Road Trip #5 - Day 9 The ride home through Snowy Range, WY

August 27, 2011
Colorado, USA

Day nine found us within a day trip's distance to home so we decided to head in that general direction. We rolled out of Meeker about mid-morning in no particular hurry. We rolled lazily north on Hwy 13 to Craig where we topped off the tank and found breakfast at The Village Inn.

After breakfast, we continued north on Hwy 13 and traveled out of the state into Wyoming. In Baggs, WY we turned east on Hwy 70. Something about this route bugged me. About 30 miles out or so I remembered rather abruptly why when we ran upon a caution sign - one lane road ahead. Hwy 70 in Wyoming made the news back in May when about 600 foot of highway collapsed in a landslide. Repairs have proved difficult, obviously, since it doesn't appear much has been done. It was sort of a HS moment when we rolled over the nasty one lane part wondering what was holding the rest of the road in place. (Sorry - didn't have the camera handy enough as we rode by.)

We picked up Hwy 130 north of Riverside and rode east over the Snowy Range which is part of the Medicine Bow Mountains. This is a great scenic ride, much of it traveling through the Medicine Bow Forest and past rugged, jagged peaks, crystal painter's lakes and alpine meadows blooming with wildflowers. It can snow here any time of the year. It is usually chilly and damp and so it was today. We pulled on our jackets at one pulloff near Battle Pass (elevation 9955) and continued on.

Alpine Lake - Snowy Range, WY

As we rolled up on the jagged part of the mountain range popular with tourists we pulled into a small, secluded picnic area we have used before. Tim dug the thermos out of the saddle bag and announced the coffee was still warm enough to drink. We munched on animal crackers, m&m's and sipped coffee. Before long a couple of Gray Jays, better known as Robber Jays started working our table. They are beautiful birds and fun to watch. They made off with a good portion of our cookie stash. (I shot some video of the stinkers - will get that up soon.)

Snowy Range, WY - Medicine Bow Mountains

We had thunder and the clouds started spitting on us as we fed the last of our cookies to the Robber Jays. Time to go. We managed to ride out from under the rain clouds but the skies remained iffy all the way home. We picked up Hwy 287 in Laramie and rode south to Fort Collins. Much to the amazement of our neighbors, we managed to roll in dry in between thunder storms.

Slide show of today's ride home through Snowy Range, WY (92 photos):

Today's mileage = 355 miles
Ending mileage 27001 (for real - we rolled over 27,000 about two blocks from the house).

It was a great road trip, one we are sorry to see end... but I can betcha by the time we get around to drinking that second pot of coffee in the morning, we'll have the road map out figuring out where we will ride next weekend.

Road Trip Recap
Day 1 - Fort Collins to Colorado Springs to Veterans Rally in Cripple Creek and back to Colorado Springs
Day 2 - Colorado Springs to Woodland Park POW-MIA Recognition Ride to Veterans Rally in Cripple Creek and back to Colorado Springs
Day 3 - Colorado Springs to Cortez, CO
Day 4 - Mesa Verde Ride, Indian Dances in Cortez
Day 5 - San Juan Scenic Skyway Ride - Cortez to Durango to Silverton (Million Dollar Highway) to Ouray to Ridgway to Telluride to Dolores and back to Cortez
Day 6 - Cortez to Gunnison via Wolf Creek Pass and Silver Thread Hwy
Day 7 - Gunnison to Crested Butte, back to Gunnison to Blue Mesa Reservoir and north Rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Grand Junction
Day 8 - Grand Mesa Ride, Rim Rock Ride of Colorado National Monument, to Rifle to Meeker CO
Day 9 - Meeker Co to Craig Co to Baggs WY to Snowy Range WY to Laramie and home to Fort Collins CO

Nine days, 2187 miles, 1 rally (Salute to American Veterans Rally), 1 organized ride (POW-MIA Recognition Ride), 12 passes, (Ute Pass, Wilkerson Pass, Trout Creek Pass, Poncha Pass, Wolf Creek Pass x2, Coal Bank Pass, Red Mountain Pass, Lizard Head Pass, Spring Creek Pass, Slumgullion Pass, Battle Pass, WY) 3 divides, (Continental Divide (several times), Molas Divide, Dallas Divide), 2 mesas (Mesa Verde, Grand Mesa) and too many canyons, lakes and mountains to name -- plus 4 new friends. Wooooooo! Hooooooooooooooooo!