Tim's Recovery Ride

July 25, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

After having knee surgery July 8th and sitting (not too patiently mind you) through some really nice riding days (the best we've seen all year), Tim announced yesterday (Friday) he was ready to ride more than a few miles. I casually mentioned the dour weekend forecast in passing but being the enabler I am when it comes to riding the Harley... well... OK, says I - where to?

We decide a Poudre Canyon to Walden ride and if the knee is holding up, perhaps beyond. After taking a look at the map, we remember we have never been over the pass of the Snowy Range in Wyoming so that's sort of what beyond meant today.

The first part of our ride took us out of Fort Collins about 7:30 am to the mouth of the Poudre Canyon and up alongside the Cache La Poudre River. It was warm enough down in the city but we rode out in full leathers knowing our ride would take us to higher altitudes and lower temps. The river was flowing hard the last time we rode through here. This time, it was flowing about normal. The sun was barely up over the walls of the canyon, but rafters and kayakers were already gathering in little knots along the side of the road. We have driven and camped and now ridden the Poudre many times. Along the way are a few landmarks... the tunnel, the falls, profile rock, another lesser known profile rock and the Sleeping Elephant to name a few. Our first stop was at Sportsman's Lodge where decent coffee can still be purchased for fifty cents a cup and one can be entertained by hundreds of hummingbirds. Sportsman's Lodge, a mom and pop operation, offers rustic cabins for rent. Across the highway the Big Thompson flows and we've seen deer and elk in the meadow that can be viewed from the lodge.

Cameron Pass (elevation 10,276) is a short ride up from the Sportsman's Lodge. It was a crisp morning. The smell of pine was strong through the canyon. Although we picked up high clouds, the ride was near perfect. The Crags (rugged mountains looming over the area near Gould, Colorado) still had a good bit of snow. As we rode up on the Moose Center, we stopped for thermos coffee and a brownie. It was surprisingly warm and we were shedding our jackets as quick as we dismounted. The Moose Center offers great information about the area including the time and location of recent moose sightings, a trail head, picnic tables, benches, and decent restrooms. A barbed wire moose, made by local craftsman stands seven foot tall in front of the center. Behind the center are bird feeders that attract hummingbirds and many other mountain birds as well as a healthy population of chipmunks and ground squirrels.

It is just over 20 miles from the Moose Center to Walden (elevation 8099) and the ride is spectacular through wide open you-can-see-forever terrain more typical of Wyoming than Colorado. From Walden, you can head southwest to Steamboat Springs or south into Granby or northeast into Laramie. We chose the northern route. Leaving Walden, headed north on Hwy 125, it is 22 miles to the state line, 62 miles to Saratoga and 62 miles to Laramie. Now, we've never been to Saratoga, and it was early in the day so it seemed the natural choice. From Saratoga, we'd only have to backtrack about eight miles to do the Snowy Range ride. Thus far on the trip the skies had only spit at us. Outside of Walden, we ran into a rain shower but rode out from under it soon enough.

So, we rode on, passing through the tiny town of Riverside, WY (elevation 7137), Population 59. Ha! Despite being blink-and-you-miss-it size, the tiny town was home to a couple of fun looking restaurant/bar establishments. I caught the name Mangy Moose Cafe as we rode on by.

Saratoga (elevation 6785) has a population of just over 1700. The Platte River runs through the town and it is home to a Mineral Hot Springs which visitors can swim in (at the Hobo Pool) free of charge, I believe. We stopped to stretch our legs at a busy park known as Island Park as it is located on an island in the middle of the river. The downtown area was bustling and home to some old west and turn of the 19th century architecture including a historical Hotel/Restaurant which dominates the downtown area. There were several restaurants and at least one bar on main street.

