Two Peak Ride Falls One Short
Forecast for Denver: high 80s. Weather on Mount Evans: snow.
“There’s road damage at mile marker 8 and it’s snowing on top.”
That’s what the ranger at the gate to CO 5 up Mount Evans told us and she was only a little wrong. There may be a little road damage between mile posts 8 and 9 but it’s at 9 where the road gets truly bad. She was right about the snow, though.
Dan and Alan and I set out this morning intending to go up Mount Evans and then up Pikes Peak. I’m the instigator here; I just want to do it and I also have a publication in mind I’d like to sell an article to. Alan and I had been putting this ride off for a couple weeks because with all the haze in the air from the forest fires west of us I presumed we would get up on the mountains and not be able to see anything. Kind of misses the point.
Two days ago I said let’s do it and when we got up this morning guess what? Major overcast. Oh well, let’s do it anyway. The weather might make the story more interesting.
So I got to Alan’s and found that Dan was joining us, so good deal. Let’s go.
We headed out Hampden/US 285 and then ran up Bear Creek to Evergreen, Evergreen Parkway to CO 103 over Squaw Pass, and just before Echo Lake there is the turn-off for CO 5. Before we got there we had already stopped and I had put on my warmer clothes and rain jacket and turned on my electric vest. It was more water hanging in the air than rain because we were up in the clouds but it was definitely getting wet. And colder. I had not put on my rain pants and that proved to be a mistake.
We took it very slow going up the mountain, especially on the switchbacks, where we seemed in almost every instance to meet cars coming down around the switchback at the exact same time. The clouds were low but we could still see around us. The drops started getting bigger on my visor.
Slowly, slowly, slowly we continued up the mountain as the temperature dropped and I berated myself for not thinking to wear my heated gloves. Then I also berated myself for not putting my rain pants on, because as you probably all know, the water was running down my jacket and off my gas tank and collecting in that convenient little catch basin right at my crotch. And soaking in.
As we neared the top my hands were going numb and we rode into the cloud sitting on top of the mountain. Which is to say it got very foggy. And finally we rounded the last bend and pulled into the parking lot at the top and sure enough, it was snowing.
We didn’t stay at the top for long. Just long enough for me to use the restroom, pull on my rain pants, and shoot a few pictures. We agreed that Pikes Peak didn’t sound like such a good idea, especially since Dan’s GPS unit was showing similar weather on the other mountain.
In just that short time, however, the weather changed significantly. Heading back down the fog was gone from the top of the mountain, you could actually see pretty far, and there, to the south of us, was Pikes Peak. Maybe . . .
But no, we got back down to CO 103 and turned left, to go to Idaho Springs for lunch. And after lunch it was back on home.
It was actually a great day to ride, and it was beautiful going up the mountain despite the cold and wet. Even more beautiful coming back down. But this two peaks in one day thing is going to have to wait. Dang! I’m going to have to go ride my motorcycle again some other day. Life is so hard.
Biker Quote for Today
The most important thing is to have a good relationship with the bike… you have to understand what she wants. I think of a motorcycle as a woman, and I know that sounds silly, but it’s true. — Valentino Rossi
Tags: Mount Evans
September 7th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Bummer about the conditions, both weather and road. I decided to ride Mount Evans yesterday since I was unable to come a few weeks ago as I had planned. From my home in Nebraska, it ended up being a 565 mile day, electing to ride through Boulder to Nederland and part of the Peak to Peak Highway to Mount Evans then Squaw Pass Road back into Denver and eventually home again. At the top there were brief periods of snow and sleet and a short rain shower on Squaw Pass, but otherwise weather conditions were great. That was my first trip up Evans and, given the condition of the road in spots (mostly around Mile 9, as you indicate), I think I prefer the Pikes Peak ride. Squaw Pass, however, is magnificent. That’s definitely one of my favorite roads I have been on in my few short years of riding. Next time I’m adding the Bear Creek Road portion from Evergreen instead of hopping back on I-70.
I’m still interested in doing the Two Peaks ride sometime in the future with you. However, it will have to be when I stay the weekend in the Denver area, as there’s no way I’m doing the 400+ mile round trip ride to Denver from my home on top of riding two mountains in one day.