Day Two - Blackhawk to Snowmass
... but not the easy way, oh no, we don't do easy!
The day started out with a bang! Of all things there was a vintage motorcycle rally and exhibition at our resort. They were all packing up and shipping out at the same time as us so of course we had to go up and take a look.
From there it was on to Mt. Evans. What a great experience! The road takes you up close to 14,200 feet, the highest paved road in North America and one of the highest in the world. A quick check only found the Karakorum highway between China and Pakistan as the highest in the world, beating our effort by a scant 900 feet or so.
At this altitude problems can easily develop and we all felt lightheaded - and no, last night had nothing to do with it.
Where's Andy?
The trip back down was uneventful and we were soon back at Idaho Springs for lunch.
No beer for us!
A great afternoon's ride saw us up and over the Loveland Pass, the Fremont summit, and the Independence Pass adding another 30,000 feet easily to the 14,000 notches already on our belts. We easily used up a lifetimes worth of twists, turns, climbs and descents in one day!
Getting closer to Aspen we went through a blossoming grass fire just to add to the days excitement.
Aspen itself was cruel to us. Choked with people and traffic it took close to 30 minutes to get through - and it isn't a big town. The experience was enough to make us stay in Snowmass close to the hotel for dinner. As for Snowmass, it seems very like Whistler. A great multi-season venue. We lost it with the check in expetience unfortunately. It took over 40 minutes and in the end we hijacked our luggage cart rather than wait any longer for a bell hop. They weren't happy with us but we're Fukawi - we don't care!
Tomorrow we travel on to Grand Junction. Looks hot! Will there be more altitude AND
attitude? Check in tomorrow to find out.
Always a great read and the movie just keeps getting more and more interesting. Love this!
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