We didn't linger in Saratoga as the clouds were spitting again and looking heavy. We backtracked the eight miles to Hwy 130 and began the Snowy Range Scenic Byway Ride. The mile marker said 20 miles to Centennial, 47 miles to Laramie. This ride through the Medicine Bow National Forest was a pleasant surprise. The road was good, the grades gentle and the twists and turns easy. Wyoming has many beautiful places, but having lived there for two and a half years we learned seeing those places doesn't usually come without a price. Either you drive (or ride) forever through barren sage land only to find your destination is still 40 miles down a sandy road (check that - antelope trail), or the town you thought you'd stop in doesn't have so much as a place to buy a coca-cola much less a place to pee or you get caught out in a vicious thunder storm, or you encounter the world's nastiest winds that can sand blast a vehicle and your sun shades in a matter of minutes or take the hide right off your arm. All I'm saying is... do your homework if you plan to ride in Wyoming because the points of civilization (food and gas and shelter) are few and far in between on some routes and the weather can be quite harsh.

This time, the road, which has plenty of paved pull-offs, offered many sights to appreciate with names like Silver Lake, Mirror Lake, and Libby Flats all with little effort. About halfway up, as we rounded a bend in the road we caught sight of the Snowy Range (aka The Snowies) for the first time close-up. Wow! We stopped near the summit of Snowy Range Pass (elevation 10,847), at the base of these massive gray rock formations composed of granite for a picnic lunch of bologna and cheese sandwiches, chips, fresh peaches and ice-cream cookies. I know, it's pathetic - I am such a cheap date. Ha! It can snow up here at any time of year, ten foot drifts not uncommon in winter and snow fields linger throughout the summer. It wasn't exactly cold, but it didn't bother us to munch without shedding our jackets. About the time, we finished our lunch, we heard a rumble of thunder roll across the mountains... UH-OH!

We were pelted with a hard rain before we could clear the pass. We rode as far down as we dared in a steady downpour before utilizing one of the paved pull-offs. We sheltered under the awning of a roadside outhouse until the rain let up a bit. Our reprieve from the elements was short-lived though as we rode the rest of the way down into the tiny town of Centennial, CO in a steady rain. We stopped at the first place that caught our attention to dry out. The Old Corral is a restaurant, hotel and gift shop all rolled into one charming, tourist trap setting. The decor is western log lodge and fun. We roamed through the country store on our way to the restaurant where we had pie and coffee. Tim says his peach pie and ice cream was good. My german-chocloate pie was served cold rather than room temperature. It was OK. I noticed the majority of the wait staff, the cook and others manning the restaurant were young to very young. The folks at the table next to us struck up a conversation with kind of wet out there for a ride huh? We learned they had waited 20 minutes to order and another 40 minutes for their meal (club sandwich and a chef salad). Some of the other entrees passing by looked good with what appeared to be healthy portions, but I'm not gonna recommend the restaurant until we try it again.

The rain continued for a good while. We managed to linger over two cups of coffee. Eventually it let up long enough for us to dry the seat on The Ride and convince ourselves we could make it into Laramie. That misconception lasted about three miles. ha! By the time we made it to Laramie, we had suffered a good soaking. And, there wasn't a road out of Laramie in any direction that looked good (meaning dry) so we chose the most direct route. We rode for a few miles in rain, but eventually rode out from under one storm and in between two others. As we approached Fort Collins on Hwy 287, the weather dried out and we even had sun. YAY!

The storms that had plagued us all day, arrived shortly after we had settled in on the patio with a beer and a Mike's with a fire blazing in the chiminea. It wasn't long before we had to abandon the patio for a seat at the edge of the garage. After a while, we gave up being outside altogether and settled in downstairs with a movie.

Despite being somewhat soggy, we enjoyed the day and our 330 mile recovery ride. We set out to prove Tim was good-to-go (at least as far as riding is concerned). We traveled a couple of new roads and experienced The Snowies of Wyoming for the first time. Yes, we will ride that way again - hopefully on a sunnier day.

Below are slide shows of the day's ride.

Part 1 - The Poudre Canyon to the Moose Center


Part 2 - From Walden to the Snowy Range Scenic Byway and Home