Area A  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Elevation:  11,000' Lat, Long:  39.6326, -105.6211 Map Page Views:  87,101. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Monomaniac on Jul 24, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu 45° | 30° 48° | 36° 52° | 32° 63° | 37° 66° | 39°

The majority of these boulders are located within the Mt Evans Wilderness Area, which is regulated & patrolled by the US Forest Service. Climber MORE INFO >>> The majority of these boulders are located within the Mt Evans Wilderness Area, which is regulated & patrolled by the US Forest Service. Climbers should be on their best behavior, practice Leave No Trace, and please abide by these requirements: - Approach Areas A, B, & C via the Chicago Lakes trail (from Echo Lake). - Wilderness Permits are required for all visitors to any federal Wilderness Area. Permits are free and self-issued. A kiosk is located at the point where the Chicago Lakes Trail departs from the reservoir, at the entrance to the Wilderness Area. - Group size: travel in federal Wilderness Areas is limited to groups of 15 people or less. If you find yourself in an area, say around the Dali Boulder, where there are more than 15 people, please disperse. There are plenty of excellent boulders elsewhere. - Minimize creation of social trails. None of the trails surrounding the bouldering area are officially maintained by the USFS. Ample access trails currently exist, please stay on the existing trails, and do not create any more trails. - Do not destroy vegetation. This is a fragile alpine environment, with a short growing season. It can take vegetation decades to recover from damage. Place crash pads judiciously, and keep brushing to a minimum. Before adding new lines, considered the damage that may be caused by additional foot traffic, pad placement, etc. - Chalk is un-sightly to non-climbers. Please avoid chalking up boulder problems that are visible from the Chicago Lakes Trail, and in general, keep chalk use to a minimum. Brush all tick marks off after every sesssion. Use containers that prevent chalk spills. If you do spill your chalk, clean it up. - Stashing crash pads is expressly forbidden by the USFS. Any pads found by USFS personnel will be confiscated. - Noise: This is a wilderness area (did I mention that?) that is enjoyed by many, mostly non-climbers. The last thing passing hikers want to hear are your self-indulgent f-bombs, I-Pod speakers, grunting, etc. In fact, most other CLIMBERS don't want to hear any of these things either. The easiest way for us to loose access is to elicit complaints from other user groups. - Dogs must be leashed at all times. Consider others when deciding whether or not to bring your dog, specfically considering that dogs like to scare away wildlife, and most other users would prefer not to have the wildlife scared away. Obviously, clean up after your dog. Remember that we are guests in this area. Be respectful of other users and the USFS Rangers that manage this area. This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund, and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates. Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

BETA PHOTO: Area A Map. Not necessarily to scale! Not all pr...

Description 

Area A is the most well-known area at Mt Evans, home to numerous classic problems such as Seurat, Bierstadt, Timeline, The Ladder, All Dogs Go to Evans, The Dali, and No More Greener Grasses. The approach is just awful, which makes it relatively pleasant compared to other Mt Evans areas. The scenery here is magnificent, and really adds to the allure. Since this is by far the most visited area at Evans, and many of the boulders are in vegetated areas, please be extra courteous and respectful of other users and the fragile alpine environment.

Getting There 

Park at the Echo Lake Picnic Area. Follow a nice gravel path to the west side of the lake, where a signed trail for the Chicago Lakes heads off to the southwest. Follow this trail for a few hundred yards over a ridge, into the Chicago Lakes Basin. The trail traverses along the valley wall for a while, and then drops steeply towards the valley floor, through a series of switchbacks. Once at the valley floor, the trail crosses a creek, then joins an old dirt road. Turn left at the road, and head steeply uphill towards the reservoir. There are a few boulders along this road. The “Roadside Boulder” sits right on the road, on the left just before reaching the reservoir. Once at the reservoir, the trail flattens somewhat. Follow the road to the southwest corner of the reservoir, past two cabins, to a signed trailhead for the Chicago Lakes. Stop here and fill out your free wilderness permit. Follow the Chicago Lakes Trail through undulating terrain for several minutes. You will pass a nice looking block (the "Trailside Boulder") on the right in a nice meadow. Five minutes after passing the Trailside Boulder the trail forks. Head left, through the meadow at this fork. The main Chicago Lakes Trail continues to the right, passing a small stand of aspens.

Follow the trail through the meadow, across two make-shift bridges, then into the woods on the opposite side of the meadow. The trail winds through the woods for a few hundred yards, passing two more boulders in the meadow on the right (The Willows Boulders). About 3 minutes after the trail fork, this trail heads straight into the Bierstadt Block. Pass between the small cleft formed by the Bierstadt Block & its southern neighbor to reach a nice cirque of boulders with numerous classic problems such as Timeline & The Ladder.

To reach Pink Fink, Seurat, and the Dali, continue Southwesterly through/over this group of boulders, and pick up the trail again just past the Ladder. On the left is the overhanging arete of Random Progression. Head right around a large flat boulder, then after ~20 yards you will run smack into the North Face of the Pink Fink boulder, featuring Snow White V7 & Pink Fink. The towering highball Peasants Into Leaders is on the boulder just East of the Pink Fink boulder. Head west (right) around the Pink Fink boulder, and follow the trail towards the woods. Once in the woods the trail goes right past the East side of the Seurat Boulder. Continue further on this trail, SW for a bit, and then steeply uphill to the SE, to reach the Dali.

The Classics

Featured Route For Area A

Ben's Arete V5  CO : Alpine Rock : ... : Bierstadt Area

At the base of the arete, begin from obvious holds above your head. After making a couple moves high-gravity thrutchy moves, reach right onto the face to a hard-to-decipher-without-the-beta right hand undercling crimp just before the topout on thin but perfect crimps. If this one's at or near your limit, you may want to scramble up top to scope out and dust the finishing edges. If not for the alternative start (see below), I would give this line 4 stars as it is tall, overhung, interesting, c...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

Photos of Area A Slideshow

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BETA PHOTO: Here's where you diverge off the Chicago Lakes Tra...