Our Hike Of Two Colorado 13ers In The Mount Evans Region
Mount Warren and Rogers Peak
Mount Warren and Rogers Peak are two little known 13ers that live in the shadow of Mount Evans.
Most drivers on the Mt. Evans Scenic Byway drive past without giving them much notice.
On this day, my friends Jeff, Tom and I hiked both of these peaks from Summit Lake. Enjoy the photos!
Photo Above: The view of Mount Warren (left) and Rogers Peak (center) from Mount Evans.
June 8, 2012 - The hike to Mount Warren from Summit Lake is relatively easy.
Your National
Geographic topographical Map (Idaho Springs - Georgetown - Loveland Pass) will
cover this area.
The only "red tape" is the possibility of walking on and/or being scolded
for hiking on the reclamation area beyond the parking lot.
Along the tourist pedestrian path is a wooden fence with stern warnings to
stay on the trail. However, to hit Mount Warren, you've got to cross somewhere.
After speaking with the reclamation workers, who thanked us for asking, they suggested we go
toward the Chicago Lakes and hike on the southern side of the ridge, which we did.
I suppose we could have also hiked toward Mt. Evans Road (also around the wooden fencing)
and then made a direct ascent to Mount Warren.
Either way, your sensitivity to their work would be wise.
Adjacent Photo: Summit Lake with a layer of
snow and ice.
This area is known to have plenty of mountain goats.
These fellows were so close to us as we hiked past. Here are my
photos of mountain goats
from a previous visit.
Approaching Mount Warren.
A short hike compared to most 13ers, this mountain would be good
choice for someone desiring to train at a high elevation, or to get away from the crowds.
Also, Mount Warren and Rogers Peak are both ranked 13ers ...
so the more dedicated mountaineers could check them off their peaks list.
This is a good place to introduce my two climbing partners,
Tom and Jeff. Nice pictures of them, and the mountain scenery ain't too shabby!
TOP: Mount Spalding on the left.
SECOND: Summit Lake in the background.
Mount Warren - Elevation 13,307 Feet
Our photo on the flat and broad summit.
Four photos of the mountain views.
TOP: The Mount Evans Road, Mount Evans (14,265') itself and Summit Lake.
SECOND: The view of Mount Spalding (13,842').
THIRD: Walk toward the edge and one has a nice view of the Chicago Lakes and its canyon. The lake pictured is the uppermost of the Chicago Lakes.
FOURTH: Facing northeast, Rogers Peak -- our next destination -- stood out there.
Our view of Rogers Peak as we approached the saddle between the mountains.
On the upper slopes of Rogers Peak, we hiked past one of many sections of snow. Although snow is a blessing during any season,
snow in June, July and August is an especially glorious thing! :)
Enjoy my video.
Rogers Peak Summit - Elevation 13,390 Feet
The summit of Rogers Peak was flat, wide and rocky. Adjacent is the view facing back toward Mount Evans and Mount Warren.
Some of the mountain scenery was spectacular in person,
but my camera didn't do it justice.
I believe Longs Peak can be seen way out there in the top photo,
and Pikes Peak
can certianly be seen in the distant far right in the second one.
Jeff had a box of Entenmann's donuts and we celebrated on the summit. :)
On the way back, we chose to hike toward the saddle between
Mt. Warren and Rogers Peak and go down the hill to the road. Then we hiked back to Summit Lake.
All in all, we did fine, but near the road the grade was fairly steep. We took our time.
We switched back and forth. And we slid while holding onto anything we could grab. Good heavens! We made it. :)
At Summit Lake, we drove to Mount Evans
and walked among the many tourists.
These mountain goats posed to the liking of many photographers.
