Sunday, August 28, 2016

ScooterBob and Fiona on Mount Evans

Greetings from Redlegsrides

There had been a couple of notices from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) telling folks that the road to Mount Evans, aka Colorado Highway 5, had been closed due to adverse weather this past week.

Snow and high winds most likely.  You could see a thin covering of snow on Mount Evans from the metro Denver area.

Yesterday, Saturday the 27th of August, I went with Fiona and ScooterBob to introduce them both to the highest paved highway in North America.

Note: We never did make it to the summit parking lot, apparently a lot of cagers also had the idea to go visit Mount Evans yesterday; and there was a long line to even enter the parking lot.  So, sorry, no picture of either ScooterBob or Fiona by the summit sign at 14,260 Feet (4346 Meters).

I rode Fiona via US285 to Morrison and from there it was Bear Creek Canyon Road or CO Hwy 74 to Evergreen and Bergen Park to pick up the eastern end of Squaw Pass Road.  Took longer than usual to get there since I'm still "breaking in" the rebuilt gearbox on Fiona; so limited to 40 mph.  The route I took was mostly 45 mph or under with a couple of short highway stretches.

We would try twice to reach the summit, but the mass of cagers just precluded that notion, especially when riding an air-cooled motorcycle.  Though it was cool near the summit, it wasn't cool enough to prevent the engine on Fiona from possibly overheating so I just took pictures from just short of the summit.


The peak in the background is Mount Bierstadt I believe


 A little snow for ScooterBob to experience.

Mt. Bierstadt again.



As you ride Mount Evans Road, you get several views of nearby
Mount Bierstadt.

You can just see part of Abyss Lake, located between the peaks
of Mt Bierstadt and Mount Evans.


 On the shores of Summit Lake

 Looking towards the rock formations one can hike to from the 
Summit Lake parking lot.  I've not done so yet....

 This lake is apparently stocked with Rainbow Trout.
Fishing at 12,840 Feet (3913 Meters)

 One last look back towards the summit

That's Echo Lake down there at 10,600 Feet (3230 Meters)

 Here's a picture of the sign before the fee station at the Mount Evans Road.

Couldn't quite "see forever" today, but not bad.

Fiona did great, though I did have to loosen up the clutch some as I was coming off the mountain.  She reached the next oil flush mark as we neared home so I'll be changing out the oil today.

Note about the fees for Mount Evans Road.  It's free if you do not use any of the fee areas up on the mountain AND don't go into the summit parking lot.  I should have asked for my $3 back today.  :)


6 comments:

  1. Wonderful shots! I'm surprised my family in CO hasn't mentioned the upper elevation snows yet. Fiona and Bob look quite at home in the mountains!

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    1. Glad you liked them, thanks for commenting, Mike Mike.

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  2. The little scooter looks almost as good with the snowy backdrop as Fiona. Beautiful photos.

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    1. I agree VStar Lady. Great shots and writing both.

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  3. Dom, that is, I suspect, the highest elevation to date in ScooterBob's amazing travels. Thank you for a great adventure. Bob would have shivered (from the cold), but loved it.

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  4. Brilliant post. This little scooter is doing things that most of us just dream about, he's been more places than I've ever been and probably ever will.
    Good stuff.

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