ARAPAHO NATIONAL FOREST - ECHO LAKE (June 17, 2006) |
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Our first dry
camping trip of 2006 was to Echo Lake. It is an Arapaho National
Forest campground at the foot of Mt. Evans, one of Colorado's Fourteeners
(mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation). The campground was at
10,600 feet.
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Echo Lake is easy
to get to. It is located just 13 miles from Idaho Springs. All
the sites at Echo Lake are internal loop sites except for two. Site 14
(ours, of course!) is by far the best site in the campground. Most of
the other sites were very close together, with some sites literally sharing
the same driveway. The nights were cool but the furnace kept us warm.
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Echo Lake is right
next to the campground.
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Here is Echo Lake
taken from our helicopter tour. Not really...this photo was taken on
our way up Mt. Evans.
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Denver University
maintains a high-altitude laboratory at Echo Lake. We jumped the fence
to take this quick photo.
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Four trailheads are
available from the campground. We chose one on Saturday and hiked
almost two hours. The kids were pretty worn out after, but we kept
telling them we were training them for football and soccer. We reached
the summit of our hike at 11,200 feet according to our GPS.
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At the hike summit,
Cameron found a cool tree-chair to rest in.
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On Saturday
afternoon we paid $10 for the right to drive up to the top of Mt. Evans.
Several stops along the way offer great photo opportunities. We are at
11,600 feet at this point.
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A semi frozen lake
sits at 12,800 feet on the way to the top of Mt. Evans.
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We saw a neat river
of ice.
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We succeeded in
riding the Yukon XL all the way to the top of Mt. Evans. Here are the
kids sitting at 14,200 feet. At this altitude, the air contains only
40% of the oxygen at sea level.
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Driving is not the
only way to reach the summit of Mt. Evans. We encountered scores of
bicyclists and even runners taking the challenge. Hats off to them!
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This is the sign
that greets you when you arrive at the summit of Mt. Evans. Sure, they
tell you all this AFTER you are there!
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This structure was
built as a gift shop and coffee house in the late 1920's. In 1971 it
burned down (except the rocks you see, of course) as a result of a propane
explosion. What's left of the structure (the aforementioned stones)
stands today as a historical artifact. Melea wanted a latte instead.
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One-part mountain,
combined with one-part elevation, equals mountain goats. Seems people
have fed these guys over the years so they lost their fear of humans.
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It seemed this
momma goat knew exactly where and how to stand for great photo
opportunities.
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Randy and Lea, on
top of the world. It is exciting to look down on so many mountain
peaks.
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And here is the
proof we were there and the elevation at the parking lot according to the
USGS.
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On Sunday morning
before we left this great campground, Court found a pinecone and started
filling it with flower pedals. How creative of her.
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