The beautiful Echo Lake at 3180 meters elevation.
A duck on Echo Lake. The huge massif of Mount Evans can be seen in the background (left).
The parking lot at Echo Lake Trailhead. There is a campground here as well.
The day before I climbed Evans, I drove this beautiful ridge road to Juniper Pass.
View from Juniper Pass. The plains of Denver and Colorado can be seen in the far, far distance.
The next day I drove to 4048m on the Mount Evans road, which was my starting point for the climb of Mount Bierstadt.
First I had to descend almost 300m to the creek below, before I could start to climb the east ridge of Mount Bierstadt in the background.
Here I'm just below the major obstacle on the ridge. It is best avoided on ledges on the right side of the ridge.
To begin with I tried to climb the obstacle directly via this steep slab, but it became too exposed and I finally abandoned that. It was far easier on the right side.
Here I'm on the summit of Mount Biertadt (4285m) and from here I could easily see the classic Sawtooth traverse below me.
One more summit photo from Mount Bierstadt. Two other 14ers, Gray and Torrey Peak, can be seen in the distance.
This huge gendarme has to be climbed on the Sawtooth traverse, but not necessarily directly. There is an easy crack on the right side of the gendarme.
I had to climb this exposed diagonal ledge on loose scree in order to reach the ridge behind.
The Sawtooth traverse is just finnished and I can look back on it. Mount Bierstadt in the background.
I'm not far away from the summit of Mount Evans, but the upcoming thunderstorm really messed up my plans. Mount Bierstadt in the background (left).
After having waited out the storm I could start the last few meters on Mount Evans (4348m). The true summit can be seen behind.
Finally on top of Mount Evans. Summit Lake can be seen far below.
From the summit I could easily see the parking lot just few meters beneath the summit of Mount Evans.
Some bikers on the Mount Evans Road
The parking lot at the end of the Mount Evans Road situated at 4300m
The burned out ruins of The Castle in the Sky, an old summit hut.
After I had climbed Evans and Bierstadt, I drove down to Georgetown, an historic, Victorian mining town.
