Today’s route was all about mountains and spectacular
mountains! We would take US 40 out of Vernal, Utah all the way across Colorado
passing through Dinasour and Steamboat Springs. We would then turn onto US 34.
US 34 would take us straight into the Rocky Mountain National Park. US 34 is
the Trail Ridge Road within the park.
Our morning journey soon took us out of Utah into Colorado.
It was a great day for riding!
After about two hours we rode through Steamboat Springs and
saw familiar sights from being here nearly two years ago. We got a better view
of the Rabbit Ears Pass this time around.
The pass this time around was warmer and without snow on the
ground. It is amazing what just 1 month can mean in terms of weather around
here. August = warmth. September = snow!
Making our way to Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw this
interesting cloud formation, no tornados for us today!
The landscape started to get especially rocky—we were
getting really excited about our ascent up the mountain!
But first, we passed this pretty lake.
Once in the park, we started our ascent up Trail Ridge Road.
These lucky folks had a bit slower ascent ahead of them, but no less fun than
ours.
Up we go!
We passed 10,000 feet and had some construction traffic.
Soon we were at Alpine Visitors Center at 11,600 feet.
We walked up the steps to the lookout at 12,000 feet. There
was quite a bit of huffing and puffing by everyone on those steps! It’s not every
day that one “hikes” in the tundra.
The views were awesome.
A nice gentleman got this shot of us as 12,005 feet, our
highest elevation yet.
Trail Ridge Road is the world’s highest continuous paved
ribbon of road, maxing out at 12,183 feet. While we were at the lookout we
heard a crack of thunder and decided to hot foot it back to the bike to avoid a
downpour or a lightning strike. There was more climbing yet to do!
Fun facts: Eleven miles of the highway travels above the
treeline. It is a 4,300 foot ascent from the bottom to the top and passes
through three ecosystems: moraine, subalpine and arctic tundra.
At the top we found a herd of elk relaxing in the cool air.
The road flattened a bit at the top and we could see rain
showers in the distance.
We reluctantly started our descent, as we had 100 miles left
to get to our inn in Cheyenne Wyoming for the night.
The rain we saw at the top looked threatening so we put on
our rain gear once in Estes Park. It sprinkled on us for 20 minutes, then
stopped and out came the sun and we began to roast! Just before we picked up I-25,
we shed the rain gear for the last 55 miles.
As we made our way north out of Fort Collins towards
Cheyenne, Rob spotted this striking rainbow in the remnants of a storm.
Storms were all around us.
Including this one immediately in our path.
We were still toasty so we thought a little shower might
cool us off. Rob slowed the pace a bit hoping that it would allow the storm
time to pass to the east of Cheyenne and our path possibly avoiding the worst
of the rain.
Right as we crossed into Wyoming it started to rain.
No worry, though, it was only heavy for about two miles and
we remained dry even without our rain gear.
We arrived at our historic inn around 6:15pm. More pics of
the inn tomorrow!
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