weekend trip in Colorado

 We decided to take advantage of a quiet weekend and head out on the BMW, staying in Salida for two nights. Yesterday we rode 3 hours from home to Salida and unfortunately it rained about half of the trip. That's why we have rain gear!

overcast skies along US 285 North in the San Luis Valley 

It stopped raining before we arrived in Salida, a town of about 6,000 people on the Arkansas River in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We walked to Soulcraft Brewing for an early dinner, then enjoyed a root beer float (Mike) and chocolate malt (Lynn) from 50 Burger while we walked through town and along the paved Monarch Spur Trail that follows a section of the old Monarch Spur railroad. As we were walking down the lovely, shaded streets we passed a couple of deer, one a big 6-point buck, lounging in the front yards, not at all concerned about people walking less than 3' away from them. Salida is a friendly town where everyone says hello as they walk by.

This morning we rode from Salida to the top of Independence Pass between Twin Lakes and Aspen. Independence Pass tops out at 12,095' at the Continental Divide and is the second highest paved pass in Colorado (the highest is Cottonwood Pass at 12,116'). 

Twin Lakes

Thunder clouds started forming so we turned around before we reached Aspen and stopped in Twin Lakes for lunch.

Twin Lakes is an old mining town located right on the glacial-formed lakes at the base of Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado and the second highest in the US (highest is Denali in Alaska) at 14,433'.

We then rode CO24 to Leadville, at 10,119' the highest incorporated town in the US. Founded during the gold rush, then mined for silver, in the late 1800's it was home to 30,000 people. The skies were overcast and it rained off and on, so we only stopped for ice cream then rode back to Salida.

We love riding on twisting, climbing mountain roads that often have a sheer drop-off with no guardrails, and had a wonderful time on today's high elevation trip in the Rocky Mountains close to home.

Colorado Rocky Mountains

 We're back in Colorado, starting in Craig and ending the day in Gunnison. This means high elevations over mountain passes and crossing the Continental Divide while enjoying curving, sweeping roads.

We started riding east on US 40 from Craig, riding into the sun through fields and rolling hills. We turned south onto Routt County 27 which is such a fun motorcycle road - hardly any straight sections and all twists and curves.

We turned onto Colorado 131S, another winding and curving road.

We rode along the Colorado River and crossed the river at one point, watching brightly colored boats filled with people enjoying a beautiful day on the water.

Colorado 131 came to an end and we had two options: take I-70 east for 12 miles, or follow US 6 east. We chose US 6 and enjoyed riding through the heavily populated Eagle/Vail and Avon area without battling semi trucks and traffic on the interstate.

US6 ends at US 24 just west of Minturn, and we started climbing up Tennessee Pass toward Leadville. 

A railroad was built here in 1881 to support the mining operations, and mining continues to be important today. This is also the part of the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway, passing the training area for the 10th Mountain Division during WWII as they prepared for warfare in the Alps. The 2-lane paved road twists and turns with brief interludes of fairly straight roads with amazing high alpine vistas.

We encountered more traffic than any other day during this trip, slowing to a crawl up the mountain behind a long line of cars and trucks hauling oversized loads over the 10,424' Tennessee Pass and then on through Leadville, at 10,119' the highest incorporated town in the United States. We continued on US 24 descending from Leadville toward Buena Vista.

This is part of the Collegiate Peaks Scenic Byway,  57 mile paved route that parallels the Continental Divide at the foot of the Sawatch Mountain Range, the highest concentration of 14,000' or higher peaks in the country.

We hoped to stop for lunch in Buena Vista, but it was packed with tourists so we continued on US 285S alongside the Arkansas River to Poncha Springs. 

We stopped for lunch at the Hunger Shack in Poncha Springs before continuing on US 50 west over Monarch Pass, at 11,312' on the Continental Divide.

Spruce beetles have killed huge numbers of mature trees in the Rockies in Colorado, and we rode past areas where the Watershed Health Project is removing dead trees to reduce the fuel load for wildfires.

We continued winding down Monarch Pass on US 50, riding through the irrigated valley to Gunnison, our stop for the night. We're looking forward to pizza and locally brewed beer to celebrate a gorgeous ride through the heart of the Rockies in Colorado.

Riding home: familiar and new Colorado roads

 We started off the third and last day of our motorcycle trip Monday morning in Leadville, looking forward to more high mountain passes and a road we haven't yet ridden. We started off riding south on US 24, looking out over the snowy Rockies.

Soon the highway started curving and winding along rocky cliffs cut by the Arkansas River that starts near Leadville and ends 1469 miles later at the Mississippi in Arkansas.

We saw a few fly fishermen but no rafts on the river. Soon after we started riding along the Collegiate Peaks, a 57 mile stretch of the largest concentration of mountains over 14,000' in the United States.

We've ridden this way many times, but I'm always awed by the sight of these towering mountains, and even more impressed with hikers who climb them.

South of Buena Vista US 24 meets up with US 285, continuing south past more of the Collegiate Peaks.

In Poncha Springs we turned west onto US 50 and started winding our way up Monarch Pass our highest point for today at 11,312'. There's a ski area just east of the summit, and the gondola is open in the summer to take visitors for a sky-high view of the area.

