Uraling to Montezuma and Loveland Pass

Sunday.

Another clear and sunny sky with brisk Sunrise temperatures but while the sun appearing proved to be a wash, I did catch its light shining on the nearby peaks and making a line of Aspen trees on ridge glow.

 Ten Mile Peak on the left and Peak 1 on the right.

 Buffalo Mountain to the left and Red Peak on the right.

 The Glowing Aspen

Times like the above I wish I had a larger than 200 mm telephoto lens with me!

I rode off towards the small town of Montezuma, to explore the road which leads south of it and see what's there.

What's there is a narrow road, very rock strewn and rough but still very much Uralable.  It's also apparently a favorite of locals with their ATVs, side by sides, dirt bikes, mountain bikes, or just hikers. 

What I thought would be a solitary ride felt at times to be like grand central station!

So, I didn't go much further than where it junctions with FR5, then I turned back towards Montezuma and back to Keystone.

 Montezuma Road

Once I got back to Keystone, I got on US6 heading east towards Loveland Pass to see what kind of Fall Colors I could find this late in the season.

Here's some views of the mountain peaks visible from US6 as it traverses Loveland Pass.

 This is the closest point I rode towards the pass summit,

I could see it was crawling with cagers so elected not to 

go all the way to the summit this time.

 The mountains, majestic though they are, are not as

pretty to me, without a thick layer of white snow...

 A view of some of the 10 peaks and a portion of

the Keystone Ski Resort's ski runs.

Following pics of Fall Colors were taken as I descended down US6 back towards Keystone.  There really wasn't much in the way of Fall Colors as in other areas, but there were some spots:

Back in Keystone, I saw a pick up truck going up a hillside road which looked interesting.  The sign said it was the way to the local dump and a public firing range.  Interesting.

So I doubled back and got up to the top of the hillside, found the dump, skipped the dump and turned back to pose Scarlett along the edge of the cliff side.

 That's Buffalo Mountain and Red Peak in the background.

 from left to right:

Crystal Peak, Copper Mtn, Pacific Peak, Quandary and

Atlantic Peaks

left to right:

Peak 4,3, TenMile, and Peak 1

No clouds to speak of for tonight's sunset so no pics either.  I'll be packing up and going home tomorrow.  

Hope you enjoyed the last few postings and their Fall Colors.