More driving in the Rockies

Over the last few weeks nothing that exciting has happened. I really need to buy a bike and by that I mean one with pedals instead of throttle and clutch etc. Last summer in Finland I rode around 2,000 miles during the very short summer season which didn't even start until late May after the worst dusty and pollen-ridden season (I'm very allergic to birch pollen) was over. Because of the cold and the humid climate, it's impossible to keep the roads clean of snow and therefore loads of gravel is put on the streets to help with the traction. Come spring, the snow and the ice melts and the studded tires of the cars grind that thing up - as well as the asphalt itself - into very tiny particles that get airborne and until the streets are finally pretty much thoroughly washed multiple times, the air quality can be horrid in many places. I absolutely hate the springtime in Finland.

Over here it's a totally different story. No gravel is needed since the nearest sea is around 1000 miles away and therefore the air is very dry. In fact, after the snowstorms in February, it was fascinating to watch as on the following days the roads were pretty much steaming as the snow turned incredibly quickly from solid to vapor. Oh, and the best part? I haven't seen a single birch tree around here. Bliss. The temperatures aren't that bad either as in Finland we usually don't hit these figures until June. It was 26 C = 79 F today.

Lies. There were no elk in the meadow.

What I've basically been up to the last two weekends is... well... ask a random local whether they ever get tired of the mountains and the answer is always no. Some have lived their whole lives staring at them and even still, every morning stepping outside the views are as breathtaking as ever. Since I was brave enough to head out into the mountain roads in my last entry, I've basically just kept on doing that both weekends since then. I think I have found my new favorite hobby.

Saturday 24 March - checking out the route to the top of Mt. Evans, 14,265 feet (4,348 m). The road up there is closed until the Memorial Day though.

On Sunday 25 March it was time to head up north to Fort Collins and then turn west towards Walden following the beautiful Cache la Poudre river. After Walden I turned south and crossed the Colorado plains which wasn't that interesting but then again you had distant mountain peaks no matter which way you turned. Once I got close to Granby it got a lot more fun and after Winter's Park there were some seriously yay! sections.

Now tell me that driving on a road like this isn't fun

The trip ended up lasting six and a half hours but well worth it

On the Saturday ride I passed by the Red Rocks Amphitheater by accident since I had no plans of going there that day even though I had planned on checking it out some time. It's a pretty stunning location for concerts and the acoustics are fantastic as well. I'm keeping an eye or two out for some
shows in the summer that I'd be interested in but so far there hasn't been any real big announcements.

You could see the Denver skyscrapers in the mid left of the pic if the resolution was better. It must look great in the dark.

Peak to Peak highway

This is now my, umm, 6th or 7th week in Colorado and I realized that I have yet to drive in the gorgeous Rockies just next to me. The biggest reason is that I wasn't feeling quite confident in getting up there without studded tires. Even though it might be just lovely outside here in the foot of the mountains, it can get quite ugly once you get up high.



People tell me that March is the snowiest month of the year up here but so far it's been anything but. Looking at the 7 day forecast, it shows the highs at 20+ C (~70 F) for every single day and the lows stay way above freezing as well. Therefore on Saturday I decided to give it a go and set my target to Nederland where I turned north to the Peak to Peak highway towards Estes Park.

The way from Boulder to Nederland is a constant uphill, climbing around 1000m within a very short distance along a narrow and very bendy road following the Boulder Canyon until you hit the Barker reservoir and the dam that keeps it all together. The views are absolutely breathtaking but behind the wheel you are pretty much forced to ignore all that in order to keep the car on the road. The Barker dam doesn't look that impressive but if it ever breaks, you definitely don't want to be down in Boulder.

The edge of the dam seen from across the frozen reservoir

Along the way there were still snowy spots although the road was totally clean

A church in not too shabby a setting

Lake Estes and the highway that splits it in two

Between the pine(?) trees in the middle you can see the snow-capped peak of what I guess is Mt. Meeker

I recorded the drive on Mytracks using the GPS on my Android phone:

Total distance: 176.97 km (110.0 mi)
Total time: 3:03:24
Moving time: 2:41:13
Average speed: 57.90 km/h (36.0 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 65.86 km/h (40.9 mi/h)
Max speed: 119.70 km/h (74.4 mi/h)
Min elevation: 1585 m (5201 ft)
Max elevation: 2828 m (9278 ft)
Elevation gain: 2580 m (8464 ft)
Max grade: 11 %
Min grade: -10 %

Vegas and Grand Canyon, pt. 3

The next day we ended up having to skip Hoover Dam since we didn't get going until 11am. We were all knackered so having to get up early didn't sound too tempting. The temperature got up to almost 80 F (26 C) but luckily it was a bit cloudy or we would've got sunburned pretty badly.

