My sister Susan and I traveled from Denver up Interstate 70 to Bergen Park this past Sunday, and from there drove up Squaw Pass Road to Echo Lake, which at 10,600 feet is where the Mount Evans Road begins, leading to the summit of that fourteener. It was a sunny day and fairly warm, although the wind was pretty strong as we started out. The conditions looked pretty much like in the photograph on the left that I took while driving (although don't try this at home - if you go over the edge up there, it can have serious consequences, like death).
However, the higher we went, the stronger the winds, and for much of the ride it was close to - but not quite - whiteout conditions. And the glare from the sun hitting the snow was blinding, making it impossible to know what was just ahead in the shadowy parts of the road. I took the photograph on the right of the conditions after stopping in the middle of the road. Fortunately, nobody else was stupid enough to be on that road besides us, and so I had the time to get off that shot. It was actually much worse than this, but I decided to skip taking photos during those times to concentrate on driving. I am, after all, not THAT stupid. Finally, we reached Echo Lake, where the Echo Lake Lodge is located, open only during the summer months. The wind was especially strong there, and Susan refused to go for a short hike on the ice. Go figure. And therefore, we headed back down the other side, where conditions started to improve almost immediately, and on the way home we stopped at Idaho Springs to check out the action there (of which there was none, since it is the middle of winter). And yes, we did indeed take Squaw Pass Road up to the turnoff for Mount Evans Road. Talk about politically incorrect. I'm surprised we didn't get a ticket for that affront.
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