We completed our 50 miles of bike riding in Colorado this morning. We rode on the High Line Canal Trail. It is a wide all gravel path meandering under big cottonwood trees past residential neighborhoods, open land and a wildlife refuge. The conditions for riding were perfect. Feeling “in the zone” , Sue assigned the picture taking to Bill and rode hard and fast. In fact, she would point out photos she wanted Bill to take and continue on down the path; at TOP SPEED!! Occasionally, Bill could hear in the distance, “Eat my dust!” Bill claims keeping up with her was like doing one of his training rides!
High Line Canal Trail — See the dust??
This evening we attended a “Tribute to the Beatles 1964” concert in the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater. What fun to sing along to all the songs of our youth!
After yesterday’s mountain climbing adventures, we spent this morning back on the saddles of our bikes. The four of us rode the Cherry Creek Trail to Union Station in the heart of downtown Denver where we had a delicious breakfast. We explored some of the 16th Street Mall. Be sure to watch the videos of four senior citizens playing in the “tipsy chairs.”
Senior citizens having fun!
Sue did it!!
Bill and Gordy hit golf balls this afternoon and this evening we went to the Denver Botanic Garden for outdoor musical performances and dinner in the beautiful gardens. It was so nice to enjoy a cool summer evening outdoors.
We drove along the Mt. Evans Scenic Byway, the highest paved road in North America, to Summit Lake Park, elevation 12,830 ft. The area is one of the best examples of artic tundra in the contiguous U.S. It’s popular for its impressive scenery, alpine botanical fixtures and wildlife viewing opportunities. While hiking in the park we were fortunate enough to encounter mountain goats and were amazed at how sure-footed they were!
Driving further up the narrow winding road with NO guardrails, we parked the car and began our climb up our first “14er”, Mt. Evans. The trail was rocky and steep, the views were breathtaking and the marmot, who seemed to pose for us, along the way was very cute.
We were surprised that the altitude didn’t affect us as much as we had expected. When we reached the summit of 14,265 ft., we felt we were on top of the world!
At the base of Mt. Evans, we stopped at Echo Lake (10,600 ft.) for lunch and had bison stew and the biggest piece of carrot cake ever!
Today we went to El Dorado Canyon State Park for a hike. While hiking, we stopped to watch rock climbers ascend the steep canyon walls. Gordy told us that in his younger days he, too, had climbed these same walls. Sue’s comment was, “NO way would I ever even think about doing that!!” Be sure and zoom in on the photos to get a better perspective on just how tall the walls and how small the climbers are.
Beginning our hike.
Sue found a friend…NOT!!
The trail.
A beautiful day!
From El Dorado Canyon State Park, we traveled into Boulder, Colorado. There we ate delicious hamburgers for lunch at The Sink restaurant near the campus of the University of Colorado. Gordy had eaten many meals there in his college years. Try as we might, we were never able to find his name among the thousands written on the ceiling!
Batter up! Tonight Jeff, Caden, Maren, and their friend Fio joined Gordy, Joyce, Bill and me at Coors Field to watch the Colorado Rockies play the San Diego Padres. Interestingly, just before the first pitch, the computer system that controls the cash registers, etc. for all the vendors in the stadium quit working. The vendor, Aramark, worked feverously to get them back up without success. (This would never happen at Angel Stadium! Riiight!!!) It was warm, for Colorado anyway, the fans were tired, hungry and thirsty waiting for the game to start. The fans were getting restless— The solution; fans were treated to free snacks and water. It was like a conga line, the kids sitting in front of us were constantly disappearing from their seats and coming back with nachos, ice cream cones (at least 5), etc.!! Caden and Maren enjoyed the treats too. Oh well, back to baseball. The game was exciting. The Rockies led until the 9th inning when the Padres tied the game. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, C.J. Cron, a former Angel, hit a walk-off homerun to win the game. Bill was happy to add Coors Field to the list of MLB stadiums he has visited.
We woke up to a beautiful day this morning. After we got ourselves put together, we met Joyce and Gordy for a walk through City Park to their favorite breakfast restaurant. Delicious!! After breakfast we took a leisurely 3 mile stroll around the park.
In the afternoon we toured the Molly Brown House Museum, former home of Margaret Brown, ‘Titanic’ survivor and national advocate for suffrage and labor rights. [Note: We later learned that, once upon a time, Jill Sherman’s aunt, Irene Hastings, had owned this property and had operated it as a boarding house.]
