TR: Got BOB? Mt. Evans North Face, 5-21-07
Last week, Jordan and I headed up towards Evans based on a posting on another website that the Mt. Evans road was open. This turned out to be false, and a lesson was learned- don't believe everything you read on a message board ;) I did gather some valuable info, however- the road was plowed for at least 5 miles, so I knew a bike trip would work. (With thanks to Pam and Chris, who have done the ski-bike thing a couple of times: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/~cjw/Skiing/...lide_show.html
I knew from experience that carrying skis, boots, etc on a pack on a bike is pretty uncomfortable, so I borrowed my friend's BOB trailer instead. mbsc and I planned on hitting Evans on Sunday, but Tabeguache tired us out and it didn't happen: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=85872 I thought I was going to start work on Monday, but the site wasn't ready for us, so I decided I would just have to go it alone.
By about 7, I had gotten BOB packed up and was ready to hit the road from Echo Lake at 10,600'.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179854998
From there, it's about 9 miles and 2,250' to Summit lake and the base of the good skiing, Summit Lake bowl. After a little over 7 miles, I finally hit the end of the road, CDOT working hard to get the road open for the holiday weekend.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856130
I stashed the bike and BOB, switched to the ski boots, and started skinning past the CDOT guys. The last mile and a half to Summit lake was pretty flat, and then I ditched the skins and started booting up the NE face. I got to the top a little later than I wanted- a little after 11, but clouds and a cool breeze had kept the N face snow from getting too warm.
Where is everyone?
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856418
It was so nice to be up there without hordes of people asking the standard "Where are you going to ski?" questions.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856459
The North face of Evans offers up some awesome, albeit short, skiing. From where I grew up west of Golden, I could get to the top of the Evans road in under an hour, so I knew the area well. A look down my line:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856544
And a look back up:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856685
The clouds were building at this point and it was time to hightail it outta there. I didn't speed too much. :D
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856728
Another switch back to the bike, and it was time for some downhill cruising. I was pleased with my decision to go with the mountain bike and not the road bike- disc brakes are a good thing with BOB being a bit heavy.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856805
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856915
Near the bottom, I passed some Euro tourists walking down the road, so I asked them to take a quick photo.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1179856947
When the road opens to the top of Evans, it's definitely worth doing some laps on. It was also really nice to experience some solitude on Evans, considering that it usually has tourists all over it. I remember some really nice tourists one year picking me up at summit lake and giving me a sandwich and a soda while they drove me back up, though, so tourists are pretty cool too. :wink: