Berthoud Pass and Back Home

Once the temperature outside reached 50°F, I headed off on Yagi, my TW200 towards Berthoud Pass.

The pass was only 5 miles away but a steep climb at times on US 40 as on heads towards Winter Park.

It's paved highway so no real challenge, mind you.

Here's the view from near the summit sign, looking North.

Heading back down:

I decided to check out the road to Urad Valley on the way back to Jones Pass Road.

The valley is home to the Henderson Mine Complex where Molybdenum was and apparently is mined till this day.

It's also home to the Urad SWA (State Wildlife Area) and Urad Lake.

I rode Yagi to the end, where the trailhead parking into the SWA is located.  

It's a pretty rough 3 miles or so but the lake seemed nice:

The lake appears to be on private property owned by the Henderson Mine company.

I dimly recall a large reclamation effort resulted in the current valley conditions and the creation of the SWA.

I returned to camp and had an early lunch.

The weather clouded over again and I decided might as well head home a day early.  The weather was actually nicer at home you see.

So I broke camp and was home by 4pm or so.  The Jones Pass Road has several small campsite; though accessing them can be tricky.  

Saw a couple of RV sites even further up from where I camped, bet it gets cold at night....