退隱山林

Mount Blue Sky climbing route

Besides the most popular route, which starts at the Parking Lot at the top of the Mount Evans Scenic Byway (CO-5), there are three common trailheads for climbing Mount Blue Sky: Summit Lake, Guanella Pass Trailhead, and Echo Lake Trailhead. In 2019, my grandpa took me to Mount Blue Sky via the Guanella Pass Trailhead, a 11-hour round trip. Recently, Regina and I decided to climb Mount Blue Sky from the Echo Lake Trailhead via the Chicago Creek Basin. This route is considered the most difficult, but we felt we could do it, which led to this climbing adventure!

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Mountains Climbed:

Mount Blue Sky: 14,264 ft/4,348 m

Mount Spalding: 13,842 ft/4,219 m

Lakes Passed:

Echo Lake: 10,892 ft/3,320 m

Idaho Springs Reservoir: 10,627 ft/3,239 m

Lower Chicago Lake: 11,421 ft/3,481 m

Upper Chicago Lake: 11,762 ft/3,588 m

Summit Lake: 12,836 ft/3,912 m

Trailhead: Echo Lake Trailhead , 10,600 m ft/3,231 m

Length: 16.96 miles/27.3 km round trip

Elevation Gain: Approximately 5,932 ft/1,808 m

Hiking Time: 14 hours and 30 minutes round trip including rest breaks

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On Saturday, August 2, Regina and I set off from Boulder at around 2:00 a.m. and arrived at the Echo Lake Trailhead Parking Lot at nearly 4:00 a.m. We parked the car, put on our headlamps, and set off from the trailhead.

Itinerary Summary:

04:10 Depart from the parking lot trailhead, coordinates 39° 39' 33.3" -105° 36' 22.7", elevation 10,600 feet/3,230 meters;

Echo Lake Trailhead (Old photos)

walk a short distance to the west shore of Echo Lake. The lake cannot be seen in the dark, so enjoy the scenery after descending the mountain; continue south along the west shore of Echo Lake. After about 500 feet, you will come to the fork between Chicago Lakes Trail and Echo Lake Trail. Take the right fork and continue south along Chicago Lakes Trail.

At the highest point of the Chicago Lakes Trail, there is a wooden sign that says "Chicago Lakes Trail No. 52".

The official trailhead on the far side of Echo Lake (Old photos)

After passing this sign, the trail begins to cut south along the mountainside on the west side of the ridge towards Chicago Creek. After about 0.6 miles, the trail begins to turn west and zigzag steeply downhill, cutting straight into the Chicago Creek valley.

04:44 Arrived at Chicago Creek and crossed the log bridge over the creek to the west bank. The altitude here is about 10,325 feet/3,147 meters, about 1.2 miles/1.93 kilometers from the trailhead.

Crosses Chicago Creek via a woodenbridge (Old photos)

Soon after the hiking trail, we came to a wide gravel road. Turn left and go up the gravel road to the south.

05:00 Arrived at Idaho Springs Reservoir, coordinates 39° 38' 42.0" -105° 36' 59.5", approximately 10,617 feet/3,236 meters above sea level, about 1.8 miles/2.9 kilometers from the trailhead;

Idaho Springs Reservoir

this reservoir is suitable for fishing. My grandpa and his friend John took me there for fly fishing on July 12, 2019.

Follow the west bank of the reservoir to the end, passing two cabins, and you will reach the Mount Blue Sky Wilderness Area Boundary. The coordinates are 39° 38' 23.6" -105° 37' 00.5", with an elevation of approximately 10,673 feet/3,253 meters, and it is about 2.3 miles/3.7 kilometers from the trailhead.

Two cabins at the upper end of the reservoir (Old photos)

Entering the Mount Evans Wilderness (Old photos)

After passing this Boundary sign, the trail begins to climb southwest in the Chicago Creek Basin.

Chicago Creek basin

06:28 Arrived at the Lower Chicago Lake fork, about 11,552 feet/3,521 meters above sea level.

Lower Chicago Lake

Cow moose at Lower Chicago Lake

Take the right and go straight to Upper Chicago Lake. After passing a slightly steep rocky terrain, you will reach Upper Chicago Lake.

Chicago Lakes Trail

Lower Chicago Lake

Steep rocky terrain segment

06:56 Arrived at Upper Chicago Lake, coordinates 39° 36' 44.3" -105° 38' 21.7", approximately 11,762 feet/3,588 meters above sea level, approximately 4.85 miles/7.8 kilometers from the trailhead.

