Mt. Evan's Scenic Byway

The star of any trip up Mt. Evans. One of the resident Mountain Goats.

Taking the Mt. Evans Scenic Byway, near Idaho Springs, is a jolly, near death experience with stupendous views. It is also a great way to beat the heat and carouse with Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goats, and Yellow-bellied Marmots. Mt. Evans is 14,264 ft and is one of two 14ers in the state you can drive up. If you don't like heights, however, you may want to snort some Valium before starting out. The road has no guard rails but plenty of breath-stealing drop offs. You will also share it with bicycles and oversized pick-up trucks. There is a fee past Echo Lake unless you have an all Federal Parks Pass.

Image (not my own) of the Mt. Evans Scenic Byway. I have never been able to take my knuckles off the steering wheel to get a picture!

Things to Do:

• Stop at Echo Lake, which is before the fee station, for a picnic or fishing derby.
• Hike the Pesman Trail, which leaves from the Mt. Goliath Nature Center. This trail travels across the tundra through a grove of ancient Bristlecone Pines. Bristlecones are the oldest thing on earth, easily reaching 1,700 years. Alpine plants galore dot the trail.
• Visit the Nature Center itself and see a mock up of an Alpine Spring Beauty with its 10-foot root that enables it to survive on harsh mountain tops. A small terraced alpine garden with helpful placards surrounds the building.
• Stop at 13,000 ft Summit Lake, a jumping off point for folks heading to the summit the old-fashioned way...via their feet, for an incredible view looking down on Chicago Lakes. A resident heard of Big Horn Sheep often congregate here. Volunteer rangers will also set up interpretive displays.
• Call on some parking karma and get a coveted slot on the summit itself. On the summit you can explore the ruins of an old hotel, feel the power of mother nature via freezing temps and extreme winds and stroll to the top itself. 
 

The summit parking lot. The Boulder field is often filled with tourists climbing the 120 ft from the pavement to the summit. Cars can stretch for a good 1/4 mile on both sides down to the left.

This goat was in need of a Hollywood makeover. He/she/it was shedding its winter coat. Not exactly a red carpet moment. Still, it had panache and liked to pose for the 200 lenses flashing all around.

This celeb was already done shedding and looked like it had just returned from a posh salon. Nothing like a new 'do to make you feel like a mountain diva.

Not to be out done, this B-actor was posing for us on the way down. Yellow-bellied Marmots are known for their hedonistic lounging upon warm rocks 

To get to the byway, take I-70 West from Denver to exit 240 (Hwy 103), the second exit at Idaho Springs. Because of snow the road is usually only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Even if there is no snow, CDOT will close the road after the Labor Day weekend, so plan accordingly. Come prepared for any of the following: intense sunlight, cold temperatures, snow, hail or rain, high wind, and low oxygen levels. The road can close any day throughout the summer due to winter-like conditions.

Square Top Mountain

Distance: 7.5 miles round trip
Elevation: 11,670 ft - 13,794 ft
Elevation Gain: 2,124 ft (net) ~2,900 ft (cumulative)
Date Hiked: 10 September, 2012
Dogs: Off leash
Bathroom at the Trailhead: Yes
Tags: #coloradooutdoors, #peakbagging, #gearguide

View from the summit of Square Top Mountain

Square Top Mountain (13,794 ft) is a high 13er directly across from Mt. Beirstadt off of Guanella Pass Colorado. The only trail on this journey is the approach to its base, via Square Top Lakes. From the lakes on, climbing Square Top Mountain it is a tundra and talus bushwhack. This is great fun for those who like to have the mountains to themselves but less fun to those who consider going off trail an invitation to a thousand painful deaths.

A rough schematic of the route

The trailhead.  Square Top Mountain can be seen in the distance.

The other challenging feature of Square Top Mountain, besides the terrain, is the weather. Guanella Pass is a thunderstorm magnet and I have come close to experiencing painful death number 46: the gods are pissed at YOU... at both Silver Dollar Lake as well as Square Top Lakes. It is amazing how motivated you can be to get the hell out of dodge when the heavens open up above treeline. So, rather than just the perennial early start, I would recommend saving Square Top Mountain for one of those rare, cloudless days when you can spend all day on the mountain without fear of divine retribution. Bushwhacking is time consuming and the mountain scenery alluring so give yourself time to enjoy the experience.

Heading across the first valley

Guardian Marmot

The trailhead for Square Top Mountain is located on Guanella Pass itself. Park in the west side lot, which is the overflow for Mt. Beirstadt. You can see the east face of Square Top Mountain from the parking area. As you follow the trail for two miles to lower Square Top Lake, the route will descend 100 ft into a valley before ascending and descending again over a several small ridges that block the view of the lake from the trail. The only vegetation in this tundra environment is Willows and the occasional stunted Sub-alpine Fir.

Approaching the lake

Lower Square Top Lake

Once you see the lake, continue past it on the left for another two tenths of a mile to a trail junction up a short slope. This junction serves upper Square Top Lake (to the right), the South Park 600 Trail (to the left), and Square Top Mountain (straight up). There is an actual sign pointing up the mountain. From this point on, however, you are on your own. How you reach the summit is up to you.

