Riding The Smokies–In Colorado
No, this is not the Smoky Mountains, these are smoky Colorado mountains.
Forest fires in Routt County, up around Steamboat Springs, have cast a haze over the Front Range and Denver. I decided on Wednesday to take a ride up into the hills to see what it’s like up there. As you can see from the photo above, taken along the Squaw Pass road, the Colorado Rockies at this point look very much like the Smoky Mountains out in Virginia. Which just goes to show how well-named the Smokies are.
I headed west out on Hampden, through Morrison, up the canyon to Evergreen, Evergreen Parkway to Bergen Park to the turn-off to Squaw Pass. Yes, it was hazy but what a beautiful day to be riding in the mountains.
Heading up the Squaw Pass road I found that the apparent theme for the day was large vehicles coming the other way encroaching into my lane coming around curves. I rode very defensively. At first I was looking for just a place to get a photo where instead of mountains in the background, as per normal, there was only haze. Then I came on the overlook with the view back toward Evergreen. That’s where I got this shot. I was not the only one stopped there to get pictures.
I continued on past Echo Lake and was headed toward Idaho Springs, when, not having been watching my rearview mirror, I was startled when a couple guys on big adventure bikes and another on a big BMW touring bike suddenly blasted past me. Wow, what are you guys in such a big hurry about? It’s a day to just cruise in the hills.
So I got to Idaho Springs, jumped on the interstate just long enough to reach the exit for the Central City Parkway, and headed to Central City. Stopped for lunch and then down through Black Hawk, over to US 6, and down through Clear Creek Canyon to Golden. Then home. What a nice day’s ride.
Biker Quote for Today
There are seven days in the week and “someday” isn’t one of them.
Tags: smoke in the mountains