Upper Chicago Lake

Upper Chicago Lake is located just below Summit Lake at the foot of Mount Blue Sky. Summit Lake is 12,830 feet/3,911 meters above sea level. You can climb Summit Lake from the steep cliffs on the southeast shore of Upper Chicago Lake (the west slope of Mount Warren) and then climb Mount Blue Sky at an altitude of 14,264 feet/4,348 meters. This is the route Regina and I will climb later.

The rute from Upper Chicago Lake to Summit Lake

From the north shore of Upper Chicago Lake, you can overlook Lower Chicago Lake.

Looking down upon lower Chicago Lake from the outlet of upper Chicago Lake

Overlooking the Lower Chicago Lake from the Upper Chicago Lake

After a short rest here, we crossed the outlet of Upper Chicago Lake and went around to the foot of Summit Lake on the east shore of Upper Chicago Lake, preparing to climb Summit Lake. The coordinates here are 39° 36' 43.0" -105° 38' 18.4", with an altitude of 11,770 feet/3,587 meters; the straight-line distance from here to Summit Lake is 0.7 miles, and the climb is 1,100 feet. It is quite steep, and it took us more than an hour to reach the Chicago Lakes Lookout on the north shore of Summit Lake.

Looking into the Chicago Creek basin from the Summit Lake

08:10 Arrived at Chicago Lakes Lookout on the north shore of Summit Lake, at coordinates 39° 36' 06.4" -105° 38' 32.3", approximately 12,848 feet/3,916 meters above sea level, about 5.4 miles/8.7 kilometers from the trailhead.

Summit Lake

From Chicago Lakes Lookout, looking northeast over the Chicago Creek Basin offers a panoramic view of the trail we hiked this morning and the lake itself.

Looking into the Chicago Creek basin from the Summit Lake

After a short break to enjoy the scenery, we began our westward ascent toward the summit of Mount Spalding.

Summit Lake

On the way up to Mount Spalding

The trail zigzags up the south slope of Mount Spalding, soon reaching the ridgeline of Mount Spalding's east ridge, and then follows the ridgeline to the summit.

Looking down at Chicago Creek Basin from the trail near Mount Spaldung

Looking down at Summit Lake from the trail near Mount Spaldung

09:23 Reached the summit of Mount Spalding, 13,842 feet/4,219 meters above sea level;

Looking south to Mount Blue Sky from Mount Spalding's summit

Looking southwest at mountains from Mount Spalding

Looking south to Mount Bierstadt from Mount Spalding's summit

after a short rest at the summit, began to head south toward the saddle between Mount Spalding and Mount Blue Sky. After reaching the saddle, continued to climb south toward the west ridge of Mount Blue Sky.

Looking down at Summit Lake from Spalding-Evans ridge

Looking north at Mount Spalding from the west slope of Mount Evans after climbing the gully

09:50 Climb the west ridge of Mount Blue Sky and descend from the right side of the Cairns, the highest point on the ridge, to a small saddle below the rockery on the west ridge of Mount Evans (approximately 13,900 feet/4,237 meters above sea level).

The final part of the trail travels along the south slope of Mount Evans' west ridge

Then, we head southeast on the south slope of Mount Blue Sky toward the summit. This point is about 0.8 miles from the summit, with about 500 feet of climbing still to go.

The final part of the trail travels along the south slope of Mount Evans' west ridge

Looking down at Abyss Lake 、Mount Bierstadt & Sawtooth Ridge from the west side of Mt Evans

Looking southwest to Mount Bierstadt from Mount Blue Sky , with Abyss Lake below

The south slope of Mount Blue Sky is not an easy hike. Some sections require climbing over rocks, and some sections have unclear paths, requiring careful judgment and navigation to avoid getting lost.

The final part of the trail travels along the south slope of Mount Evans' west ridge

Looking down summit parking lot & Meyer-Womble Observatory from Mount Blue Sky's summit

11:13 We walked about 0.8 miles along the south slope of Mount Blue Sky and spent more than an hour to finally reach the top of Mount Blue Sky, which is 14,264 feet/4,348 meters above sea level and about 7.8 miles/12.55 kilometers from the trailhead.

Mount Blue Sky's summitmark

Taken from the summit of Mount Blue Sky

As the entire Mount Evans Scenic Byway (CO-5) is closed for renovations this year, the mountaintop, which is usually crowded with people at this time of year, was very deserted today. We rested for 25 minutes at the top of the mountain and only met five fellow hikers. They all started from the Guanella Pass Trailhead, and only Regina and I started from the Echo Lake Trailhead.