Molly Brown’s House
In the evening we celebrated Gordy’s birthday with their family. We had a delicious dinner on the patio at Eric and Danielle’s house. It was wonderful to visit with Joyce and Gordy’s children and grandchildren, Eric, Danielle, Grace and Will, and Michelle, Jeff, Caden and Maren. What special friends the Youngs and Berges are!!
This morning we headed north to Denver. We stopped outside Pagosa Springs to hike up to Treasure Falls. The cool mist of the waterfall was dramatically different from the ambient temperature of the air above the highway we had just left; it felt sooooo refreshing!!
Reluctantly, we left the coolness of Treasure Falls toward Denver. We drove through Wolf Creek Pass and the Rio Grande National Forest. Driving through the mountain tunnels was fun!
Near Sandia we passed the Collegiate Peaks, a section of the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Collegiate Peaks include some of the highest mountains in the Rockies, with Mt. Harvard reaching 14,423 ft.
Collegiate Peaks
The majestic mountains, swiftly running rivers and streams, and the wide open plains we saw today had us singing John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High”!
Shortly after arriving at Joyce and Gordy’s home in the late afternoon, Bill decided it best to return the trailer, so he and Gordy headed off to a U-Haul store nearby. In the process of returning the trailer, Bill had a “Here’s Your Sign” experience that using a trailer is NOT in our best interest (more specifically not in Bill’s best interest). As the attendant started disconnecting the trailer from our car, Bill asked him to wait just a minute so Bill could get our bike rack out of the trailer before it was disconnected from the car. As Bill stepped up into the trailer and picked up the bike rack, yes, you guessed it, the back of the trailer suddenly went down and the trailer started to roll AGAIN! Bill quickly stepped out of the trailer and almost fell again. He went around the trailer to the back of the car where both the attendant and Gordy were standing wiping the sweat off their brows. They said the tongue of the trailer had suddenly flown into the air and they both quickly grabbed the tongue of the trailer and brought it back down; scratching the back of our car. At this point, Bill and Gordy quickly got back into the car and drove off as the attendant was telling us he was going to give us a discount on what we owed for the days we actually used the trailer. NO MORE TRAILERS!!!
Today we rode the historic Durango – Silverton Narrow (rails 3 ft. apart) Gauge Railroad. It was built in 1881 – 1882 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway to take supplies to mining camps and transport the rich minerals out.
Our trip took us through the San Juan National Forest in the San Juan Mountains. The scenery was breathtaking! (Bill took over 400 pictures.) Traveling along the Animas River, we saw the beautiful green water, rocks and boulders, rapids of various sizes and forests of towering evergreens and aspens on the tall mountainsides. The back and forth rocking of the train car, the clicking of the wheels on the tracks, the “chuf chuf” sound of the steam engine, and the whistle signals were so relaxing!
The smoke from the steam engine as we climb along the canyon walls.We traveled along the Animas River.
The sound of the river rapids was relaxing.
The attendant in the parlor car where we were seated was a former middle school teacher who had worked on the train in various positions since she was a teenager. She shared a wealth of knowledge of the history and sights along the route.
Parlor attendant explaining how a train turns around without a train turn turntable by using a three point turn.
Nestled at the end of the railroad tracks was the little town of Silverton. In 1870, with news of a gold strike nearby, miners flocked to the area to stake their claims. Silverton was well established by 1875 and was incorporated in 1876. Today Silverton covers about two blocks and has only one paved street. With buildings dating back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, we felt like we had been transported back in time to an old west mining town.
We just arrived in Silverton.Sue headed up the dirt street toward the shopping and restaurants.We had a scrumptious lunch at Handlebars Food & Saloon!
Sue is ready for her first ever 28 mile bike ride. She doesn’t look too worried here at the beginning.
We were thankful to have a cool, dry morning for our ride today. Our plan was to ride about 28 miles in Durango and cover the remaining 22 miles needed to complete 50 miles in Colorado when we get to Denver. Sue has never been on a ride longer than 15 or so miles. She seems a little nervous about whether or not she can make that distance in one ride. We’ll see!!
We started out on a lovely country road. We rode about 18 miles toward Baker’s Bridge (where the famous cliff jumping scene in the movie Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid was actually filmed). Along the way we saw sheep, horses, wild turkeys, red and white mountains, lots of wildflowers, and more GREEN grass and trees than we’ve seen in months! It was beautiful, who knew???
Sue just HAD to get up close to the horses.Ranch house along the road.
We continued our ride on the Animas River Biking/Walking Trail through Durango and beyond. Riding along the banks of the river, we enjoyed hearing the sound of the water as it passed over the rocks and boulders. We stopped to watch kayakers and river rafters maneuver through the rapids and shoals and fishermen in waders patiently waiting for a bite.
