August 5

We got up early so we could drive to the top of Mount Evans on the “Road to the Stars” before it got crowded. This was a scary drive because of the sheer dropoffs. It was 14 miles from our camp to the summit with an altitude gain of almost 4,000 feet. Mount Evans is slightly higher than Pikes Peak and the views are fantastic. Along the way we saw Mountain Goats, some of which were eating dirt. At the summit there were the remains of Crest House, built between 1939 and 1941. At the time it was built it was the highest structure in the world. They served coffee and donuts to tourists. In 1979 it was destroyed by a propane explosion. In 1992 the Forest Service stabilized the remains and converted it into an observation platform. There is also an astronomical observatory which is the highest in the world. We climbed to the very tip top of Mount Evans on the Summit Trail. We sat on the highest rock that had a sheer dropoff behind it with a view of Summit Lake. We went back to camp, hooked up, and drove to Idaho Springs and had lunch and beers at Tommyknockers Brewpub. We continued on to Dillon, Colorado where we set up the trailer at the Heaton Bay Campground, Dillon Reservoir Recreation Area, White River National Forest, about 9 miles from the ski village of Breckenridge. We went to Backcountry Brewery in Frisco (about 3 miles away) and to Pug Ryans Brewery in Dillon for some beers.