This thing basically reads like a tourism post. I didn't take a ton of pictures so I supplemented with Google Street View and outside sources where appropriate...
Took the himi for a 400 mile loop over the course of five days two Fridays ago. The wind was at a standstill on the afternoon of my departure, which folks familiar with SE Wyoming know is a near miracle.
Started out by dropping into the Laramie River Valley via Sand Creek Pass in Colorado. Aspens get all the leaf peeping glory in the Mountain West when the seasons change but I always find river bottoms equally stunning. The slowly meandering water amplifies the oranges and yellows of the various bushes, shrubs and grasses that cling to the river banks.
Sand Creek Pass Summit
I headed North through the Wyoming border, passed the old-timey, spring loaded dance hall at Woods Landing, and cut West along 230 over the Medicine Bow Range. The dense lodgepole forest over the pass typically offers a nice respite from wind when said element is at play, but today it was simply gorgeous to look at.
Woods Landing is a fun little bar/dance hall in rural Wyoming.
Highly recommend stopping by for a beer, burger, or both.
I quickly passed the snowmobiler paradise at WyColo Lodge and the Mullen Fire burn scar then dropped into Jackson County, CO. North Park, as Jackson County is colloquially known, is the least populated county in Colorado. It boasts a single incorporated town, Walden, with an ever shrinking population of roughly five hundred folks. I try to spend money there whenever I pass through, this trip was no exception.
Never been but WyColo (photo source) is popular with Snowmobilers and OHV riders I'm told.
Once I gathered my supplies I continued on towards the T junction at the base of Rabbit Ears Pass. North Park is an eclectic mix of ranch land and oil fields but there is magic to be had. Moose were reintroduced into the area by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the 80s, as a result it’s common to see a few as you pass through. The now defunct offgrid ski area, Bluebird can be spotted if one knows where to look. There is also a nice set of wide twisties that meander along parallel to Grizzly Creek. This section can be harrowing in the winter due to snow and wind drifts, though it is quite lovely on a sunny, late summer afternoon.
Photo Source
There is a fascinating Podcast series about Walden if
folks care to learn more about this kooky small town.
I pushed on to my first destination in Summit County by heading south on the 40 through rugged sage brush terrain. This undivided two lane highway sees a large amount of passthrough traffic due to the boutique town of Steamboat Springs just to the North West. It however is fairly barren aside from open prairie, a couple reservoirs, and the town of Kremmling, Colorado. Of note on this trip, both the Wolford and Green Mountain Reservoirs were at near 100% capacity, love to see it.
Not much development but plenty to look at along 40!
I completed the day as the sun set by making a quick sprint along the 70 to the mountain town of Frisco. Neither my bike, nor the heavy vehicle traffic were very fond of me struggling to maintain sixty five miles per hour along this stretch of road, but they both managed.
Photo Source
Frisco is a classic high mountain tourist town. Overflowing with
people on weekends during summer and ski seasons.
Ghost town during shoulder/mud seasons.
The next two days the himi got to rest while I put my body to work in the Gore Range outside of Vail, CO. A friend and I tackled a thorny scrambling route known as the Zodiac Traverse. This isn’t a climbing forum so I’ll leave y’all with just a couple pictures and move on.
Zodiac Traverse from afar the night before.
Rappeling off of Scorpio spire.
Although sore and exhausted from the weekend's activities, I started my day at six am on Monday morning. The goal was to reach Boulder, CO at an hour that would allow me to miss most of the morning rush hour traffic. The jaunt across the 70 to the Colorado Front Range was largely uneventful aside from the stinging cold in my fingers. I did however appreciate how drastically warmer the Eisenhower–Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel was than the ambient, outside air temperature at roughly 11,000 ft. Once I dropped down below 7,000’ AMSL I was quite comfortable again however.
Coloradans are often jaded by this tunnel (photo source) but it's a remarkable
engineering feat. You go right through the damn mountain at 11,000ft!
Lane filtering was recently made legal in CO so once I got into civilization I was utilizing this tactic quite heavily at stop lights. It worked fine in Golden, CO, however once I got in closer proximity to Boulder I ran into a uniquely tech hub problem. Dense electric vehicle ownership. As several lights I chose not to filter so I wouldn’t block Teslas and the like at the front of the traffic queue. Slow bike in the big city problems I guess.
Photo Source
Golden is easily my favorite Front Range town.
Highly recommend a tour of the Coors facility if visiting.
I spent two days in Boulder working with my team before pushing on back North to Laramie. I got a start around three pm on Tuesday. My goal was to beat the afternoon monsoon. Given the rather late time I chose to depart, it was definitely going to be a race. Fortunately the jaunt along 287 through Longmont, Loveland, and Fort Collins was fairly uneventful. The skies above the mountains to the West were lighting up and shrouded in dark clouds, but far enough away to mostly ignore.
As I departed civilization at Ted’s Place the notorious westerly winds kicked up. I spent much of the return journey home leaning hard into them though fortunately this section of highway rarely sees many cars. To complete my trip I turned off the highway near Laramie and pushed into the storm clouds toward my home in the mountains. I was greeted by a bit of mixed hail and rain; enough to make the forest roads tacky but not so much that I was swimming in mud. It was a welcome change from the windy highway.
I arrived home dripping a bit which prompted my wife to ask if I’d mind taking the dog for a walk given I was already wet. She grinned, put on a raincoat, and joined me. It was nice to be home!
