Mt. Blue Sky from Idaho Springs: A Road Ride
When it comes to classic Colorado road cycling routes, the ride up and down fourteener Mt. Blue Sky (fka Mt. Evans) from Idaho Springs is about as famous as they come. Though admittedly not much of a pure road biker myself, this one had long been on the list in the must-do-at-least-once category. So when Brian shot me an invite to join he and his cousin Kevin on a ride up the highest paved road in North America earlier this summer I immediately signed up.
In terms of route description there’s really not much to say. Start in Idaho Springs (in our case from the Westbound and Down Brewing parking lot) and ride up the Mt. Blue Sky Scenic Byway (aka CO Road 103) to Echo Lake. Nail the single right turn up the Mt. Blue Sky Road (aka CO Road 5) and follow it all the way up the summit at 14,268 feet. Then reverse it all the way back down and drink beer. The only question mark for the day was the weather, as we were looking at 60-70% chance of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon with clouds building and rolling through the area all day. Keep Reading….
I reached the trailhead from Big Pine in early afternoon, stowed my extra food in one of the bear boxes, and made the hike on the trail from the backpacker lot. This trail is more scenic than hiking the road, but I can’t think that it is necessarily any faster, as you have to gain maybe a couple hundred feet as the path winds across the hillside, only to drop it all to reach the creek, where the trail splits. On my way out, I took the road. 