Trail sign pointing up the mountain

Looking up to the first shelf

The funny thing about bushwhacking is what looks good on the topo map and what looks good on the ground can be two different things. It seemed straight forward to head up the mountain in the direction pointed to by the trail sign, but after the first shelf, which was covered in quartz rocks, I realized I would be better off heading southwards and upwards at an angle. I actually ran into two hikers coming down that way and they gave me the best piece of advice. "Go around the mountain to the south and stay well below the summit ridge until you have to pop up", they said. This turned out to be the way to go.

Approaching the first shelf

Looking down from the first shelf

While taking an angled traverse is hard on the ankles, I found there were plenty of flat spots that one could traverse between to give them a bit of a break. Once I got around the mountain I could see the summit ridge stretching off into the distance. The summit of Square Top Mountain might be square, but it is far from flat. Much like fins on the back of a dragon, there are larges piles of boulders placed periodically along the spine of the ridge. These would be a tedious, mind numbing experience if taken all at once.  Don't walk that summit ridge.

Looking up at the initial  angled traverse

A close up of the tundra

As it was, a large river of talus on the southern slope made me pop up sooner than expected.  I was not worried, however, because I thought the large pile of boulders just above was the summit. Oh foolish mortal! There were at least three more false summits (e.g. dragon fins) between me and the summit. Unless you are a member of Cirque du Soliel, and can bounce effortlessly from jagged rock to jagged rock, you will find this last bit of the route time consuming.  Another good reason to wait until a sunny day!

Looking back down from the southern side of the mountain

Just below the summit ridge

Because the summit of Square Top Mountain is so long, the views are not as dramatic as you find on other peaks. You have to walk around to look over the sides. Since I never trust the weather on Guanella Pass, I decided not wander but headed down after a quick snack. This was a prudent choice...by the time I reached the car, the Gods had awoken. Woe to the few hikers I passed heading upwards towards Square Top Lakes. At least today they would be pissed at someone else.

I thought that bump on the horizon was the summit.  The summit is actually multiple bumps  ahead. 

That bump on the horizon is still not the summit.

My decent of the mountain was totally different than the ascent. Things look different coming down as well! I ended up finding some cairns and followed them but they came very close to the sheer cliff of the cirque that contains Upper Square Top Lake. Once again, the fun of bushwhacking is finding your own way. To be safe, however, I would bring along a GPS, a topo map, and a cell phone. At one point I phoned home with my GPS coordinates since no one would have a clue where to starting looking for me on the broad slopes well away from the "obvious route". 

Finally, the summit comes in view

Looking at Grays (14,270 ft) and Torreys (14,267 ft) from the summit

I saw a couple of Mountain Goats below me on the ascent and a large gorilla-sized Marmot below the lakes. I think being cuddled by an overly large marmot is painful death #238 but I will have to check the list and get back to you. 

Looking down on Murray Lake from the summit

The author on the summit

Square Top Mountain is not the first mountain I would recommend in Colorado. There are certainly many nicer ones. Mt. Flora across I-70 on Berthoud Pass is a must do. Still, if you are like me and hate the fact that there are peaks nearby that you have not visited, you will find Square Top Mountain beckoning at some point.

Heading back down

Yellow-bellied Marmot

A Yellow-bellied Marmot pokes its  head out from its lair

Yellow-bellied Marmots (Marmota flaviventris) are the sun worshiping denizens of the mountains. They are often observed sprawled indelicately upon a fat rock, their large bellies barely supported by the stone. After hibernating for 8 months I can see why. I too emerge from the winter sun-starved.

Marmots are actually ground squirrels and are related to the infamous ground hog. I suspect all our hibernating marmots roll over in their sleep when their distant cousin declares a longer winter. If a marmot’s fat reserves run out while hibernating, it will die. Alas, I have too easy access to chocolate, fine dining, and chicken wing binges to every worry about that! While late summer is my time to slim down, it is the time for marmots to gorge themselves on grasses, berries, lichens, mosses, roots, and flowers. How boring! They need to read some of my restaurant reviews. A diet of lichen is hardly fat building.

Adult Marmots are cute, but lets face facts, BABY MARMOTS are cuter!! I stumbled across these triplets, who all look like they had different daddies, on the trail to Handies Peak.

Mother marmot, who is significantly larger, watches us from behind a rock.

Marmots can be found at any altitude but prefer to live above 8,000 ft. They dig large burrows that have many entrances and exits. They line the burrow with grasses and fur to make it comfortable. These burrows are usually on rocky slopes next to meadows. Highly territorial, they did not want to move. Somehow the law of gross tonnage does not apply to marmots, they think they are bigger than they are. Perhaps they have a tail complex. At 6 inches I might have an ego too.

These little babies were living in and around an old mining train on the edge of Silverton Colorado. I have always wondered where Marmots go when they win the lottery. I just bet the inside is decorated with cabin kitsch...Moose trivets and throws, log furniture, a winter long stash of Jack Daniels, and a dog-eared copy of Murder on the Orient Express. 

Marmots are ubiquitous in the mountains. They will shriek at you if you invade their territory or look the other way as if you are not worthy of attention. The two that I photographed here seemed jealous of the mountain goats that I was following and kept posing like glamour girls on the catwalk.