Mount Evans

Elevation: 4350 m (14271 feet)
Elevation Gain: 40 m (131 feet)
Originally named Mount Rosa, Mount Evans is a prominent Front Range 14er which dominates the Denver area skyline. It is likely that Mount Evans was first ascended by Albert Bierstadt in 1863. Bierstadt christened the peak Mount Rosa after the wife of another man (who Bierstadt would later marry). In 1895, the peak was officially renamed Mount Evans to honor Colorado’s second Governor John Evans. Prior to his career as a politician, Evans was a physician who founded numerous hospitals and medical associations in addition to playing a role in the founding of Northwestern University and the University of Denver. Evans was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him Governor of Colorado. Evans’ time as Governor was marred by his role in the Sand Creek Massacre. Fearful that Denver could be overrun by nearby tribes while most men of fighting age were involved in the American Civil War, Evans ordered “friendly Indians” to present themselves to various forts for their own “safety and protection.” Those who did not comply were deemed “hostile” and Evans authorized citizens to pursue, “kill and destroy” them. On November 29, 1864 Colonel John Chivington followed these loathsome orders and killed 163 unarmed men, women and children belonging to the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at Sand Creek. As of 2019, the US Geographic Board is considering alternate names for Mount Evans. The name Mount Cheyenne-Arapaho has been proposed to honor the massacre’s victims. Despite the sins of its namesake, Mount Evans is a beautiful peak which formed following a magma intrusion 1.4 billion years ago. The surrounding sedimentary layers of rock wore away long ago leaving a batholitic granodiorite core which was later carved by glaciers. Indeed, Mount Evans sports the deepest cirques in the Colorado Rockies, many of which are now home to lovely lakes/tarns. In 1930, the Mount Evans Scenic Byway was completed 15 years after roadwork began. The Scenic Byway rises 2100 m over 45 km and culminates a mere 40 m below the summit of Mount Evans making it the highest paved road in North America. Thanks to ease of access, Mount Evans is a hotspot for tourism and scientific research ranging from the impacts of altitude to particle physics. Mount Evans is also home to the world’s third-highest observatory.
My Ascents:
June 27 2023, June 28 2019
Trailhead: Mount Evans Scenic Byway Summit Parking

After joining Brianne and I for 2 afterwork summits (Mounts Flora and Morrison) in the Colorado Rockies, 9-month-old Lillian’s 👶 lifetime summit tally sat at 8. While most people accrue fewer summits than that in their whole lifetimes, averaging less than 1 new summit/month is inexcusable in our family. 🙃 We, therefore, decided that our 0.75-year-old needed 1 last peak while we were in Colorado. With a few hours free between my morning work meetings and our 7 pm* flight home, we figured that we could sneak another summit in, and that we could even make it a BIG one (if we were selective).

Luckily, there are options for cheeky 14ers near Denver; namely: Mount Evans. Mount Evans may be massive (4,350 m/14,271 feet-tall) but you can drive to within 40 vertical meters of its summit. Having previously driven up (after hiking up the tallest peak in the Rockies earlier that day), I knew that we could be up, down, and back to the airport with time to spare before our 7 pm* flight home.

Aside: * References to our scheduled 7 pm flight home are marked with an asterisk because having a scheduled flight ended up meaning very little thanks to United Airlines. While we ended up making it back to the Denver airport with plenty of time, our airplane and/or flight crew did not. After waiting around the airport until midnight, our flight was summarily cancelled (along with 1/7th of United’s other flights that day) and we ended up stranded in Denver for another 2 days before WestJet finally provided us with a means of returning home.

Meanwhile, back in the Colorado Rockies: Since I was the driver, I have very few photos from the drive up but, suffice to say, the Mount Evans Scenic byway lives up to its name!

The crux of the ascent: trying to make our way through mountain goat-caused traffic. No one likes being stuck in a logjam, but if you are, it’s great having a Goat alongside. 🐐

LEFT: Brianne wakes Lilly up from her twisty road-induced nap to introduce her to some distant relatives. 🙃
RIGHT: A real momma and baby goat.

The most majestic, spectacular, amazing animals on the face of the planet: a pair of graceful mountain goats.

Taking a super touristy selfie with a family of Goats. As you can see, my little “Goat” was especially taken with her furry, white “cousins.” 🥰

LEFT: After another tourist got way too close to the goats (causing them to scatter and flee), we negotiated the remaining couple of miles up to the summit parking lot (3 words that are rarely seen together 😂).
RIGHT: An excited Lillian gets bundled up for her first 14er! At this elevation, there was a very stiff breeze and the temperature was about 20 degrees C lower than it had been in Denver.

This sign should actually read: “Parking Lot of Mount Evans” (as the summit is still 40 m above it).

Apparently, Goats love reading interpretive signs …

… But not as much as they love climbing them!

LEFT and RIGHT: Part of the reason that Mount Evans is so awesome is that it gives away mountain goats like Oprah gives away cars.

The boulder-y summit “towers” above the tourist/goat-filled parking lot. After bundling up Lilly, reading some signs and chilling with the goats, it was finally time for the “summit push.” 😏

LEFT: My favorite Goat negotiates the brief, but still-snowy, path towards the summit.
RIGHT: Success! 🥳 Our 9-month-old proudly naps 👶😴 atop her 9th different summit (and her 1st 14er)!

Scenic Summit Lake occupies the base of a spectacularly snowy cirque which falls dramatically away from Mount Evans’ summit. You don't get to see this panorama from the parking lot, so I'd highly recommend "hiking" the extra 5 minutes to witness it for yourself! Click to see larger.

A closer look at still-frozen Summit Lake and a host of Colorado Rockies beyond.

A quick summit selfie before starting our journey back to the Denver airport (remember, we still thought that we had a flight to catch at this point)! 😒

As we returned to the parking lot, a cheeky mountain goat gave us the same attitude that United Airlines would a short time later… 😝

LEFT: Similar to our drive up, the crux of the descent proved to be another wildlife-related traffic jam; this time it was sheep not goats, however. For anyone who can’t tell the difference, I’d recommend watching this instructive video.
RIGHT: Thanks to our speedy 50 km/h (30 mph) trip up and down Mount Evans, we even had time for a flight at the Tommyknocker Brewery on our way to the airport! Little did we know that this would be the only flight we'd "catch" on this day 😒... While the day didn’t end as quite as we hoped (#ThanksUnited), Mount Evans delivered once again and 9-month-old Lillian can finally give new summits a rest (for another month 🤷‍♂️😁)!