Chicago Lakes trail conditions

[AyeYo]

Anyone been out to Chicago Lakes via Echo Lake? Last time we attempted it, the section coming down from Echo was so miserably wind blown there was nothing but counter-banked, hard packed, drifted snow trying to throw you down the embankment. The already narrow trail was pretty much non-existent.

[Wilberfoss44]

On July 11th, 2017 my friend and I tried to climb Mount Evans via Chicago Lakes. We did not make it to Mount Evans but had a lovely hike anyway. The trail to the upper Chicago Lake is beautiful and mostly easy to find. The scramble, described in the Roach book as a class 2 climb to Mount Warren was very difficult! You are essentially climbing up a waterfall and most of the hand holes are loose boulders which is not very nice for your friend who is right below you. We abandoned the climb about half way up because it was too dangerous and rain was moving in. I'd be interested to find out if anyone has been able to climb Mt Evans via this route in 2017.

[ErikS]

I actually just did it this morning. The trail is snow free the entire way and easy to follow. There are a couple of swampy/muddy sections around the lower Chicago Lake, but that's it.

[Wilberfoss44]

Hi Erik, That's good to hear you finished the trail. I'd like to try again in a couple of weeks. Could you give a bit more detail about how you got to Summit Lake from Upper Chicago Lake? Did you follow the trail or did you climb on the tundra (posted to stay off)? Do you have any pictures? I took pictures of the route we tried to follow but I'm not sure how to show them to you. - Rachel

[ErikS]

Hi Rachel,

The trail should be easy to follow up to the point that it passes just below the upper Chicago Lake. From there, there is an area that looks like a small landslide or washout above the 2nd Chicago lake to climber's left on the hillside. Follow a couple of large cairns across a flat, sandy area, then the trail follows this washout directly up the middle. It's steep, but very manageable. Exit the washout about 2/3 of the way up on the climber's right. The trail is visible, but not super obvious unless you're looking for it, so keep an eye out. The exit is right about 12,000. From there, the trail is extremely easy to follow all the way to Summit Lake.

Erik

[Wilberfoss44]

Thanks Erik, that's very good information. I suspect we didn't go far enough up the washout to find the trail. I'll let you know when we try again. - Rachel