Took the himi for a 400 mile loop over the course of five days two Fridays ago. The wind was at a standstill on the afternoon of my departure, which folks familiar with SE Wyoming know is a near miracle.
Started out by dropping into the Laramie River Valley via Sand Creek Pass in Colorado. Aspens get all the leaf peeping glory in the Mountain West when the seasons change but I always find river bottoms equally stunning. The slowly meandering water amplifies the oranges and yellows of the various bushes, shrubs and grasses that cling to the river banks.
Sand Creek Pass Summit
I headed North through the Wyoming border, passed the old-timey, spring loaded dance hall at Woods Landing, and cut West along 230 over the Medicine Bow Range. The dense lodgepole forest over the pass typically offers a nice respite from wind when said element is at play, but today it was simply gorgeous to look at.
Woods Landing is a fun little bar/dance hall in rural Wyoming.
Highly recommend stopping by for a beer, burger, or both.
I quickly passed the snowmobiler paradise at WyColo Lodge and the Mullen Fire burn scar then dropped into Jackson County, CO. North Park, as Jackson County is colloquially known, is the least populated county in Colorado. It boasts a single incorporated town, Walden, with an ever shrinking population of roughly five hundred folks. I try to spend money there whenever I pass through, this trip was no exception.
Never been but WyColo (photo source) is popular with Snowmobilers and OHV riders I'm told.
Once I gathered my supplies I continued on towards the T junction at the base of Rabbit Ears Pass. North Park is an eclectic mix of ranch land and oil fields but there is magic to be had. Moose were reintroduced into the area by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the 80s, as a result it’s common to see a few as you pass through. The now defunct offgrid ski area, Bluebird can be spotted if one knows where to look. There is also a nice set of wide twisties that meander along parallel to Grizzly Creek. This section can be harrowing in the winter due to snow and wind drifts, though it is quite lovely on a sunny, late summer afternoon.
Photo Source
There is a fascinating Podcast series about Walden if
folks care to learn more about this kooky small town.
I pushed on to my first destination in Summit County by heading south on the 40 through rugged sage brush terrain. This undivided two lane highway sees a large amount of passthrough traffic due to the boutique town of Steamboat Springs just to the North West. It however is fairly barren aside from open prairie, a couple reservoirs, and the town of Kremmling, Colorado. Of note on this trip, both the Wolford and Green Mountain Reservoirs were at near 100% capacity, love to see it.
Not much development but plenty to look at along 40!
I completed the day as the sun set by making a quick sprint along the 70 to the mountain town of Frisco. Neither my bike, nor the heavy vehicle traffic were very fond of me struggling to maintain sixty five miles per hour along this stretch of road, but they both managed.
Photo Source
Frisco is a classic high mountain tourist town. Overflowing with
people on weekends during summer and ski seasons.
Ghost town during shoulder/mud seasons.
The next two days the himi got to rest while I put my body to work in the Gore Range outside of Vail, CO. A friend and I tackled a thorny scrambling route known as the Zodiac Traverse. This isn’t a climbing forum so I’ll leave y’all with just a couple pictures and move on.
Zodiac Traverse from afar the night before.
Rappeling off of Scorpio spire.
Although sore and exhausted from the weekend's activities, I started my day at six am on Monday morning. The goal was to reach Boulder, CO at an hour that would allow me to miss most of the morning rush hour traffic. The jaunt across the 70 to the Colorado Front Range was largely uneventful aside from the stinging cold in my fingers. I did however appreciate how drastically warmer the Eisenhower–Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel was than the ambient, outside air temperature at roughly 11,000 ft. Once I dropped down below 7,000’ AMSL I was quite comfortable again however.
Coloradans are often jaded by this tunnel (photo source) but it's a remarkable
engineering feat. You go right through the damn mountain at 11,000ft!
Lane filtering was recently made legal in CO so once I got into civilization I was utilizing this tactic quite heavily at stop lights. It worked fine in Golden, CO, however once I got in closer proximity to Boulder I ran into a uniquely tech hub problem. Dense electric vehicle ownership. As several lights I chose not to filter so I wouldn’t block Teslas and the like at the front of the traffic queue. Slow bike in the big city problems I guess.
Photo Source
Golden is easily my favorite Front Range town.
Highly recommend a tour of the Coors facility if visiting.
I spent two days in Boulder working with my team before pushing on back North to Laramie. I got a start around three pm on Tuesday. My goal was to beat the afternoon monsoon. Given the rather late time I chose to depart, it was definitely going to be a race. Fortunately the jaunt along 287 through Longmont, Loveland, and Fort Collins was fairly uneventful. The skies above the mountains to the West were lighting up and shrouded in dark clouds, but far enough away to mostly ignore.
As I departed civilization at Ted’s Place the notorious westerly winds kicked up. I spent much of the return journey home leaning hard into them though fortunately this section of highway rarely sees many cars. To complete my trip I turned off the highway near Laramie and pushed into the storm clouds toward my home in the mountains. I was greeted by a bit of mixed hail and rain; enough to make the forest roads tacky but not so much that I was swimming in mud. It was a welcome change from the windy highway.
I arrived home dripping a bit which prompted my wife to ask if I’d mind taking the dog for a walk given I was already wet. She grinned, put on a raincoat, and joined me. It was nice to be home!
