished in 2hrs 18 mins! The record is like 1hr 45 mins I think? Its AWESOME scenery for sure!
I beat you by about 4 minutes but I passed out on the tail gate of a pickup truck at the finish lol. What a freakin blast. We also used to train on that road. The pavement was rough but I loved every second.
@@michaelnash1708 The second time I did that race , another rider crashed and took me out of the race, 🤬🤬🤬, so I got in my friends van and was asked if I could drive to the finish and help with transporting some of the riders back down the to bottom! Well I lucked out , because I happened to get right behind ALEXI GREWAl as he did the race!! I srom tayed behind him all the way to the summit! He did like in 1hr and 46 min 26 seconds !! So since I didn't finish the race, It was AWESOME to watch ALEXI do it that fast !!
Though not nearly as high, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park also has a drive to the summit...and in addition to great views, and a mountain lake (Eagle Lake) in the summertime it has the distinction of being the first place in North America to receive light from the rising sun each morning.
@@billgale5568 It's been over a decade since I was last there. At the time, me along with my wife and three sons went up just before sunset. We then stayed to watch the beautiful sunset...which was then followed by a beautiful view of the night sky...so clear that you could see the Milkyway!
Thank you for this video, it brought back memories of when I went up there about 20 years ago. At the top of the hill [at 7:02] we got too close to the edge and it got really scary. The bend at the top is a dead man's curve - miss it and take a deep dive. I remember I got altitude sickness at the top and was so tipsy that I felt drunk.
I grew up in Denver. My family made the trip up Mount Evans nearly every weekend during nice weather, with a picnic at Echo Lake afterwards. Not many people made the trip.back then.
Thanks for making this video! Great job! My Dad, brother, and I drove up Mt Evans way back in 1963-nearly 60 years ago! Still remember the restaurant at the top. So sad it burned down. Beautiful place
I have rode a motorcycle to the top many times I have hiked Mt Evans once from Summit Lake and once from Echo lake. I did it from Echo lake when i was much younger. I like the hike it rather then ride it.
Having done some of the Rocky Mountain National Park stuff before I had kids, I'd LOVE to take them to this as an experience for us all. That looks and sounds like a blast.
So beautiful, but my god I could never do the drive, as it is horrifying just from the video as someone who is afraid of heights 😂. Happy to live it through your video safely!
Wow it's amazing and I'll be adding it to my bucket list. Have you been to Great Basin NP in Nevada? It has bristle cone trees too. It's a beautiful place and it also has Lehman Caves. It is really out of the way but worth it.
I visited Mt. Evans once when I was on a family vacation back in 1971 (yes, I am old).and I remember finding the geological survey marker and at that time had no idea that something like that would be there. I was exited to find it because I knew I was really at the highest point of the mountain. Since then I found out they are at the high point of my many mountains and whenever I go to the top of one, I always look for the marker.
Yes. I had done the hike up Mt Dana in Yosemite back in 1972. I belonged to the Alpine club we had at our high school. The teacher leading us was an experienced mountain climber who taught biology class. I signed the notebook up at the top after I got done with my hike. I don't even think about doing that hike these days. I would worry about not getting back because I would run out of energy. I guess maybe I could try to train for it. But my old knees just can't handle the pounding from running anymore. A brisk walk is all I can do.
When I was 21 " a long time ago" we dove to the top of Mt Evans and watched the sunrise. You could see Longs Peak to the north and Pikes peak to the south. But the most impressive part was to look east towards the great plains. You could detect the earth's curvature.
cool video.....I had the pleasure of spending 4 yrs in Idaho Springs. I actually lived on the road to Mt Evans (highway 103). That was 10 yr ago......Actually took a 1974 Kenworth bobtail to the top back in the 80's... Geez the stuff I did in my 20's. Love the area, love the people in the area. Thanks for the view.....I truly miss it
I went up that, and Pike's Peak, back in the day (when Pike's was gravel.) My little car protested! Not enough air! It is amazing when the trees disappear.
Driven it many times …climbed to the top every time (14,258 ft above sea level) ..us geological survey marker there. LOTS of mountain goats at the top …..sometimes mountain sheep on the way up. ….no food or shelter of any kind when I was there …. A fantastic trip …..highly recommended.
People need to stop trying to change the names of historic places, etc. just because in the nowadays it is inconvenient. Just because you take down the statue or rename a mountain doesn't change history. We should acknowledge our history, all of it, including the ugly and the good.
You can acknowledge history without honoring terrible actors. If you want to remember Governor Evan's role in history, go visit Sand Creek Massacre National Monument.
Love the way you describe all the details! Great video. Now that I'm retired I'm hoping to explore more and your videos are a great way to find new places to go! Thanks!!
That was pretty interesting and scenic. Years ago I drove up to Mt. Whitney, but that topped out at Whitney Portal at about 8400 feet. Although I have driven through a few passes that topped out at about 10,500 feet. Thanks for showing it to us.
I had thought perhaps you were going to feature Independence Pass but it's 2K' lower. I lived in Colorado in the 70s and never got to see all of it. You do a great narration and filming. Thanks for sharing your wonderful work Steve.