The Animas River
River rafters.
By the time we completed our 30+ mile (Sue did GREAT by the way!!) adventure the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature was on the rise. All-in-all, Durango provided a wonderful start to our 50-in-50 Challenge!!
BUT WAIT……….. the adventure for this day was not quite over!!
During our drive from Phoenix to Durango, prompted by the pouring rain, we discussed the possible use of an enclosed trailer to trail our bikes and biking gear. Bill decided this was a good idea, so he went to U-Haul and rented a 5×8 enclosed trailer. He took Sue’s bike to make sure it would fit and went ahead and secured it and the bike hitch inside the trailer while at the U-Haul place. After dinner, Bill decided he would go ahead and load his bike and the other biking gear inside the trailer since we would not need them before we left Durango for Denver on Saturday morning. Great idea, however, Bill forgot he had already disconnected the trailer from the car, so, when he stepped into the trailer while holding his bike, the trailer tong promptly went up and the trailer started rolling across the hotel parking lot toward another parked car. Bill recounts that for what seemed like five minutes, several things about the situation flashed through his mind — he would just step out of the trailer, stop the trailer from rolling, hold up his bike, and NOT fall down. This plan worked great…for step number one (stepping out of the trailer). After that everything else was a disaster! Once he stepped out of the trailer the tongue of the trailer slammed to the pavement, the trailer continued to roll, though more slowly, toward the parked car, Bill tripped over a concrete curb stop, fell to the pavement and slammed his bicycle onto his leg and ankle. Bill said his very first concern was “Is my bike ok?” Once he was satisfied his bike was ok, he checked his leg and discovered a DEEP depression that didn’t belong. By this time Sue had heard the commotion outside the room and she rushed to see what had happened. Bill looked up and said, “I think I may have broken my leg!” After putting ice in a ziploc bag and helping Bill into the car, we drove across town to the Mercy Regional Medical Center ER because the two emergency care centers nearby had closed at 7:00 pm. X-rays were taken and no broken bones were found. With a diagnosis of a deep contusion, we were given an ACE bandage and sent home. The worst injury was to Bill’s pride!! What an ending to our first day of our trip. Wonder what’s in store for us tomorrow?
Bill loading our bikes.We’re finally ready to leave.
A quick word from the anxious travelers.
The first leg of our 50-in-50 Challenge took us to Durango, Colorado. We started the trip in heavy monsoon rain on curvy, hilly roads – not a relaxing drive for Bill! The desert between Phoenix and Payson was very green from all the recent rains. Too bad the sun wasn’t out to highlight the colors.
Headed into the darkest clouds we’ve seen in Phoenix in months.With dark clouds and steady rain looming ahead, the landscape all around is a lush green!
We entered New Mexico and went through Gallup. Our route took us through part of the Navajo Reservation. The vast reservation land seemed so desolate and harsh. Homes are far apart, and living conditions appeared difficult. We saw several traditional hogans. We were reminded of how hard the Navajo Nation had been affected by the Covid pandemic in 2020 and how many of its citizens had been lost.
Entering the Navajo Reservation.
Bill commented on the diversity of the people of the United States– where we live and how we live — and the importance of not judging others based on our own lifestyle and experiences.
Looks like there are several families living in this small community.Yet another small community several miles from the community shown above.
As we drove farther into the reservation, our LOW FUEL light came on. As Bill counted the miles to an EMPTY tank, Sue nervously searched for gas stations on her phone app. Luckily, we made it to a station, and Bill reluctantly agreed to fill up more frequently. Sue was relieved!!!
We arrived in beautiful Durango in mid-afternoon, checked in to our hotel and went to a local bike shop for route advice and trail maps for our first ride in Colorado tomorrow. We turned in early to be well rested for our first riding adventure!
We are getting excited! Only two days until we begin our 50 in 50 Challenge!! Our plan is to leave Phoenix early Wednesday morning and go directly to Durango, CO. In Durango Sue and I will do the 28 mile Baker’s Bridge ride followed by the Durango to Silverton train ride. From Durango we drive to Denver to spend 5 days with Joyce and Gordy and their family. While in Denver we will be attending a Colorado Rockies baseball game, a concert at the Red Rock Theater and do another 22 mile ride to complete our 50 miles in Colorado. After Denver, we drive to Santa Fe, NM to do a 17 mile ride on the Santa Fe Trail to US 285. From Santa Fe we go to Albuquerque to ride at least 34 miles on the Albuquerque 50 Mile Activity Loop around the city. We will head back to Phoenix on August 25. Look for posts from the various activities planned and not planned.
50-in-50 Challenge 