This morning began as usual with breakfast and talk of what we were going to do today. We loaded up the car early and headed towards Hall Ranch in Lyons, trying to get there before it got too hot. The temperature fluctuates immensely within 30 minutes time. (For example, while in Boulder Friday night, it was 93 degrees when we got in the car and headed towards Nederland at 7:45. Within the 45 minutes it took us to drive to our campsite, the temperature had dropped 30 degrees.) We arrived at Hall Ranch by 9:15 and it was already scorching hot. We were sweating in no time, it felt like we were riding at 3:00pm. Quickly, I began to realize I was in the same predicament as yesterday’s trail; too many rocks. Our friend that recommended the trail mentioned that I would probably have to hike some of it, which I did. I was holding Andrew back so I told him to go ahead and I would just focus on getting some cool photos and enjoying the ‘hike-a-bike’ process. The trail was about 10 miles long and I hiked maybe 1/3 of it before I headed back. The terrain here is much different than in Boulder. It reminded me of Arizona, with barren mountain tops, rocky cliffs, and vast, wide open spaces for long distance viewing. I rode back to the truck and waited for Andrew to finish the ride. He came back covered in sweat and looking exhausted. He said it was a good idea I turned back because as the trail went on it only got more rocky and difficult. There was a sick downhill at the end, but one that would have been a little too much for me. I’m beginning to think I may never get a ride in here.
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| I can handle this... |
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| This - not so much. |
We had to go into Lyons after the ride to get more ice before we headed up towards Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. First, we stopped at the area we slept the night before to see if we could find the Garmin GPS for the bike. The day before, Andrew was working on getting it mounted to the bike, but when he went out for the ride, it wasn’t there. We’re not sure if he simply misplaced it, or if it somehow fell off the truck. We didn’t see it there, so hopefully it will turn up. We got back on the Peak to Peak highway, headed north. We drove past Long’s Peak which has an elevation of over 14,000 feet.
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| On our way to the Rocky Mountains |
We stopped at the Rocky Mountain Visitor’s Center to ask about park passes. Since we will be visiting several national parks throughout this journey, we were hoping there was a pass we could buy that would allow us to get into all of them without having to pay separate fees. Luckily there was one! It’s called the America the Beautiful Pass. It only costs $80, which in my opinion was a steal considering the entrance fee to Rocky Mountain National Park was $20 alone. We took the scenic Trail Ridge Road throughout the park, stopped for several great photo opportunities and saw some elk along the way.
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| Look closely for the 3 elk in this shot. |
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| Don't worry, Andrew didn't feed the little guy. They sure weren't shy about approaching visitor's with food. |
That drive took about 2 ½ hours and was worth every penny. The route takes you from the northeast to the southwest of the park where we come out near Lake Granby. We pulled over at one of the picnic areas on the lake for lunch; keeping it fancy with some good old Ramen Noodles! We got to use our pass to get into this park too. While there, I went for a short walk to find a few photo opportunities and found a nest of Osprey with three babies. I pulled out the tripod and telephoto lens and took some photos. Andrew played around as well and got some of these shots.
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| Andrew cooking lunch while I meander around with the camera. |
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| Simple, but beautiful |
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| Andrew is quick to take credit for this photo. |
Once we finished up with lunch, we got back on the road, heading south a bit on I-34 to pick up I-40 in Granby. We drove through lots of rolling plains and rock cliffs until we came through our first big town; Steamboat Springs. We wanted to make some progress on our route to Jackson, WY, so we decided to stop and treat ourselves to Wendy’s instead of taking the time to cook dinner and clean up. We picked up State Road 13 in Craig, CO, and this took us across the Wyoming line. I tried desperately to find a campground for us the few times we had internet on my iPhone, but was unsuccessful. There really is not as much camping out here as I thought there would be. The only place that looked slightly promising was Flaming Gorge, past Rock Springs. But it was already late and I didn’t think we were going to be able to get a place. We tried a truck stop, but it was too loud since most leave their engines running all night. So we gave in and stayed at a hotel…parking lot! Yup, we backed right in, climbed in the back and drifted to sleep.
Below are a few shots of the sunset we drove through on our way from Colorado to Wyoming.
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