"Epaulie"

[Layne Bracy]

For those who did this from the Mt Evans road(, which I have not yet driven at all):

1) Can you park near where the road runs closest to "Epaulie", or do you have to park at Summit Lake?

2) Can you pay the road toll by credit card?

3) Any idea how late in the year the road stays open?

4) Would it be totally cheating to pick off Warren, Rogers, "Epaulie", and Rosalie in one half-day? :D

Thanks much, Layne

[John Kirk]

Heh-heh,

Yes, there is a nice pull-out right about where the closest access is to Epaulet. There is a credit-card acceptor at the station. I think the road is open 24-7 from Memorial Day to Labor Day as long as weather/conditions permit. Getting all would be cool in a 1/2 day.

[Layne Bracy]

Thanks, John! These peaks are not on my short list, but if I found myself needing 4 13ers to get to 50 ... uh-oh, sounds like another obsession!

[RyanSchilling]

Layne, I think you can look at it two ways.

(1) These four are among just a handful of potentially "cheap" 13ers. The others I can think of are all accessed from pass roads, the easiest being those immediately adjacent to Cinnamon and Engineer Passes. Take advantage of the situation when you can!

(2) Since you do so much hard work to get the other 13ers, why denigrate that accomplishment by succombing to the temptation presented by the Mount Evans Road or the peaks near passes.


Obviously I've been subscribing to viewpoint 1! :) But I see the value in the other. For example, I loved the hike Erin and I took with John up Rosalie last year. Had I just traversed from Epaulet, I wouldn't have experienced Tanglewood Creek, 'arctic tundra' and the accompanying moisture and small pools, the Pegmatite Points, and a really nice snowshoe. What, then, am I missing by not hiking up Chicago Creek to bag Warren and Rogers? Of course, in selecting *any* route on any mountain you can wonder what you missed on the other side, so I can't take that particular argument too far.

[RyanSchilling]

Re: how late in the year does the road remain open

Based on the last two years that I've paid attention, they will close the road from Summit Lake to the top of Evans after the first real snow of the year. I went up the road in late September of '03, and even though the Labor Day weekend snow was long gone, the gates were still shut at Summit Lake. If they close it once, the tendency seems to be that it will remain shut. They do, however, keep the road open to Summit Lake later, and this puts you in an equally good position to bag Warren and Rogers. If you made a day out of it, there's no reason you couldn't add Epaulet and Rosalie, because we're only talking four more miles RT to get to those peaks with the closure at Summit Lake.

[Layne Bracy]

Thanks again, John and Ryan!

Well, my 4 easy 13ers plan didn't quite come off. I had just a few hours in the morning, and the road was closed at Summit Lake! The FS ranger thought either rockfall or snow from last night. I didn't have time to do the extra mileage to get Rosalie/"Epaulie"/Epaulet, but Warren/Rogers made a nice hike.

It's a scenic drive, so I won't mind returning for the other two!