After riding out into a broad valley, we turned south onto CO 114 - a road we had never been on. To our delight, the first 23 miles were freshly paved, and with no other traffic in sight we zoomed along the road.

We knew more fun was in store when we started seeing road signs warning about twisting curves.

The ride through Cochetopa Canyon is beautiful, with sharp turns through the rocky canyon.

We started seeing signs warning about road construction, and soon came upon the end of the newly paved section of highway. We crossed another pass - this time North Pass at 10,010' that travels along the Continental Divide. This was one of the original routes through the Continental Divide as it's a relatively gentle climb and descent - for a motorcycle, but not for someone with a horse and wagon!

CO 114 ends at Saguache where we turned once again onto US 285 south. We rode this route through the San Luis Valley in reverse on the first day of this trip, and started thinking about where we might stop for lunch as we passed bright green irrigated fields bordered by dusty brown desert.

We stopped in Del Norte on US 160W for lunch. It's often challenging to find a restaurant open on a Monday, and we were lucky to find the Three Barrel Brewing Company open 7 days per week. Leaving Del Norte we had about 90 miles left on our trip, riding over Wolf Creek Pass at 10,856'. This is a busy highway with trucks and RVs, and because the road has several tight turns and steep elevation changes, there are runaway truck ramps - just in case.

Riding down the Pass into Pagosa Springs we were just a few miles from home. We rode through incredibly beautiful areas over these past three days, yet the final stretch toward home is one of the most gorgeous areas in the entire state.

High elevation riding

 We started our ride Sunday in Fairplay, Colorado at 9,954' and 284 miles later finished our ride in Leadville, Colorado at 10,158'. We intentionally took the long way around to enjoy riding in the Rockies. As the crow flies, only 16 miles separates these two old mining towns.

We took CO 9 north out of Fairplay and soon started climbing up Hoosier Pass at 11,542'. Our approach from south to north is less steep and more sweeping turns compared to the north side which features hairpin turn switchbacks and 8% grades - tons of fun on the BMW!

We stopped at the summit for a photo since our address in Prescott, Arizona was Hoosier Pass!

As we continued north on CO 9, we passed numerous ski houses, signs that we were getting close to Breckenridge - both the town and the ski area. Like many towns in this area, Breckenridge was founded by miners during the 1859 Pike's Peak gold rush. Once the ski area opened in 1961, the town growth exploded and it's packed with tourists all year round.

Until we reached Breck we enjoyed little traffic and zooming along the road. All of that changed over the next few miles as we rode through tourist and ski area central - Frisco and Silverthorne,  - at times needing to ride east on I70 for a few miles. This is a gorgeous area but challenging for us to enjoy while riding in a sea of traffic. The one bright spot is the huge Dillon Reservoir  created in the 1960's to provide water for Denver and today filled with all types of water sport recreation.

We were thrilled to ride out of the traffic as we continued north on CO 9, taking the long way to our eventual destination of Leadville so that we could enjoy more Colorado riding. Our route took us along the Blue River, a 65 mile long tributary of the Colorado River that is dammed to form the Green Mountain Reservoir that was built between 1938 and 1943.

We crossed the Colorado River just before we reached Kremmling, and then turned north/east onto US40, riding past yet another reservoir - this time the Wolford Mountain Reservoir. 

US 40 goes into Steamboat Springs, and along the way we saw numerous signs advertising F.M. Light & Sons western clothing store, established in 1905 and continuing to sell western wear today.

Our route took us over two passes over the Continental Divide. First up was Muddy Pass, at 8,772' one of the lower passes on our trip. There aren't any hairpin switchbacks on either side of the pass, and then just a few miles down the road we rode up Rabbit Ears Pass at 9,426'. We could see the iconic rabbit ears rock formation long before we actually rode up the pass.

We made a quick detour into Steamboat Springs for lunch and then continued south on CO 131 through rolling hills and ranchland.

We then came upon the Colorado River again, this time riding along the river and watching several rafting groups before we crossed at State Bridge. It was getting hot and I kept imagining how cool it would feel to be rafting today.

After crossing the Colorado, we turned south on US 24 which took us into Leadville. Our route today was a large upside-down "U" shape, so now we were headed back into busy traffic as we rode through the ski towns of Beaver Creek and EagleVail. We finally left the traffic behind as we started climbing up Tennessee Pass, reaching 10,424'.

This stretch of US 24th is designed the US 10th Mountain Division Highway to honor this Army division that was the first to train in winter war, starting in 1942. This is also part of the Top of the Rockies scenic byway that over 75 miles connects several old mining towns, traveling through three national forests - all on a highway that is over 9,000' elevation.

One of my favorite parts of this route is the suspension bridge built in 1940 over the Eagle River.

This route has it all:  sweeping turns, tight hairpin switchbacks, huge stands of aspens, long views of the valley far below, and snow peaked mountains that rise over 14,000'.

We've ridden this route a few times, but this is our first time staying overnight in Leadville. It's Mike's birthday, and we're planning to celebrate in this still vibrant historic mining town.