33rd Wedding Anniversary in Jackson

We celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary in Jackson Wyoming by going on a saloon crawl. We started off at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where all the bar stools are saddles - much more uncomfortable than bike saddles. We then moseyed on to the Silver Dollar Saloon where the bar has some 2000+ sliver dollars embedded in it. We finished off at the Snake River Brew Pub where we sampled some great local brews. After staggering back to the motel and sleeping off the beer, we returned and enjoyed a late night Italian homemade pasta dinner with wine.

Four States in One Day

We began the day in northwest Colorado and quickly drove into Utah and had breakfast in Vernal. We then headed north on route 191 which has a nice climb via 10 switchbacks out of the dry tumble weed plain into the cool aspen groves of the the higher altitudes. We then passed into Wyoming and the Flaming Gorge area (just look at the view of the upcoming road in the distnace), stopping for lunch in Mountain View and continuing northwest to Montpelier in Idaho.

A North West Colorado Travel Day

Remember when we used to camp?? Well, you can see that motels have their advantages.....when loading bikes, it can take 4+ trips with bags, etc or just one trip with the baggage cart.

Today we travelled west on I 70 through the spectacular Glenwood Canyon and on to Grand Junction. From there we headed north on route 139 through a series of canyons and up and over Douglas Pass (see picture looking down into valley to upcoming road). The road up the 8,500 foot pass had lots of tight curves and switchbacks, but the weather was great and not too cold. Driving twisty mountain roads is fun but also exhausting due to the intense concentration required. Bev was thirsty afterwards.

Later in the afternoon we saw dark clouds ahead (remember that earlier blog on rain?). We decided to don raingear and head off, after all we only had 33 miles to go.....NOPE wrong decision !! we hit intense thunderstorms with winds higher than we have ever experienced. Two storm fronts were colliding and Bev could hardly hold the bike up, we had to do a U-turn on the 2 lane highway (THAT was a bit scarey with traffic and the gusts) and went back to the town of Dinosaur (top northwest of Colorado). We'll try for Utah again tomorrow. The next day we met a couple in Vernal Utah who has passed us in a car the previous afternoon when we were doing our U-turn. They said that shortly after passing us they drove into rain that was so heavy that they could not see and had to pull over to the side of the road till it passed, adding that they'd never have seen us had we been pulled over at that point! Good thing we turned around.

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.

Up on Cripple Creek

We loved the nice winding road into Cripple Creek....we just had to go....remember that song??? You'll see Bev perched high above the town. It was a nice looking main street, it was always a gold town and it started the Colorado gold rush; Dave is standing in front of a mine head frame up on the hill. NOW, it is a row of casinos. Well we needed a coffee so we went in one; Bev decided to try out her luck and won $92 with a $5 investment. Sooo, we have fond memories of Cripple Creek.

Manitou Springs

We loved this place and actually spent two nights there. Here are some shots of the town, quite beautifully done. This was home base for Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak. It has a number of very distinct natural springs and in one picture Bev is doing a taste test....it was great, almost like soda water.

Miramount Castle, Manitou Springs

Built between 1865 and 1897, Miramount (AKA "Look at the Mountain") Castle was built with personal funds by Father Jean Baptiste Falcolon for himself and his mother. It has four floors, with all windows facing one side given that it is built into the side of the canyon. It has nine architecture styles, has 46 rooms with just over 14,000 sq.ft. The most memorable for us was the windy steep narrow road to the parking lot....very challenging switchbacks all in incredible heat.