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Ride # 8 at MitM is the Mount Evans Hillclimb. Never been 14,246 feet up in your MINI, on a paved road, at Midnight for that matter? Well check this out:
The highest paved road in North America awaits you on this ride! 15 miles worth of paved road from the entrance to Mt. Evans takes you to 14,246 feet high after twisties and turnies. There is NO scenery like this anywhere else in the world. This is a daytime ride but it will not surprise me if we have a midnight ride both Friday and Saturday....this park is open 24/7 after Memorial Day so come check it out!
Leave Copper Mountain eastbound on I-70 past Dillon and Silverthorne. Climb the hill towards the Eisenhower tunnel then down past Georgetown and in to Idaho Springs. Take CO 103 about 15 miles up to Echo Lake and the entrance to Mt. Evans. 45 minutes later you will summit...to the most spectacular views and vistas in the whole United States!!
Don't forget your toll at the Ranger Station ($10 per vehicle). Note that if you are sensitive to heights, this road may cause some uneasiness. Also note that hypoxia is a common condition in flatlanders vacationing in Colorado. Be prepared to drink plenty of fluids before, during and after this ride - more than you expect to need.
As this road is very busy on weekends, we recommend a Friday visit then midnight runs at night.
This is about a 5 hour roundtrip, so allow plenty of time or leave early.
Our recommendation for lunch? Idaho Springs, the TommyKnocker brewpub or BeauJo's pizza - both well know and neither will disappoint.
This is the one I've been looking for. I love the drive up to pikes peak but haven't tried it in the MINI (Jetta with 4 grown soccer players . . . not the time to show off in gravel). Higher and paved . . . oiy! I'll concur with the altitude health concerns. Not even a single beer for the drivers as the combination of altitude and alcohol is way too delicous for the driver of a world class tiny vehicle. Don't turn this into a cheap date!
and I will be up there this weekend. I will post pics, and a link right here to them, so as to tease all of you who want to go.
Fully agreed that alcohol and driving do not mix at MITM. Note that we will have evening events each night and there is plenty of alcohol to be served, as long as you walk around the resort and stay with a designated person if need be.
Yup, went up with Rick and Berk - all the way to the top. We were among the first 20 or so cars of the season. It was sunny, nice, cold, but sunny up there.
Got very close today with lots of Marmot, also some Mountain Goats and some Bighorn Sheep. Rick and I will post pics.
Had a nice stop at the TommyKnocker Brewpub in Idaho Springs...you will love it too. Go for the wings....
It was fun motoring up a 14'er on opening day (closed during the winter months). Jonathan & Berk in the Pure Silver MINI and I (Purple Haze) were the first two MINIs up the mountain this year. We hope there will be LOTS more MINIs there this summer.
The road (paved) was clear and dry. Lots of critters to see on the way up and at the top. A couple of skiers (hike up, ski down) were there, bicyclists and a motorcyclist as well. This route to over 14,200 feet is like flying!
Altitude Sickness is nothing to be taken lightly for sure. The effects of alcohol are doubled (one beer on the mountain feels like two do at lower altitudes). Expect to feel a slight headache, slower reactions, a heavy feeling in the limbs, some sleepiness or tiredness. How this affects you has nothing to do with physical condition and everything to do with how efficiently your body transfers oxygen into your bloodstream. You can be fine on one trip and not on the next. It's possible that it may affect your ability to drive or to drive fast.
If in doubt, don't have caffeine (for the whole trip and 2 weeks before) and drink lots of water before your trip to a higher altitude. Always carry a water bottle and keep drinking out of it. I hope I do okay. I was on oxygen the last few weeks I lived at 8600 feet in Bailey, CO due to an illness that affected my oxygen transfer efficiency. :(
If you find yourself on Mt. Evans and either light headed, with headache, or confused, have someone drive you straight down, keep going down, all the way to Idaho Springs. Park your car, walk to the TommyKnocker Brewpub, and order a dozen of their assorted wings. Yes, Buffalo Wings. Huge ones.
Wing Therapy.
BTW, there is a FEE for Mt. Evans...$10 for a 3 day pass. We recommend that if you are going up, that you do the Friday ride up and buy your pass. Then, if you are going to do the Midnight Run (for the Perseid Meteor Shower) either Friday night or Saturday, you don't pay again. But hang on to your ticket. You will need that.
Both are distinct mountains, about 100 miles apart. ( www.14ers.com )
Pikes Peak is just outside of Colorado Springs, to the west. It is not a paved road to the top, but there is a cog railway if you don't want to drive.
Mt. Evans is west of Denver, S of I-70, and it is paved to the top. No cog railway. This one is about an hour drive from Copper, and it is where we are going.
If you want to go up Pike's Peak, it is a blast. I would not drive me own car up tho - better off in a rental on that road, in case it goes over the side.
Also, keep your eyes peeled when driving these 14'ers for two reasons: 1) the most obvious -- to keep the greasy side down and the shiny side up, and 2): I have personally sighted various manufacturers testing their cars on these two highways. You might see a car/truck or two conducting their high altitude testing and data gathering for tuning (?). I've seen the new Porsche near Mt Evans (see Jonathan's photo in Autoweek), the new Ford pickup (pulling a weighted trailer) on I-70 near Idaho Springs and 3 Nissans (I think) at the top of Pike's Peak. All had blacked out body mouldings, ugly wheels and the Nissans had a bundle of wires from the engine compartment routed into the cockpit and connected to a laptop. Oh, and the natural scenery was great too. Lots to see around here.
Rick
I'll concur with the altitude health concerns. Not even a single beer for the drivers as the combination of altitude and alcohol is way too delicous for the driver of a world class tiny vehicle. Don't turn this into a cheap date!
