My deck temp said 57 when I got off work at 3pm yesterday. I think there was a bit of solar effect there, but it was probably at least 50. I put on the winter gear and got out. Some of the canyons here are paved again after our floods last September even if it's temporary. I know they started repairs in the Glen Haven canyon on Oct 1st, so I figured I'd go up and see what's been done since then. Enjoyed my ride up Big Thompson Canyon. Even had a truck pull over so that I could go by and enjoy a faster speed (love it when they do that for me!). Got to the split up to Glen Haven and took it. Encountered a sign saying that the road would be closed on 11/21/2014 between 1 and 3. It's after 4 so... I should be ok.
Finally about halfway up that canyon, I was stopped by a flagger who asked how far up I was going. I said "All the way to Estes if that's possible?" She said that I would need to wait until the lead car came back down from the top which would be at 4:50, so I could either pull over to the side and wait for 30 minutes or turn back around and keep going up Big Thompson. I opted to pull over and enjoy the scenery. The sun was starting to set (not that I could see the sun, but the clouds were starting to turn beautiful colors and the canyon walls were lovely). The flagger was friendly and had been working on several different canyon repair flood projects so we got to talking about permanent vs temporary repairs, and what each of us was doing the days of the flood and what we'd seen since then etc. She told me about the blasting that they'd done today (the reason for the closure) and plans for some of the phases of repair in this canyon. Finally 4:50 arrived, the sun was down, and the lead car radioed down that the traffic control lights at the one way section was green at both ends, so they were stopping there to re-program it but I could head up until I got to the light and they'd wave me through or not at that point.
The dirt sections are pretty much still as I remember them, other than they're now a bit smoother than the last time I went through. The last time was quite the ride... it's hard to avoid potholes when you're on 3 wheels! I made it up to the traffic light and the truck was still there. I pulled up behind it and no arm came out the window to wave me on, and no one was standing there to tell me to stop. I got off and walked over to the truck -- window open but no one in it. I couldn't see anyone nearby either, but they saw me and two guys popped out from behind the control box to chat. They walked even farther out into the middle of the road and one of them finally says, "There it is! He wondered why you have a helmet on and I thought it was a snow mobile. That's one of those Can-Am's isn't it, that's COOL!" They told me that they were just about done reprogramming more time on the lights as I headed back to my ride. As soon as I got my gear plugged back in, they waved me on. I could tell that they'd blasted through some huge (small house sized) rocks that had gotten moved down into the riverbed, and there was a new culvert near them, but other than that and the smoothing out of the potholes, it was hard for me to see the progress made. This is not a canyon that I travel daily though, so easy to miss stuff.
I came up out of the 2 hairpin turns in Devils Gulch into the meadow at the top just as the light was fading from the sky, but I could still see Longs Peak and all of the rest of the snow covered mountains quite clearly. Too dark for a photo, but it's seared into my memory forever. Coming down into Estes from the east on highway 36 and coming up out of Devils Gulch have got to be two of the most beautiful views on earth. By the time I made it to the road that would take me to the north entrance of Rocky Mountain National park, it was full dark. I opted to skip the park (my original destination), and do the full drive through town so I headed right so I could make the jog over to Bighorn Ave. As I got to the turn, a huge bull Elk still with full antlers was standing on the side of the road looking at me curiously. After I slowly passed him by, he mosied out across the road.
I did the "parade" through downtown Estes Park, but there weren't many bystanders out to gawk at me like I've gotten used to. Don teases me about parading through town to give the tourists something else to gawk at. I hardly notice them anymore unless unless they do silly things like stop in the middle of the road to take a picture of me.
The drive back down to Lyons on highway 36 was uneventful (thank you wildlife!) and enjoyable -- have I said lately how much I love my heated gear? I got home at 6 after a lovely 3 hour ride.
hyea:
