Riding The Backbone of the Rockies

We stayed an extra day in Westminster so we could spend more time with Leann, and the weather on the mountains yesterday was nasty. We got a tour of Leann's country club and had lunch there. She also took us into the kitchen, a place even the members don't go. It was very interesting and we appreciated it. We got to meet her friend Josh and really liked him. On Thursday we met them for a late breakfast and sat and yakked until it was time for them to go to work.

When we left Westminster this morning, we headed for Boulder and the Boulder Canyon Road. Wow what scenery! The aspens are turned gold, red and yellow and just glow among the pines. The road surface was good for the most part and loaded with twisties. It was really a fun ride with not too much traffic. We gained elevation and got lots of good pictures. It was warm enough we could wear our summer mesh jackets.



We got to Estes Park and the first thing I noticed was the Stanley Hotel, gleaming whitely above the town. You may know that this place is so haunted that it was the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining". I wish we could have visited there, but we just didn't have time. Estes Park is in a truly beautiful setting and really seems like living in a park. The downtown is quaint and old and caters to the sizeable tourist business. There were so many people there that at first we thought it was a parade or some special Estes Park celebration. But no, just swarms of tourists.

We took a nice state highway to Rocky Mountain National Park and were surprised by the numbers of people who joined us there. There were thousands of cars and motorcycles in a place we thought we'd be fairly alone. Once in the park, the road rises swiftly, and becomes curvy immediately. I really cannot find enough superlatives to describe the ride through RMNP. It was the most amazing ride with the most amazing scenery. Everyone who rides a motorcycle should ride this road at least once. The road is very challenging with lots of 15 mph hairpin curves. There is often no edge, the paving goes right to the edge of the mountain, followed by a huge drop. There are no guardrails, no reflectors, no edge paint. There is no margin for error on this road. We didn't see anyone driving fast or stunting. Everyone kept to the speed limits and I suppose that's the effect a thousand foot drop has on a driver/rider. The Washington mountains trained us quite well for the Rockies but the Rockies exceeded anything the northwest mountains have ever thrown at us. This road was quite a challenge. It's wonderful, exhilarating, but also exhausting.



We were more than 12,000 feet up, well above the treeline and it got cold. We were glad we'd taken time to put warmer gear on. Everytime we thought we'd gotten to the top the road went up still more. The Rockies are much more intimidating looking than our cuddly tree-covered mountains. At one point the 2 lane road went right along the top of a ridge, with a steep drop off on both sides. No shoulders, just air. We felt like we were riding the backbone of the mountains. What a rush! There is still snow up there left over from last year. They are expecting snowfall any day now. We think we are probably among the last to ride that road this year.

We only went 143 miles today but as they were hard miles we both feel we'd gone far enough. We have done something we never did before, we rode right over the Rocky Mountains.

We're in the tiniest old knotty pine room in a motel in Hot Sulphur Springs, but it's clean and I think we'll sleep quite well, unless the trucks on the highway keep down-gearing outside the motel.

Hot Sulphur Springs (yes, there are hot sulphur springs here) is a town that time forgot.


But you can get a really great meal here because who ever is in the kitchen really knows what to do with green chilis: