Saturday in the mountains

This is one of my favorite routes when I want to go to the mountains without driving too far. Taking Squaw Pass Road all the way from Evergreen to Echo Lake will refresh you and recharge your batteries.

 

Bright yellow...

The days are colder now, and we’re waiting for the first real snow. The leaves are gone, the branches are bare, and everything looks a little faded and dull. But, believe it or not, just a couple of months ago the world looked completely different - bright, golden, glowing yellow. I still remember that vibrant day when we drove up into the mountains to see the fall foliage at its peak. We started on Squaw Pass Road and headed toward Echo Lake - Beautiful Sunday high in the mountains.

 

Beautiful Sunday high in the mountains

I can’t believe it’s already November. It feels like just last week we were driving up into the mountains to chase the fall colors, and yet, somehow, a whole month has slipped by. Still, that Sunday stays vivid in my memory - chilly, crisp, sunlit, and painted in gold.

 

Mountains Dressed in Gold

When I returned to the car after hiking around Beaver Brook Reservoir (click here - Beautiful morning... fall morning...), I realized I wasn’t ready to go home yet. So I decided to drive up Squaw Pass Road and take in some fall colors... those beautiful mountain colors.

 

Beautiful morning... fall morning...

Fall is here! Not just because it’s September 27th and the season officially started a week ago… but because the Colorado colors have finally arrived. It was a bit late this year, and for a while it felt like we wouldn’t see much of those bright hues. But we were wrong and now they’re HERE! 

Early Saturday morning, I headed out… though I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going :) I took I-70, turned toward Evergreen, and before reaching the town I veered off onto one of my favorite mountain highways - Squaw Pass Road. Soon I pulled into a small parking lot and decided to hike up to Beaver Brook Reservoir, a little man-made lake not far from the road. The sun was just peeking over the tree line, and as I was getting ready to start, the first rays lit up an aspen across the lot. I took it as a good sign ;)

 

Chief Mountain hike

What can be better than staying downhill when the temperature climbs up and hits 90 degrees? Going to the mountains and having a hike somewhere above 10,000 feet is definitely a better thing to do. That's what I did last Saturday ;) I chose a trail I've never hiked before - Chief Mountain. Relatively close to Denver, relatively short and at a high altitude, it ticks all the boxes :). The trail is quite steep at the beginning and climbs between the trees.

 

Mountains...

What could be better than driving to the mountains and having a light hike there... I think this is the best way to spend Saturday morning, when it's toasting hot down in Denver and nice and breezy up in the mountains...

 

Fall colors - Echo Lake

Fall colors in Colorado are bright and bold. To enjoy them all you need is to drive up to the mountains and look for the aspens. Echo Lake is one of the most popular destinations to look for the orange and gold...

 

Squaw Pass Road and Echo Lake hike

4th of July is a great day for a picnic or easy hike. Probably hike to gain some appetite and picnic or barbecue later ;) And I know the place! So I just jumped in the car and half an hour later turned from Evergreen to Squaw Pass Road climbing toward Echo Lake...

 

Squaw Pass Road flowers

It was a nice August day in the mountains... I was exploring Squaw Pass road, driving up and down, stopping here and there and looking for flowers... Aren't they beautiful? What do you think?