Rocky Mountain Way

The road from Steamboat Springs rose 2500 feet at the 20 mile mark and there were still 100 miles to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. This is some beautiful country with stunning mesas, deep green valleys, ponds, streams and lakes. Once in the park the rise was fairly steady until I started to hit the switch backs ... but this was a pale shadow compared to what was to come.

The Divide

Stood alone on a mountain top,
Starin' out at the great divide
I could go east, I could go west,
It was all up to me to decide
Just then I saw a young hawk flyin'
And my soul began to rise
And pretty soon
My heart was singin'

Roll, roll me away,
I'm gonna roll me away tonight
Gotta keep rollin, gotta keep ridin',
Keep searchin' till I find what's right 

And as the sunset faded
I spoke to the faintest first starlight
And I said next time , next time
We'll get it right

- Bob Seger, Roll Me Away  

The Highest I've Ever Been

Then the tree line was in sight, and the climb got steeper. fifteen foot poles marked the roadside for the plows. I didn't think the road went up that high, it looked nearly impossible ... I was wrong.

When the trees ended it got really steep with sheer drop offs and no guard rails. For 8 miles the road hugged the top of the mountains at between 11,000 feet and 12,000 feet  If you look closely at the picture below (click to enlarge) you can see a line near the top of the mountain, that is the road. I was on the down hill side of the road. I would have taken more pics from there but I had a death grip on the steering wheel. Did I ever tell you about my fear of heights :-)  I did battle with them that day.

High Plains Drifter

An hour later, after traveling through some amazingly cool river gorges the road spilled out into the great plains and back onto interstate freeway at Loveland Colorado ... it was hard to believe that in a mere 3 hours I went up and over the Rockies and was now screaming down the high plains. 

May 29 Progress

I did about 540 mile today. I'm now in Kearny Nebraska about 3 hours from my sisters farm. I should get there by lunch time tomorrow.