Days: 46
Distance: 3917 km / 2434 mi
Location: Steamboat Springs, CO
We did it! We crossed the Rocky Mountains. Biking through Rocky Mountain National Park is absolutely the most awesome experience I have ever had in my life!
In fact, it was so awesome that instead of doing this in order I'm going to talk about the mountain first.
An Alpine Start
We left Estes Park (7,300 ft) at about 4:00 am and began the ascent. It's necessary to leave really early because you have to get over the top and back down below treeline before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in. Lightening presents a severe hazard above treeline, especially to people on steel bicycles.
This photo is from Rainbow Curve, which is just over 10,560 feet or in other words two vertical miles above sea level. You hit the treeline about a mile or so beyond the curve. In our case, we also hit a large fog bank at about that time.
On Top
The highest point on the road is at 12,163 ft. Unfortunately there is no sign there anymore because it caused traffic jams when people stopped to take photos with it.
As you can see, the views are spectacular.
Okay, so it wasn't all socked in.
There's lots of snow and ice at the top. The temperature at 12,000 ft was 39 degrees F and it was raining. Brrrr!
Continental Divide - kind of an anticlimax considering we'd already been descending for 1500 ft by the time we reached it.
Once we got down from the mountain, our plans hit a snag. We had planned to camp in a US Forest Service campground at Shadow Mountain Lake, but because it was 4th of July weekend the campground was full. Fortunately for us, Audrey and Irv generously offered to share their campsite with us. They even made us hot dogs! Thank you Audrey and Irv!
Okay, now the other stuff:
Boulder
We stayed in Boulder for three days to visit relatives and friends. I went hiking with my former MIT geology buddies Andy and Mariela, as well as current student Elizabeth and the dog Mia. Mia very much enjoyed this creek.
Estes Park
Highway 36 to Estes Park. I think this photo speaks for itself.
Road to Kremmling, CO
US 34 through a canyon alongside the Colorado River. This ride is mostly downhill for 40 miles. Quite seriously the most fun I've ever had on two wheels!
4th of July
We spent 4th of July in the small town of Kremmling, where we attended a town BBQ and watched fireworks that were launched from the top of a nearby mesa.
Rabbit Ears Pass
What's over the mountain? Another mountain of course! This is the 3rd (and last) time we crossed the Continental Divide.
Most rediculous flat tire ever
Less than a mile outside of Steamboat Springs Amelia's rear tire suddenly pops. Upon inspection we find a small piece of metal imbedded in the tire. So Amelia pulls on it with a pair of pliers and...out comes a two inch long nail!
Amazingly this is only the second flat we've had on the entire trip. Other than that we've had a broken chain and a few broken spokes. The bikes are holding up amazingly well. And so are we :)
Next update will probably be from Provo, UT in about a week. We are looking forward to drier weather in the desert.
once you use up a spare part, do you stop in the next town and buy a replacement?
ReplyDeleteyes. In the case of that 2 inch nail, we replaced the whole innertube because it was punctured on both sides. we then bought a new spare inertube in steamboat springs. We also switched her tire to our spare tire, and are now carrying the puntured tire as a spare. (it should still work fine, but its better to have a tire with no holes in it).
ReplyDeletein the case of the broken chain, we just took out the broken link and made the chain shorter. then i got a new link added in in boulder.
in the case of the broken spokes, Amelia just rode on the bad wheel until we got to Ann Arbor where she had the whole wheel rebuilt.