We enjoyed sunny skies our two days in Lakewood, CO visiting our son and his girlfriend, and today the rainy weather finally caught up with us. It poured all night and continued raining hard as we loaded up the BMW (thank goodness our son has a garage). We worked our way through busy Denver traffic and headed south on US 287. Due to the heavy rain and temperatures in the low 40's, I wasn't able to take any pictures until we crossed Kenosha Pass at 10,000' and dropped down into South Park, the third and final high altitude valley - over 9,000' - in Colorado that we've ridden through on this trip.
We crossed Trout Creek Pass that marks the southern end of South Park, and once again it started raining. As we wound down toward Buena Vista, the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy views of the Collegiate Peaks, the highest concentration of mountain peaks >14,000' in the country.
The rain picked up again but we had a rain-free window when we stopped for a delicious lunch at the FlaminGo food truck. They're open until 1pm - don't miss it!
More rain, then another dry spell as we rode through the San Luis Valley, a major agricultural center.
As we started up Wolf Creek Pass, 10,857' on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains, we knew we were close to home.
Pagosa Springs is on the western side of Wolf Creek Pass and even better the sun was shining!
We rode 303 miles today for a total of 2090 miles on this two-week trip, visiting our two sons, riding through two national parks, and seeing more of the West. Now that we live in Colorado, we plan to explore more of the area this summer - and hopefully not when it's raining!
We had a leisurely start to our morning as we're riding only 33 miles today, from Longmont to Lakewood, Colorado to visit our son and his girlfriend.
Over 5 million people live in the Front Range, the eastern-most steep mountains of the Rockies that runs north-south from Casper, WY to Pueblo, CO. It's a beautiful area but because there are so many cities and towns, there is always a lot of traffic.
Our route took us south on US 287, first along farmland with views of the Rockies, and then into congested city driving.
We'll spend the next two days here before our last day of this trip.
The highlight of today's ride from Laramie, WY to Longmont, CO was riding west to east through Rocky Mountain National Park, traveling over a narrow, twisting road with sheer drop-offs over the tops of mountains - while it was snowing!
But before we got to the park, we first rode west from Laramie on WY 230 through a wide, flat valley. Once again we wore our raingear, both to stay warm with temperatures in the low 50's and due to the threat of rain.
Within a few miles we entered Colorado, and the road name changed from WY 230 to CO 125 as we rode through national forests into North Park, the northernmost large, high altitude valley on the western side of the Front Range.
As we left the valley we started climbing up Willow Creek Pass and crossed the Continental Divide - but not for the last time today.
We dropped down into Middle Fork, another wide valley at about 8000' elevation,
and then turned east on US 40 and then on US 34 east, passing Lake Granby, a large reservoir created in 1950 and the third largest body of water in Colorado.
After a quick stop for gas and an energy bar, we continued on US 34 east into Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a timed entry requirement this year, and we were lucky to have entry between 9am and 11am. Entering the park at the western entrance means far less traffic and we didn't have to wait in long lines.
When we first started riding through the Kawuneeche Valley we spotted a couple of elk and then an eagle sitting high in a pine tree.
Then we started climbing through the pine forests as the road twisted around the mountains. We stopped at an overlook while ascending Milner Pass at 10,759', and even though it was overcast and hazy, the snow-capped mountains are impressive.
We watched the temperature drop as we climbed, first in the low 40's and then as we rode past the treeline into the tundra, it started snowing and the temperature dropped to 34 degrees.
It was amazing and sort of terrifying at the same time as Mike navigated the twisting road which at times was wet - but thankfully not icy.
Iceberg Pass on Trail Ridge Road peaks at 12,183' and while the tundra at the top was swept bare of snow, we passed tall snowbanks in the forests on the way back down the mountain.
The ride down into the east side of the park was once again sweeping turns and hairpin twisties through pine forests until we rode down into the open valley.
We exited the park on US 36 on the east side into Estes Park, first settled by Whites in the 1860's but long home to Arapahoe. It's now a busy tourist destination into Rocky Mountain National Park. From Estes Park we rode on US 36 east through a red rocks canyon as we headed to Longmont, our stop for the night.
We rode 219 miles today through remote high altitude valleys, up and down over the Continental Divide, through snowy conditions on top of 12,000' passes, and finally into the busy Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Tomorrow we have a short ride to Lakewood, CO to visit our son and his girlfriend for the weekend before one last ride home.
