Trip
Hiking – Mt Evans/Blue Sky - Echo Lake
RESCHEDULED TO OCT 4 - The starting point will be Echo Lake, making this a challenging hike with more than 5k feet elevation gain over 16 miles out and back.
Contacts
- Sat, Oct 4, 2025
- Bobcats Section
- Hiking
- Adults
- Difficult
- Mileage: 15.8 mi
- Elevation Gain: 5,200 ft
- High Point Elevation: 14,268 ft
- Pace: 2.0 mph avg and elev. 1,000-1,200 ft/hour
- 6 (6 capacity)
- 1 (2 capacity)
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
Join a rare opportunity to experience the summit of Mount Blue Sky without the car-carried crowds. With the road to the top closed until 2026, we will be sharing the summit with only mountain goats, marmots and mountaineers crossing from Bierstadt.
It will be a challenging day, though. The long hike begins from Echo Lake with a 400 foot climb down before rising 1,500’ through the gorgeous Lower and Upper Chicago Lake basins. From there, the terrain becomes steep, as we climb to Summit Lake followed by the 13,800’ Mt Spalding. Finally, we will reach the Blue Sky summit after a Class 2 scramble across the Blue Sky talus field.
We will have the option to return via the same route or skip the return over Spalding by descending Blue Sky's east gulley and following the road back to Summit Lake.
Please plan for 10 or more hours on the trail to account for rest stops, snacks, and unanticipated delays. This is only an estimate, however, and our actual time likely will be different.
We will carpool from the Wooly Mammoth Park n Ride next to the Morrison exit on I-70 (Section BB, across from the Exxon station – bathrooms are out of service) at 5:30a for a 5:45a departure.
Our hike will start at the Echo Lake Trailhead on State Highway 103. There are restrooms at the trailhead.
Required Equipment
Bring your 10 essentials and at least 3 liters of water for the long day.