Mount Blue Sky from Summit Lake

I awoke in my campsite at Echo Lake a little bit before 5 am and made the drive up the Mount Blue Sky Summit Road to Summit Lake and the start of my hike. I parked the car, grabbed my pack and hit the trail in the dark. The first signs of sunrise started to show themselves as I looked out over the Chicago Lakes Overlook. 

From the overlook, the trail gets quite a bit more rugged and starts a fairly steep ascent of a ridge north of the lake. It was as I was climbing this ridge that the sun peaked over the horizon.

Soon, the Mount Blue Sky massif was bathed in red, morning light. 

It was an impressive sight!

I continued to hike up the ridge and onto and over the summit of Mount Spalding. Off to the west high peaks like Grays and Torreys looked amazing.

From Mount Spalding, the trail descends to a gap, and then ascends to a ridge. In the gap, there were great views off to Summit Lake 

and over to the Sawtooth Ridge that connects Blue Sky to Mount Bierstadt.

Out of the gap, the trail hugs the southwest side of the Blue Sky ridge. There were a lot of small ups and downs along this ridge. Soon enough, I could see the observatory near the summit of the mountain. My trail connected to the tourist trail from the summit parking lot. I climbed to the summit and had it mostly to myself. I took in the views and posed for a summit photo.

Then I decided to go check things out over near the parking lot. There's a new sign to reflect the updated name of the peak.

There's also a peak finder that I don't recall checking out before.

After a little while, it was time to start making my way down the mountain. I admired a few clumps of wildflowers on the way.

My energy levels were low as I made my way back to Summit Lake. Right near the lake I was able to observe a mountain goat making its way across a grassy slope.

I took a look at the Chicago Lakes Overlook, which had been too dark to appreciate earlier in the hike,

and was soon back to the car for the drive back down to Echo Lake to retrieve my tent. On the drive I was able to see a baby bighorn sheep up close.