Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Colorado Trip Part 3 - Mount Evans


This was the big day! It was a long, but exciting one. It's not every day that your husband tries to bike up a mountain with over 14000 feet of elevation! I have over 100 photos from that day, but I promise I won't share them all here. Just a few favorites that help tell the story.


We woke up at around 6am and drove to Idaho Springs which was going to be Mike's starting point.
The kids and I had planned to drive up to the Echo lake area so Evan could fish for a little bit.
And then we would drive from there up the mountain offering Mike support as we went.
Echo Lake! It was so pretty up there.


Mountains, trees and a lake in every direction. Loved it!
One of the best decisions I made, was to turn over our smaller Sony camera to her and I used my phone and the DSLR. She took so many photos while I was driving, and there were some really good ones in there.
He tried a little fishing, but didn't have much luck.

The Echo Lake Lodge was a short walk up the road from the lake.
Our red truck parked down there on the left side of the picture was around the halfway point between the lodge sign and the lake. Erin and I had decided to walk up to check it out at one point and discovered it had a gift shop and restaurant.
Mike arrived and took a short break before we all started the next part of his ride.
The kids drove in the truck and would ride ahead of him for a bit to find a good place to park and wait. You can see how narrow the road is and how there is no guardrail on the side. It made me a little nervous at times.
Of course we had to make a few stops on the way to look around and take photos.
Mike would catch up to us and either stop for a break or keep going depending on how he was feeling. All I can say is that he had some major hills to climb throughout the day!
This was one of our main stops where we took a break and waited for Mike.
Mountains for miles.
The higher we climbed, the rockier and less green it became.
Summit Lake was the next big stop for us. I have to say, pictures just can't do it justice. It was a pretty cool spot, and I wish we could have hung out there a little bit longer. But there was a pretty big hill for Mike to climb just past this lake, and we wanted to give him a little more support.
This sign is no joke! Once we passed Summit Lake, it was a little scary in some parts.
I mean he looks like he's going to ride right off the edge of the mountain. I was driving in the middle of the road at this point to get around him. (Photo courtesy of my son. So glad he snapped this shot!)

 And then he made it! So proud and happy for him!

Afterwards, I drove us back down to Echo Lake lodge where we had lunch to celebrate.
Such an amazing experience! Can't wait to see where his next big ride will take us.

6 comments:

  1. Wow!!! How awesome!!! What an accomplishment!!!! GORGEOUS photos!!!!

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    1. It really was pretty amazing and inspiring! :)

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  2. Such an adventure for all of you.
    Mike sure is a champ...those narrow roads would have freaked me out a bit.
    Your family trip reminds me of ours to Montana.....such great memories.

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    1. Mike and I went to Montana to visit friends stationed there the summer before we were married, and we always say it is the most beautiful state! But Colorado sure comes in a close second!

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  3. Mary Jo, I have been saving your posts until I could do them justice, I am so glad I did because I would not have wanted to miss a single moment! Huge kudos to Mike, what an experience for him (my hubby would be green with envy, we were both cyclists in our (much) younger days and we are positively addicted to Grand Tours in Europe). Mount Evans looks spectacular and, as always, your photography really does it justice! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful adventures, I live vicariously through them.... Hugs, Anne xx

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    1. Thank you, Anne! Mike's goal is to get over to Europe and do some serious biking there. We definitely want to make that trip in the next year or two.

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