Echo Lake Trailhead to Mount Evans views.

The Mount Evans Wilderness is a popular destination in Colorado because it's not a far drive from Denver. We happened to be staying in nearby Evergreen so Mount Evans was a central location for us to get the best views during an afternoon hike. If you plan to only visit the Echo Lake area, it's a short lived adventure, the hike distance around the lake is less than 1/4 mile at 10,600′ elevation. We started at Echo Lake park and had planned just to wander around the lake before realizing that wouldn't take long for us as well-prepared and avid hikers. We stopped, of course, to take a some landscapes and portraits along the lake before heading into the snow covered pines.Up into the forest we hiked about three miles quickly while talking and catching up with our friend. The snow was pretty well packed along the trail and we passed a handful of friendly hikers. There are at least two other lakes along the trail before making it to the summit of Mount Evans but we weren't THAT prepared. We decided that there wasn't enough daylight left to make it to the next lake so we hiked to a break in the trail at the access road and turned around.The best view was about a mile or less into the hike of Mount Evans along an open ridge line. Quite a spot for reflection and relaxing! but best portrait spot was this dilapidated old picnic building by the parking lot that had great natural light and deteriorating stone walls.