Well a little slow
in getting back on this....Day 4
We left Hotchkiss about 9 am, we are in no hurry. Hwy 133 northeast bound, had been on the road about 1/2 hr and get my first oh crap moment. Coming up to some trees I spy 2 deer on the right hand side of the road. Behind me is a goof that is a lot closer than I would like. Oh well, apply brakes to slow down fairly quickly because the first doe is moving to the road, at the same time the goof starts to pass me, I really get it slowing down. I watch in amazement how I never see the goofs brake lights and just how the deer & him didn't hit, I'll never know. Anyhow on up the highway is another pass
As a side note, Monday they had found a dead body near there and shut the highway down, glad I missed that too. We continued up CO 133 to CO 82. Headed towards Aspen, never has been my favorite town. We get into the downtown area of Aspen and the road construction diverts us into the drive a block and stop downtown area, finally extricate us from Aspen traffic and head up CO 82 for scenery. Some of this road gets very curvy and very narrow. My photographer was not in the mood for pictures. We did stop shortly after that at the Weller Lake trailhead. From the parking area...
We walked around the area, bridge to trail..
the Roaring River was under the bridge...
Well enough of a break, were off to Independence Pass.....
what vistas there are when you ride through the mountains.
We round the bend and then spy where we are going ahead, the ascent up to the pass...
if you notice the cut in the mountain, that's the road up there.
Once you are up there you get a great look at where you were...
and just about the time you loose that view you've entered the tundra area, pretty soon you arrive at Independence Pass...
12,095 feet. It is quit breath taking (literally) and a different world at that elevation.
We start the descent down the other side and the first (of many on the trip) 10 mph hairpins are encountered. Haven't figured out who makes the speed decision, because some you can do at a little over, some you feel like you need to stop and make it a three point turn. Figured out I'm a bit rusty at some of those less than turns as a couple I ran wide on, fortunately no oncoming traffic or maybe that's why I did it, huh???
Anyway you get to the point you can see where you are headed...
Just before CO 82 runs out, you run into one of several lakes we saw, Twin Lakes....
I don't know what it is, but seeing lakes that are very large at 8 to 9 thousand feet in elevation, just seem to be amazing to view.
We turn up US 24 heading to Leadville, that town has been an interest from the first visit I made as a kid. We had lunch at Wild Bill's Hamburgers & Ice Cream. The burgers were great along with enough fries for 2 people, needless to say couldn't do the ice cream, no room.
We somehow forced ourselves back on the bike and headed off. We got on US 6 at Silverthorne, CO. It really sank in how long it had been since I was up here, there used to be almost nothing here, not any more! Any way headed to Loveland Pass...and we made it...
11,990 feet and very windy and cool (brrr)
The way to Golden, CO is the 2 roads in the distance, US 6 descending to I-70...
We arrived in Golden to visit and play. While there saw one of the daughters and a friend that I hadn't seen in maybe 20 yrs. So needless to say a very little riding for a few days and lots of playing. More to follow.....