Click to enlarge. There's the eagle in the middle.

In order to reach the Grand Canyon Skywalk we had to cross almost 10 miles of unpaved, really rough dirt road but luckily the tires held. We had to leave the car at the Grand Canyon West Airport and take a bus to the Skywalk.

We were quite surprised how we were allowed right to the edge of the canyon, as close as we'd dare to go. I wonder how many people a year fall down, either intentionally or unintentionally. I'm usually not a big fan of heights but I didn't get vertigo and got up way closer than I had imagined.When we finally got to the skywalk itself we looked back and just then realized how friggin high the drop was and just how close those crazy people were to the edge. Oh wait, those crazy people were us 15 minutes prior.

Peaking over the edge

Watch your step

The Skywalk itself wasn't that amazing but it was kind of fun to lean over the rail and look straight down to the depths.

The Skywalk

Yes it does say 7,500 feet

When we drove back it was dark already and no map was needed as you could see Vegas from a long way away since the sky above it was glowing. When the city came into view we finally realized how big it really was.

Las Vegas from space

In the evening we wanted to go see one of the famous Vegas shows. The tickets were quite expensive for most shows but luckily there were some discounts for Penn and Teller's show in Rio. They are a long time comedic illusionist duo that also have a show called Bullshit! on Showtime. I've also watched Penn on the current season of the Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. The show lasted about 90 minutes and featured some seriously WTF moments.

Rio

Penn (the tall guy) taking pics with fans after the show

On Tuesday it was time to head back home. The Vegas airport is within walking distance from the Strip. Quite a contrast to the Denver airport which is way way way off to the east of the city and surrounded by nothing but fields. During the flight back to Denver I was pretty much glued to the window since we flew over the Grand Canyon and the Rockies. And I did manage to see the Hoover Dam after all although only from the air.

Vegas and Grand Canyon, pt. 2

Driving through Nevada you could really tell that Las Vegas is a city built in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly it just popped into view and we were all really surprised how small it looked as our eyes were only focused on the skyscraper casinos in the heart of the city.

After we finally managed to check into our rooms at the Planet Hollywood Casino & Resort, it was time for a 4-5h nap in the middle of the day in order to get out of the zombie-zone. The evening was mostly spent on walking around the city and wondering just how cheesy and tacky it was. It's just too much.

Pics galore!

The Bellagio

Ceasar's Palace (well, some of it, the whole place is huge)

Chocolate fountain in Bellagio

The Cosmopolitan

 

The monorail

At 10pm we saw the Sirens of Treasure Island show here

It only taketh but giveth nothing back

Venice

The view from my window

Vegas and Grand Canyon, pt.1

Now it was time for my first mini-vacation. I took Monday and Tuesday off in order to tag along on a trip that one of colleagues was taking with her son and his girlfriend. The plan was for him to rent a Mustang from the Denver International Airport and then drive to Las Vegas, Nevada. The next day we were planning on seeing the Hoover Dam and then continue to the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona.

Our ride

Our driver and his girlfriend had just flown from Finland the day before so we actually started the 12 hour drive on 10pm. The logic behind this was that his body had not yet adjusted to the jet lag and thought that it was already 7am. This way we would also have the whole day at Vegas and didn't have to worry about the traffic. This turned out not to be the ideal solution though since when we finally got there, half of us were dead tired due to the jet lag and the other half because we had been up for 30 hours straight. Oh, and we couldn't check into our rooms in the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino for about five hours.


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The road trip went by surprisingly quickly. After turning to the I70, our sat-nav informed us that the next turn was in 497 miles. The temperature dropped to about -10 C up in the Rockies and there was maybe 30 minutes when the driving conditions were horrible due to snow and strong winds. After that and especially after we got out of the mountains it was smooth sailing for a long time. In Utah there was a long stretch of absolutely nothing and there were some questions whether we'd even find a gas station before we'd run out of juice. And by nothing I really mean nothing. It was the night and there were no lights whatsoever to be seen anywhere around us.

Some of the roads were straight as an arrow and kept going as far as the eye could see

After crossing the border to Arizona the scenery quickly changed and we got a little taste of what we would be experiencing in the Grand Canyon the next day. Nevada was incredibly dry as one might expect.