A Drive to North America's Highest Paved Road....Mount Blue Sky

Martha and I drove the 2014 Honda CR-V to check out Mount Blue Sky, formerly known as Mount Evans.  Martha had read somewhere that the road would be shut down all of 2025 for road repairs so a visit was in order.

Mount Evans, the old name was chosen to recognize Colorado's second  Territorial Governor: John Evans.  He was the one who authorized  the Sand Creek Indian Massacre.  The name was changed in September of 2023.  More info here: LINK

Blue Sky apparently honors both the Arapaho Tribe which refer to themselves as the Blue Sky People and the Cheyenne Tribe which has an annual Renewal of Life Ceremony called Blue Sky.

The weather was mostly cloudy and cool, especially at 14,000 feet, where the car's thermometer reported a brisk 43°F with strong breezes.

We figured it was a good omen when we spotted this local while approaching the summit's parking lot:

photo by Martha

We found a spot for the CR-V with no problems, the reservation system in place nowadays keeping the crowding conditions down.

A couple of selfies while we wandered about the "castle", the remnants of a restaurant from back in the 40s and which burned down in 1979.

Behind us is the tippy top of Mount Blue Sky.

You can hike it, we skipped it.

Castle remnants on the left, the observatory on right

photo by Martha

As we exited the ruins of the "castle", there were more locals posing for us tourists:

Here's some marmots we saw as we drove down from the summit towards Summit Lake:

At Summit Lake, we walked a short distance to check out the sights:

Yep, more Marmots, right on the trail!

photo by Martha

On the way further down:

photo by Martha

At one of the hairpin turn's apex

After a quick sack lunch in the Summit Lake parking lot we retraced our way back down the mountain to CO Hwy 103.  We would end up taking Witter Gulch Road instead of I-70 back towards the Metro Denver area.  Slower route but more scenic.

A good day of driving and spending time together.  

Home from the Pawnee National Grasslands

Returned home yesterday under very hot sunny conditions, even with temperatures reported below 80s, it felt quite warm.

Some of the last pics of the buttes:

Found another nice campsite, this one overlooking parts of the trail that lead one to the Pawnee Buttes:

Not much riding got done after the above ride.  Just staying out of the sun mostly as things warmed up on Friday.  Could be because its the start of the school season but there was only one camper out here besides me.  Later a couple of yahoos showed up in the late afternoon and apparently slept in their trucks.

Last view as I left on Saturday morning

I liked this area for the dispersion of the campsites.  Very quiet, no OHV traffic seen or heard.  The second site I stayed at was the best, but the last site I found shows promise if I ever go there again.

Hiking to the Pawnee Buttes and Changing Campsites

 Wednesday, August 14

This morning I spent about three hours or so hiking from the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead over to the buttes themselves.  Almost 4.5 miles round trip, possibly a bit more as I made a detour on the way back to check out another rock formation.

It was cool when I started out at 8:27 but it warmed quickly once the clouds disappeared!  Still, I took it slow and managed to not break too much of a sweat.

West Pawnee Butte

East Pawnee Butte

Pawnee Buttes

The Buttes from the rock formation I 

detoured onto on the way back.

Rest of the day was spent recovering/resting from the hiking.  I am getting more and more out of shape it seems.  The rains tonight were not bad but the wind storm was quite something!  I had to once again bring in the slide out in order to minimize the rocking done by the VRRV!

The sunset was not much due to rain storms.  I zoomed in on the light after the sun set as it backlit the distant wind powered generators:

Thursday, August 15

A much calmer and sunny day today!  The winds in the morning weren't too strong and by the afternoon had settled down into the single digits.

After breakfast, I decided I'd had enough of the winds and rains endemic apparently to the spot I camped on.  I decided to try my luck at a site which seems more protected from the winds as it lies in a small shallow bowl.  

As you can see, the site has a pretty good view of the buttes.

