Crossing Central Colorado

We left Cripple Creek and travelled west on RT24, climbing the mountains through Wilkerson Pass at 9500 ft. Then we descended to a high plain surrounded by mountains (see photo of Dave), then climbed a small amount and crossed Trout Creek Pass also at 9500 ft, then descended down into Beuna Vista for lunch. We went north on RT24 past the collegial peaks of Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Harvard (all over 14,000 ft)to Leadville, a high mountain town at 10,200 ft. We believe this might be the highest populated area in the US Rockies. We then continued on over Freemount Pass at 11,300 ft to join US-I70 and travelled past the Copper Mtn, Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts. Some of the best biking roads touch ski resorts.