12-13-14 Ride

A heavily overcast and gray day here in Colorado, with snow in the forecast for tomorrow.  Yay.

After a lazy breakfast, I headed out shortly after 9:10:11 AM (see what I did there?) and made my way through the Metro Denver area towards Morrison to see what we could see.

Scarlett and I first meandered into Red Rocks Park to let my new camera show me its stuff in terms of rocky formation photography; I think it did pretty well:

same spot, the next day, after a disappointing snow fall

same spot, the next day, after a disappointing snow fall

same spot, the next day, after a disappointing snow fall

Leaving Red Rocks Park, we turned west onto Bear Creek Canyon Road and twisted and turned our way through the hamlets of Idledale and Kittredge, ending up in the small town of Evergreen.  To the west of town is Witter Gulch Road but first the standard posing of one's motorcycle on Golden Willow Road which is just past the gulch road.

Golden Willow Road and a view of peaks to the west

Witter Gulch Road used to be a fun dirt road to ascend and descend from the vicinity of Squaw Pass but now its nicely paved and without much challenge except for a couple of tight hairpin turns.

Once on Squaw Pass Road aka CO State Highway 103, Scarlett and I continued westward, ascending towards Echo Lake and the junction with CO5, the road to Mount Evans.  The road to Mt Evans is closed for the season but there were several spots on the way to Echo Lake and around the lake that lent themselves to pictures:

 Along CO 103, east of Echo Lake

Scarlett and I continued west on CO 103, descending fairly rapidly on pavement which sometimes presented ice and frozen snow.  There wasn't much but a couple of spots would have given me pause had I been on two wheels!

Soon enough, we made it to the town of Idaho Springs which straddles the I-70 Super Slab.  I spied an old locomotive and turned back towards town to get a closer look.

 Some joker turned the number plate on the front of the engine

upside down, what is it with people not being able to leave things alone?

I sent an email to the mayor to let him know.

 Check out the oil lamps hanging by the ceiling....I think I would

have been a bit nervous riding with such above me.

 Standing where the coal would have been carried, ready to be

shoveled into the locomotive's furnace via 

the door below

The small waterfall, slowly freezing over, which is a landmark

for Idaho Springs.

The rest of the ride was boring super slab riding on I-70 heading back into the Metro Denver area, retracing the morning's route.  We got home shortly after 3:00PM, no issues to report except that the low fuel sensor on Scarlett has once again failed.  It's been replaced once under warranty, I don't think I'm going to bother getting another one from the dealer.  Scarlett averaged 39 mph during this last tank of gas, and still had 3/4 of a gallon in the tank when I topped her off with 277 km on the trip meter!

Here's a comparison of basically the same shot at Echo Lake, new and old cameras, I think the sony picture is crisper but the colors are a tad better on the Panasonic.  You'll note I photoshopped the signs out on the Panasonic picture.

Also, the colors were more accurate on the Sony picture, based on what I recall from today's riding.

Echo Lake with the Sony A5000 and Telephoto Lens

Echo Lake with the Panasonic Lumix ZS8

Update: 15DEC14: Added "after" shots of three spots in Red Rocks Park.