Rocky Mountain High: Steamboat

We made a quick trip to Colorado last weekend to spend a couple of days with Mark's brother and his family in Winter Park.  This is the first of several posts about our experiences on our trip.

I have driven through Colorado several times over the past 30 years, but always on interstate highways to or from Utah, which meant never driving through the Rocky Mountains.

I had, however, dreamt since my college days of visiting and seeing places like Aspen, Breckinridge, Vail, Steamboat Springs, and the Rocky Mountain National Park.  These dreams were largely inspired by one of my best college friends, who had spent quite a bit of time in Colorado, and by desires to visit the storied ski areas there, once I had started skiing with my fraternity brothers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan over Christmas breaks.

On this trip, I was able to fulfill some of those dreams to see the heart of Colorado.  It felt good.  It felt good to see dreams realized, to see panoramic vistas, and to spend time with my partner and my son in such a beautiful place.

We left last Saturday morning with Nathan and drove that day - Mark on his motorcycle and me and Nathan following in the truck - to a campground outside Hayden, Colorado.  Here we set up camp for the night, having a cold dinner of Subway sandwiches and playing "Phase 10" and "BS," a card game that Nathan taught us. 

Setting up camp at Yampa River State Park near Hayden

The following morning, we drove from Hayden to Steamboat Springs, where we had breakfast at the Shack Cafe.  It was a quaint little place at which Mark had eaten before. Nathan really liked it.  He wanted to sit at the counter because that was something he'd never experienced. ;)

Downtown Steamboat

We said something to our waitress about her delightful accent - not strong but noticeable - and she explained that she was originally from St. Andrew's, Scotland, but had lived in Steamboat for 32 years.  Her father had been the head groundskeeper at St. Andrew's Golf Course and had met all the great golfers of the past 30-40 years.  She had originally come to Steamboat because her Scottish boyfriend was on some sort of ski team there.  They later broke up and she ended up marrying a local rancher and has lived in Steamboat ever since.   Everyone has a story ...

Mark, me and Nathan at the Shack Cafe in Steamboat

After breakfast, Mark and I went on a ride up to Rabbit Ears Pass, south of Steamboat.  We started out at a park next to the Yampa River and rode south for a little over seven miles through the beautiful and relatively flat Yampa River Valley, framed by green mountains and home to many ranches, large and small.

Then, just past seven miles, the fun started.  For the next seven miles, we experienced a relentless 6.5-7.5% grade, climbing for an hour and ten minutes just over 2300 feet within the space of those seven miles.  There were several times when I really thought I wasn't going to make it.

The view of the valley below was truly breathtaking.  It was a beautiful morning and a gorgeous ride.

This picture is from another website, showing the Yampa River Valley below.

This is a picture Nathan took through the truck window of the same view as we drove over Rabbit Ears Pass later that day.

This picture, also from another website, shows part of the climb up.

This seven-mile stretch of brutal climbing (depicted in the graph below) was then followed by a comparatively easy six-mile ride on to the summit.  At the top, we paused to take pictures of each other below the "rabbit ears" (below).

The ride down was "exhilarating."  What had taken us an hour and ten minutes to climb, we descended in 13 minutes, as shown in the graph.  While zooming down, I experienced something that would be repeated several times over the next few days:  I could believe I had cycled up what I was now zooming down.

Back in Steamboat, we ate at the same Shack Cafe, then headed on to Winter Park, arriving in late afternoon.  Here, I met Mark's brother, Tim, and his two daughters.  (As it happened, Tim's wife Marie was on her way to Salt Lake for a convention and would be staying at our house while we were away.  I would meet her later in the week, however, after we got back home.)  We spent a very nice evening making dinner and watching evening fall as we sat on the front porch, just taking in the views of the mountains all around us.  It had been a great day.

Picture Nathan took through the truck windshield as we drove up to Mark's brother's place.

Next Up:  Berthoud Pass.