The doc told me I have to take it easy for a little while, no exercise for a week; no hot tubs, pools or skiing for two weeks and no freshwater lakes or oceans for a month. So, I figured I’d take my new eyes for a spin and see what I could see! Highway 91 and the (apparently) abandoned mining town of Climax (no joke!) caught my attention and off I set. My plan was to, very safely and in a way that wouldn’t contribute to eye-pokage, explore said town and spend some time taking pictures. I may have gotten distracted along the way (c:

 It would turn out that the “town” of Climax was rather…(wait for it)… anti-climatic. All that is there is a functioning molybdenum mine and no old or run down buildings… what a rip! Of course, if I had done the slightest bit of research I would have been able to find that out, but where is the fun in that?!

I continued down Hwy 91 to Buena Vista, picked up some gas, $21.55 for 3/4 of tank(!), and carried on. Mostly I aimed for Hwy 285 back to Denver so that I could miss the homeward bound ski traffic, but I caught a few side roads on the way.

All in all it was an awesome day, lots of amazing sights seen and some good photos taken too (even if I do say so myself!) Those who are rabidly pro-eye will know that my eyes were not poked, proded, gauged, tormented, subjected to duststorms, licked by camels or slathered with molybdenum. They are still a little sore and there was a little more “haloing” than usual from car headlights, I’m not too worried though as these side effects should only be temporary and will fade with time.

My new vision continues to astound me and many times today I completely forgot that I wasn’t just wearing contacts. I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring, this combination of great weather, good snow and forbidden skiing is killing me! Maybe I’ll just sleep in and then find something else to go and see (c:

I went for a drive today out to Beaver Creek. It’s a “Vail” resort that is just a little west of where Vail sits. It was pretty swank and parking was a little on the costly side so I used up my 2hrs of free parking and hit the road again. I’m not sure if I’m into the whole uber-commerical resort thing yet, it still seems like a far cry to me from purist skiing… but I guess thats the point isn’t it? It’s about business more than skiing. Speaking of business I popped into their ticket hut to see what a pass cost and it was $90 for the day(!) and $1899 for a season pass!!Wow… I sure feel good about my $570 invested in an Epic pass now!

Anyway, here are some shots from Beaver Creek, hope you enjoy.

There was a cool sunset tonight on my way home but I couldn’t find a great place to get pictures from.

Quandry is another classic 14er, it’s straightforward and offers great views! I’d definitely recommend it. The weather this weekend was amazing, sunny skies and warm days with only a slightly chilly breeze to keep me cool. One definitely advantage of late-season hiking is the lack of crowds; even with my super late start I only saw maybe 10 people compared to the 10,000 I’d expect to meet in July or August.

First view of Quandry

Final ridges to the summit

Looking down on the Blue Lakes (honest, that’s their name!)

Continental Divide Summits

Me at the top

Cool Clouds!

Looking back at the peak on descent

Shoulder Season: that time of year that isn’t winter and isn’t summer. From the travel industry, this time of year is characterize by low fares, unpredictable weather and mud; there is almost always a lot of mud!

Strangely this weekend I actually didn’t feel like going out hiking, weird I know! I took my temperature and even considered visiting a doctor but in the end I think I got a good solid dose last week down in the Weminuche and I’d had my fill for a while.  The weather for this weekend was forecast to be nice on Saturday and then rainy and cool on Sunday so Saturday I decided to go for a motorbike ride (since I can’t say completely away from the mountains…). With the weather cooling down I figured it might be my last chance for a really good ride this season. I set off around 9am for Steamboat Springs which is a roughly 3hr ride north and west of Denver. Steamboat has an (apparantly) amazing ski hill and some really cool terrain so I wanted to go have a look and see what it was all about. When I left Denver the temperature was showing ~18C on the bike, which is a great riding temperature but as I turned off I-70 onto Hwy 40 it was clear that the rapidly rising elevation was going to change things just a little! By the time I hit Berthoud Pass at just over 11,000′ the temperature reading dropped to 5C and I was cold!

On the other side of the pass is a town called Winter Park with a ski hill and village and a great little cafe where I stopped for some breakfast and a cup of coffee to try and get some of my long-lost warmth back! Just off mainstreet the Mountain Rose is a small place with seating for maybe 20 at the most, they have great coffee and good food and a cozy atmosphere that as far from chain-restaurant as you can get.

After warming up and filling up I hopped back on the bike and aborted the ride, it had only warmed up to 8C and I couldn’t really fathom another 2hrs to Steamboat and another 3 back, it really would have been a miserable ride! Bah, shoulder season!

On the other hand the trees are exceptionally pretty this time of year and they light up the entire landscape. Here are some pictures I took along the road to Guanella Pass which runs past Mt. Bierstadt and the Sawtooth Ridge (of hailstorm infamy)

I have heard the Weminuche Wilderness described as one of the most remote parts of Colorado, and after having been there I would certainly agree that it feels that way! There are a few different ways that you can get to where you’re going, either hike in ~10mi from Molas Pass on Hwy 550 or you can save you feet and pay the fare for the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway. The D&SNG is definitely a treat on it’s own, an authentic coal-fired and steam-powered train runs the route hauling passengers and freight and even firefighting equipment (used mostly to put out fires caused by the coal cinders I’m told). We boarded in Durango and had one of the “open air” cars which afforded us great views of the passing wilderness and only a few coal cinders in the eyes.

Train rounding the corner

 Entering the San Juan National Forest

 Most famous part of the ride, the Highline

Click to continue »

Blue skies and warm weather always make me want to be outside and tonight was a definite motorbike night! Colorado has a great number of squiggly roads and it’s my duty to explore them all!

My route tonight

Mt Evans’ is a 14er with a road all the way to the top, sort of like Pikes Peak but less popular (c: The road is closed from Labour Day to Mother’s Day every year, and there was already snow at the top!

The road up is fantastically curvy and has some great corners in it, unfortunately I really hadn’t planned on driving up to 14,000′ so I only had my warm weather riding gear (aka a jacket made of holes!) to keep me warm. I watched the temperature drop from 18C at the bottom to 10, to 7 to 4C at the summit!

View from the top

Sun going down from Mt. Evans

Mountain Goats and kids

Sharing the summit with me were 5 mountain goats, three adults and two kids. The kids were butting each other and playing around, it was so cute to see!

Molting, what more can I say?

Kids playing King of the Hill

Sun going down

I was freezing up there and couldn’t stay any longer so before the sun disappeared completely I boogied back down the 14 squiggly miles to the restaurant/bar/junk store at the bottom of the road. Once my hands thawed I wrapped them around a mug of coffee and once I had mobility I gripped the heck out of a fork and demolished some apple pie (c: Great ride, 4hrs long and definitely somewhere I hadn’t planned on going, but great all the same!