Something happened when I returned from a ride, which emphasizes the wisdom of turning off the RV's water pump when not at camp.  I turned on the water pump upon returning and the dang hot water valve popped off and water started pouring out!

I'd just replaced the darn faucet too, I think two camping trips ago.  Damn plastic crap.

As you can see, I bound the cracked cap which holds the valve in place, cut off the hot water feed and it's holding so far.  A new and hopefully more robust faucet is inbound via Amazon.

I basically lazed about the campsite, reading books and relaxing.  Some short rides to see what sites were occupied, stuff like that, only one other camper found!

I rode out on Yagi as the sun was nearing the horizon, used a nearby wind vane for these shots:

I'll be curious to see if the place fills up as the weekend approaches.  I talked to a Forest Ranger who stopped by the camp to advise there's a fire ban in effect.  He too was surprised to find the lack of campers but he thought it might fill up for the weekend.

Boondocking in the Pawnee National Grasslands

 Monday, August 12

After an appointment with the VA I decided to not wait till tomorrow to drive the VRRV with Yagi onboard to the Pawnee National Grasslands for some boondocking.

I should have waited.

I got to the area just in time for rain to start.  I found a spot, not the optimal one which was taken but good enough.  As I was setting up, the weather got worse and it turns out I'd shown up during the tail end of a Tornado Warning!

The blue dot is my campsite location

Luckily, it was just wind and rain for me.  I was fortunate the bad weather missed me to the south.

Tuesday, August 13

Better weather this morning, sunny and warm but not too hot.

The sunrise wasn't too bad:

A view of the campsite I ended up on:

I rode out on Yagi, my TW200, to check out the Pawnee Buttes in mid-morning light:

After a pretty good nap, the weather turned and I watched incoming thunderstorm clouds approach from the west:

Managed to get through the severe thunderstorm warnings with no issues or damage.  Once again, I was fortunate to skirt the really bad stuff.

During the "Golden Hour", after the skies had cleared once the thunderheads moved east, another ride with Yagi:

Tonight's sunset was pretty good:

Lane Filtering Now Legal in Colorado

As of today, lane filtering is legal in Colorado: LINK

Well, this ought to be interesting....I like the concept of being able to filter and avoid being the "meat sandwich" between two cars but.....

Will cagers know it's now legal for motorcycle riders to lane filter?  I foresee a period of road rage by cagers who thinks motorcyclists are "breaking the law" or "cutting in line".

I think I'll wait a while and continue maintaining rearwards vigilance and keeping an escape lane for now.

These are the five rules of lane filtering according to the Colorado State Patrol.

1. The vehicles a rider wants to pass must be at a complete stop
2. The lane must be wide enough to fit both the car and the motorcycle
3. The motorcycle must move at 15 mph or less while passing
4. The rider must pass safely and control the motorcycle
5. The rider must pass on the left and not enter the oncoming lane of traffic

Lazy Last Days Boondocking near Buena Vista, CO

Hope you had a Happy Colorado Day!

Just hung out at the campsite the last two days, some minor chores related to the VRRV but basically just reading and reeling.  I did do a ride with Yagi yesterday to see how many rigs had shown up, only three.  

Reeling: wasting one's time looking at reels on Facebook.  

It was hot today, it hit 90°F today, but still better than the 96°F that I saw for the Denver Metro cesspool.  Unfortunately, tomorrow's high there will be 93°F and I'll be returning to my home for the weekend.

There were more camping rigs and cars headed to the dispersed camping area on CR376.  The best days to hit this area, it seems, are Tuesday/Wednesday in order to maximize your choices of campsites.

It finally cooled off after 6:30 PM or so while I cooked and ate dinner.  By 7:30 PM I was heading out on Yagi, my TW200, to catch the last sunset for this particular location and camping trip.

I went to what I call Sunset Point.  It's in a wide group area camp spot designated 315B.  Great views, but there were three rigs camping there so it's a popular location.

The sunset was pretty good, a nice sendoff for me.