Denver Passport & High Country Ride

July 31, 2010
Colorado, USA

Fort Collins, CO -- Monsoon season is upon us in Colorado. This seasonal flow brings moisture up from the Gulf and dumps it on us. The forecast is for rain and more rain in the coming days. The result is usually flash flooding, rock slides and mud slides. We've been putting off riding to a couple of dealerships on the east side of Denver to get our passports stamped... don't know why. I think it is probably because there are so many other places we'd rather ride than busy metropolitan Denver on a rare Saturday off. So, today was the day we chose to get that done. Then we hoped to get at least a Mount Evans ride in, maybe more.

We had emailed David the day before, but had not heard from him so we decided to ride by his house just in case he got the message. He did not. After waiting for a few minutes to see if he heard us ride up, we reluctantly gave him a call. Working on night shift, we don't appreciate early wake up calls and we don't like to make them. He didn't hear us because set up crews for an upcoming festival were unloading equipment in the sculpture park across the street from his house. Tim says: Hey David - you up? Want to ride? OK. We're in front of your house. Poor guy. What normal person wouldn't still be in the sack at 7:30 Saturday morning? Actually, David usually beats us up. No matter, he was dressed and ready to ride in a matter of minutes.

We took the stay-off-the-interstate as much as possible route into the east side of Denver, locating both dealerships without too much trouble. We had breakfast at an IHOP in between the two. After refueling, we rode C470 along the foothills, turning west on Hwy 74 to ride through Bear Creek Canyon and the small towns of Morrison, Idledale, Kittredge and Evergreen. Motorcycles were everywhere on the road and lining the curbs near the eateries of all the small towns. As usual there were elk roaming the streets and parking lots of shopping centers in Evergreen. Just north of Evergreen is Hwy 66 west, otherwise known as Squaw Pass Road. This road eventually turns into Hwy 103 which goes up and around Mount Evans. At Echo Lake Park and Visitor Center Hwy 5 (there's a fee) will take you up to the top of this massive mountain. The elevation at the summit of Mount Evans is 14,264. This 14 mile drive is the highest paved road in America. We were not planning a trip to the top today.

As we began the ride up I thought I should have insisted a ways back that we slip into our jackets. Clouds were building as we rode along. They were towering and dark. By the time we reached Juniper Pass where Tim and I usually stop it was cold enough to make all three of us hop off and drag out jackets first thing. Juniper Pass is a picnic area that sits at an elevation of about 11,000 feet. Tim and I have shared many a grocery store chicken with each other and assorted critters since we first stopped there in the Summer of 1998. A short stroll down a wooded path leads to an overlook built into the side of a cliff which looks out upon Mount Evans to the west and an amazing valley to the southeast. Mount Evans was shrouded in clouds today and thunder rumbled through the valley.


Squaw Pass Road - Mount Evans, CO near 11,000 elevation

We knew Echo Lake was a short ride a bit further west. So, we opted to see if we could make that point without getting wet before deciding whether to ride on or turn back and choose another route home. The Visitor Center was busy and we could see the glint of several cars on the Mount Evans Road heading up into the clouds. We rolled up beside the lake and took a few minutes to snap pictures. The clouds looked to be lifting and patches of blue sky appeared like celestial puddles in the sky. There wasn't much of a discussion about it, we decided to ride on. Hwy 103 goes down, down, down from Echo Lake. As the road makes a turn north just past the lake it is known as Chicago Creek Road.

Reaching Idaho Springs we grinned because skies had cleared and the day had warmed. We decided to ride a couple of miles on I-70 and connect with the Central City Parkway and ride 8 miles into the gambling towns of Central City/Blackhawk. We stopped up on the parkway for another quick photo op at the point where it looks down on I-70. In Blackhawk we had to make a choice, ride down the canyon into Golden and home or ride up the peak-to-peak highway and home. Either way is a great ride. Naturally, we chose up.

Heading north on Hwy 119, we rode the peak-to peak highway to Nederland where we stopped, as is our custom, to have a cookie/snack and drinks at the New Moon Bakery. We were lucky today -- they even had Jackpot cookies, my favorite. After our refreshment break we followed Hwy 72 until we reached the junction with Hwy 7 riding along at the top of the world under partly cloudy skies. At the junction, the clouds did not look good toward Estes Park. Here again, there is no such thing as a bad choice. Either way is going to be a nice ride. We chose to ride down Hwy 7 via the South Saint Vrain Canyon Road into Lyons where we stopped for a stretch in the park. The traffic was stacked bumper to bumper coming down into Lyons via North Saint Vrain Canyon Road out of Estes Park so we felt fortunate our drive down did not look like that.

It was time to call it a day. Sort of. We wandered our way home angling across on country lanes rather than the main highways. David peeled off a couple of blocks from home in Loveland and we continued on to Fort Collins.

Mount Evans - Juniper Pass Lookout -- You hear that thunder? Yeah. We might get wet. Yeah. You ready to ride on? Yeah. Ha!

Today's ride was 285 miles. We managed to stay dry despite the rumbling threat of clouds we ran under. Some of the miles we covered today were a first for David. It was great to ride with him and show him our favorite roads and places. It's hard to describe the ride as a whole... mountains, valleys, rivers, incredible skies -- you have to take it in curve by curve. We rolled out of the drive at 7:30 this morning and rolled back in the drive at 7:15 this evening... that's a long day to some - we enjoyed every minute of it.

Here is a slide show of today's high country ride (105 photos):