Colorado: Mt. Evans Road opens, fee-free this year

Access advocacy group plans May 25 event to mark the end of the $10 fee

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Exploring the Summit Lake area near the summit of Mt. Evans, Colorado. Bob Berwyn photo.

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The Mt. Evans Scenic Byway. Map courtesy CDOT.

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — There aren’t too many places in the world where you can drive up to the summit of a 14,000-foot peak, but one of them is right here in Colorado, where Mt. Evans road rises to the crest of the Rocky Mountains just a short way west of Denver.

And this summer, for the first time since 1997, visitors will be able to make the drive for free, thanks to the tireless work of the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition, a group that has been battling the U.S. Forest Service over what it says are illegal fees for access to public lands. (more…)

Colorado: Tornado reported near Mt. Evans

Mt. Evans, Colorado.

Twister one of the highest ever reported

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The National Weather Service this week confirmed that a tornado that touched down at about 11,900-feet near Mt. Evans, Colorado is the second-highest ever reported in the U.S.

The highest reported tornado came July 2004 in Sequoia National Park, California, when a hiker photographed a twister at about 12,000 feet.

The strongest reported high-elevation tornado, with damage reported at the F4 level, was in 1987 in Wyoming, between about 8,500 and 10,000 feet. Another strong tornado (F3) was reported from the Uinta Mountains in Utah in 1993, at about 10,800 feet.

Severe weather experts suggest there have likely been other strong tornadoes at high elevations that were unreported simply because much of the high country is only sparsely populated.

Pictures of the Mt. Evans tornado are online at the Boulder NWS website.

 

Forest Service cuts pay-to-play fees at Mt. Evans

Forest Service will only charge fees at areas with developed amenities

Hikers on Mt. Evans, Colorado.

The Forest Service tries to show the public how the fee program benefits recreation management.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Just in time for the busy summer season in the mountains, the U.S. Forest Service has made some changes to the way it administers fees at the popular Mt. Evans area.

Instead of charging to visit the overall area, the agency will charge fees at three specific developed locations around Mt. Evans, including the summit area, the Mt. Goliath natural area and at Summit Lake Park, under  a revenue-sharing agreement with Denver.

The deal means hikers who just want to visit the backcountry won’t have to pay, but the Forest Service will still be able to charge for use of developed recreation amenities in the most intensely used parts of the Mt. Evans area, where fees have helped pay for some much-needed maintenance and hardening of trails. (more…)

Morning photo: Mt. Evans, Colorado

Classic Colorado

Sunlight plays across the water of Summit Lake, at the base of Mt. Evans, Colorado.

SUMMIT COUNTY — A half-day road trip from our home in Frisco was rewarded by splendid late-afternoon scenes around Mt. Evans and Summit Lake.  Mt. Evans Road closes for the season this weekend and won’t be open again until Memorial Day, 2011. Read a bit more about the area here.

Even the two pre-teens looked up from the iTouches and iPhones for a minute as late afternoon light sliced through the sky.

(more…)

Travel: Colorado’s Mt. Evans Road closes this weekend

A sunset summit view from Mt. Evans. PHOTO FROM THE WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

A fourteener and 2,000-year-old trees, all within easy day-tripping distance from Denver

SUMMIT COUNTY — There aren’t too many places in the world you can drive your car to the top of a 14,000-foot peak and then visit some of the planet’s oldest trees, all in an easy day trip from an urban area.

But Mt. Evan Road, just west of Denver, is one of the places you can, but you’ll have to hurry if you want to do it this year. The road is closing for the season after this weekend (Oct. 2 -3, 2010) and won’t be open again until late in spring (usually sometime in May) after the winter snows have melted. (more…)

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