Idaho Springs/Mount Evans

Matt and I in a little shop on Main Street in Idaho Springs

Jamie and Matt in Idaho Springs

Matt and I in Idaho Springs, CO

Our ginormous pizza at Beau Jo's

Our truck in the mountains


Jamie and Matt in Mount Evans

It's the start of the rainbow!

Matt, Jamie and I in the mountains after the rain

Me, Matt and Jamie at the top of Mount Evans...over 14,000 ft. high

Me on Mount Evans

Look really, really close and you might see Jamie!


The beautiful scenery on Mount Evans

Matt drove all the way up and down

The Cross Country Crew...look how small those trees look!

Me on Mount Evans...this is much higher then it looks!

Mount Evans

On August 3rd, Jamie, Matt and I decided to have dinner in the foothills of the mountains. The hotel concierge recommended that we go to Idaho Springs (an hour away) to have dinner at a pizza place called Beau Jo's. They are famous for how large their pizzas are and there is honey on every table to put on the crust of your pizza as dessert. It was delicious!

After dinner we meandered around Idaho Springs. We were going to rent mopeds, but the weather started getting bad. The moped shop happened to be right next to a white water rafting place so we sat and chatted with a few of the guides, Tommy and Roland, that were done with work for the day. We had heard about Mt. Evans earlier and asked them about it. They recommended going up the mountain so we decided that is what we would do. Mount Evans is North America's highest auto road, reaching 14,260 feet.

It was an indescribeable experience. The mountains were absolutely breath-taking. As we climbed the mountain, we passed through all kinds of weather including thick fog and rain clouds....we literally were driving in the clouds. The road was so narrow and winding and it really made me nervous most of the time. The roads were so thin that there was no shoulder at parts and no lines painted on the shoulder either. If you were to swerve a few inches in the wrong direction you could wind up tumbling off the side of the mountain.

There were several places on the way up the mountain that you could pull over and get out of the truck. Of course, as we climbed up the mountain it got colder and colder. When we finally reached the top it was only 42 degrees. Apparently there used to be a restaurant at the top of the mountain years ago, but there was a propane fire and now it is just a tourist site. When we fianlly arrived at the top, we couldn't even see the view because it was cloudy and raining. We took pictures but jumped back in the truck quickly because it was so cold. As we began down the mountain they weather started to clear up immediately. We found an area where we could pull off to the side of the road and jumped out of the truck to take pictures. By now the weather had cleared and the skies were absolutely crystal clear. The sun began to set and the MOST beautiful rainbow in the world appeared. Not only did we see a rainbow, but we saw the rainbow in it's entirety - beginning and end - in the valley between some of the mountains. I cannot event explain how beautiful it was and the pictures surely don't do it justice either, but at least you can get an idea of how beautiful it was. The way down the mountain was just relaxing and serene. The air was so pure and clear and the clouds had cleared. What a pleasant surprise we got ourselves into.