Mt. Evans (14,265 feet, 4,348 m) is the closest fourteener to Denver. The road up there is the highest paved road in the US and is only open in the summer from the Memorial Day to Labor Day. The road is indeed paved but is not in great shape and might be quite frightening to some as it's really narrow, quite bendy and has great drop-offs.
Me and my parents went up there on Sunday the 27th when it was an exceptionally cold day even down in the foothills. When we reached the gate, we saw that up in the summit it was only 2 Fahrenheit, i.e. -16.7 C with the wind chill factor. I had told my parents to bring something warm with them but even I wasn't really prepared for that kind of level of coldness in late May.
You can't drive to the pinnacle of the mountain and have to hike the last 130' or so (38m) from the parking lot. Given the brutal wind, we quickly decided to skip that part since even a minute outside of the car totally froze your fingers and made you want to get in some place warm. I will definitely have to revisit this place once the conditions are better.
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| Echo Lake as seen from above |
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| The summit is right there. So close but yet so far away. |
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| The remains of the Crest House which was destroyed by a fire in 1979 |
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| Well, you could if the absolutely freezing winds didn't force you to run back to the car |
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| Random mountain lake all frozen up in late May |
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| This guy is crazy. Those tires are incredibly wide though. |
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| Mountain goats |
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| Summit Lake up at 12,836 feet (3,912 m) |
View 05/27/2012 3:35 PM in a larger map
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