Koehler Travelers: August 2008

Biking around Aspen & Snowmass

I know it may not seem like it, but I actually did ride my bike (some) while in Colorado.

I arrived in Aspen on Friday, August 1 well into my 43 hour day. We set up camp and I took a short ride down Maroon Creek to the base in Aspen, back up to Maroon Lake, then back to the campground. It was only a 19 mile roundtrip, but the profile is below.

I didn't track my time or speed down the mountain, but my avg. speed for the 9.5 mile climb was 10.9 mph. Not bad for me since I'm not too fast.

Another gratuitous shot of Maroon Bells at the top of the climb.

I took another ride on Saturday. Even though the profile shows it to be 34 miles, it was closer to 40. Nonetheless, it captures the profile of the steeper hills I climbed. This ride was a little different as it was somewhat residential. I rode from the campground to Snowmass, then back into Aspen to climb some of the hills in town. Red Mountain Road in Aspen was short and crazy steep. I'd guess in the 20% range. It's the short but vertical spike at mile 28. Yikes! Actually, Upper Carriage Way in Snowmass was similar. That's the upward spike at mile 14. You can see that climb was longer too.

Some pictures from the ride.

Climbing Red Mountain Road.

Private ranch at the top of Red Mountain Road.

Aspen Mountain across the valley.

Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Maroon Bells in the very far distance.

Aspen Highlands and Maroon Bells off in the distance.

Aspen to Ruedi Reservoir

This was the biggest ride I ended up doing on the trip. It was about a 77 mile trip from the Silver Bar campground to Basalt, up the Frying Pan River to the Ruedi Reservoir and back.

Here are some of the pictures of the reservoir from up above, the upward road and the Frying Pan River canyon towards Basalt on the way back to Aspen.

I rode up the hill in the picture below to look down upon the reservoir in the above picture. You can see the road going down to the right of the reservoir. It drops about 300-400 off the edge at about a 10-12% grade when you round the bend.

The 10-12 miles up the river to the bottom of the reservoir were pretty easy at about a 2-3% grade. The headwind was so strong that it was easy to average over 18mph for those miles. Actually, I averaged 18mph + for the first 55 miles.
I stopped at the Woody Creek Tavern for a bite to eat on the way back. It's one of many unique places in Colorado. It's just off the main highway, Rt. 82, and worth the trip. Try the BBQ pork.

These guys were hanging out in the parking lot as I was heading back on the road.
And, here is a profile of the ride. Nothing crazy, but the wind went from steady to heavy the last 35 miles. It took my average down below 17mph by the time I finished. Sad.

And that's the cheap stuff...

Twice, I had to stop for gas in Aspen. The second time was much less expensive. I left Cincinnati on Thursday with gas @ $3.49/gallon for 87 octane. By the time I needed to refuel in Aspen on Friday, it was $5.10/gallon for 85 octane! I didn't capture that moment, but I needed gas again a few days later and got it on the cheap side of town...

Leadville & the Silver Bar Saloon

Dan & I said our farewells one of several times in Leadville, CO at the Silver Bar Saloon.

At 10,152 feet in elevation, Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States.

We went into the Silver Bar Saloon, an "Irish" bar and asked if they served lunch. "Nope, but you can get a free hot dog when you buy a drink." "Buy a drink? I'm in. I'll have a Guinness." "We're out." A 129 year old Irish bar and you don't have any Guinness??????

Either way, it was a unique place.

WOW! That was a long drive...

I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I decided to drive to CO overnight and alone. Man, that was rough.

Thursday, July 31

I got up at 6:00am, went to work and left at noon.

Drove to meet Trish for lunch and took this picture on the way. 12:18, not sleepy yet...

I'm confused. Can anyone tell me how Jesus would be proud to have a 70 foot tall vinyl sided cross erected next to the Interstate? Really. What the f...??? Ironically (to me anyway) situated in "F"ingham, Illinois.

Uh, 18 hours later, still driving. 6:06am local time, whatever time zone that is. Still driving. O.K., by this time, I stopped to take 3 naps. 2 for about 45 minutes and 1 for 15 minutes. The 15 minute nap was great. I was so tired, I forgot to turn the ignition on all the way for my nap. Huh? Well, the temps were above 100 in the day, so it was still plenty warm. My plan was to leave the car/AC running while I slept. I only got half of that. 15 minutes later, the battery was dead. 3:00am in a rest stop, looking for a "jump". Be careful how you word that request. Trust me...

I got to Denver about 8:30am local time, met Dan at Red Rocks, had lunch in Georgetown, drove to Glenwood Canyon for the final 15 minute nap, and then on to Aspen. We set up camp, went to dinner, watched the stars and shooting stars for a while, then called it a night. Oh yeah, I also rode my bike up and down the Maroon Creek Road for a 20 mile ride with a climb to Maroon Bells. In bed by 11:00 Mountain time for a 43 hour day. Man, I was whooped.

U.S. Pipe @ Belly Up Aspen

Dan & I went to the Belly Up in Aspen to see the band US Pipe. That was cool stuff!

Belly Up has all kinds of cool stuff going on. They have free music night (U.S. Pipe), free movies, and a whole bunch of other things going on. UB40 is playing tonight.

Anyway, U.S. Pipe is a cool funk band that plays all over CO. The guitar player pulled out his Sitar (image) and played a great song for about 20 minutes. If ever in CO, and/or Aspen take the time to see the band or visit the bar. There's always something at the bar, if not just alcohol...

Maybe Dan will send me the pictures that we took of his camera for me to post.

Wolves in Frisco

Sorry. Besides 2 bad pictures off of my cell phone, I don't have any of my own pictures to post, but it was good stuff nonetheless...

The Powell's & I went to the Dillon Ampitheater to watch a presentation on the preservation of wolves and it was pretty cool. It was all the standard stuff you'd expect to hear; there aren't any wild wolves in CO, they're not as bad as they seem, we need more to kill the excess numbers of elk in the state, etc.

What I didn't expect, which is why I don't have any pictures, is that they would walk 2 wolves through the entire ampitheater audience.

Here's the web-site on the center that gave the presentation - http://www.wolfeducation.org/

This picture is of a wolf / dog mixed breed. I believe the name is Zaltana.

And, you can learn more about her here - http://www.wolfeducation.org/gallery/FORMgallery16.htm

I believe this one was 1 year, 4 months old and named Kekoa. This one was a full wolf.

And, you can learn more about him here -http://www.wolfeducation.org/gallery/FORMgallery32.htm

If the Powell's got any good pictures and send them to me, I'll post more.

I pet Zaltana when she went past and her hair was different than a dogs. It was very wiry and coarse.

More to come. I promise...

Uh, Internet service sucked in Aspen and my hard drive filled up. I will have more postings in the next few days. Check back soon...

Hanging Lake - Glenwood Canyon, CO

Dan & drove about an hour to Hanging Lake. Access to the trailhead is right off of I-70 in Glenwood Canyon. It's a beautiful drive in the canyon, and the hike to hanging lake is also beautiful.

This is the view looking south down the canyon. Looking towards Glenwood Canyon.

Some pretty falls along the way.

Almost to the the top of the hike.

Dan's almost there too.

Hanging Lake.
About the hike... After parking and walking about 1,000 feet along a paved path, you begin the climb to Hanging Lake. It's a 1.2 mile climb with an elevation gain of about 1,020 feet. About 60% of the climb is rocks and boulders.