Facing another afternoon in the 90s (F), my wife and I decided to head for the mountains yesterday. After packing a lunch, we drove to Colorado 103 that begins north of Evergreen and winds westward and upward to Squaw Pass.
There, the road levels out, snaking across the northern flanks of Squaw and Chief Mountains before reaching Echo Lake that sits at an elevation of 10,600 feet. Knowing that the lake picnic grounds would be crowded, we stopped at one of the smaller picnic areas along the pass road, enjoying spectacular views of the Clear Creek Valley and Continental Divide to the north and of the Mt. Evans Massif and Upper Bear Creek Valley to the south. This pass is always a good area to spot birds of the Subalpine Zone, including gray jays, Clark's nutcrackers, Cassin's finches and, if you're lucky, three-toed woodpeckers.
After a couple of hours in the cool mountain air (it was in the low 60s), we passed the crowds at Echo Lake and began a winding descent through the Chicago Creek Valley to Idaho Springs; from there, we joined the Interstate traffic and returned to Metro Denver. As we pulled into our Littleton farm, the temperature was 93 degrees.
There, the road levels out, snaking across the northern flanks of Squaw and Chief Mountains before reaching Echo Lake that sits at an elevation of 10,600 feet. Knowing that the lake picnic grounds would be crowded, we stopped at one of the smaller picnic areas along the pass road, enjoying spectacular views of the Clear Creek Valley and Continental Divide to the north and of the Mt. Evans Massif and Upper Bear Creek Valley to the south. This pass is always a good area to spot birds of the Subalpine Zone, including gray jays, Clark's nutcrackers, Cassin's finches and, if you're lucky, three-toed woodpeckers.
After a couple of hours in the cool mountain air (it was in the low 60s), we passed the crowds at Echo Lake and began a winding descent through the Chicago Creek Valley to Idaho Springs; from there, we joined the Interstate traffic and returned to Metro Denver. As we pulled into our Littleton farm, the temperature was 93 degrees.
