254 Miles
Today was our last day on the road for this year. The planned highlight was to ride Cottonwood pass which is only open part of the year and does not have snow cleared in the winter.
Last night when we got any after a long day on the road, we did not really get to appreciate our Airbnb cabin. In the daylight it looked great with its faux 20th century gas station make up.
When we left in the morning, I could not get my GPS to head to Buena Vista over Cottonwood Pass. It wanted to take us back into town and out Buena via highway 50. So I turned it off and headed up the road towards Crested Butte thinking we’d see it sign-posted along the way. I was wrong and pretty soon we found ourselves in the middle of the Crested Butte farmers market heading out of town. The GPS still wanted to take us back to Gunnison and highway 50. So, I switched to my phone and it soon had us on our way.
It turned out that coming from the Crested Butte end of things there was some unpaved road to traverse. It looked to be about 3-4 miles so Mac agreed to do it as long as we turned around if it got gnarly.
The ride up from Almont through Taylor Canyon was beautiful. Full fall colors the whole way up to the Taylor Park reservoir.
The ride up Cottonwood Pass was a blast. I was expecting rough road and frost heaves given its lack of winter maintenance but it was perfect; smooth, wide, and barely any traffic in sight.
Like the early part of the day, the colors on the pass were in full force and we had to stop and take in the view from 12,000 feet. Apparently, it is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide.
After hitting the top of Cottonwood Pass, we dropped down the east side into Buena Vista where we stopped for a coffee and a pastry in town. From there we headed north out of town, past the Independence Pass turn-off and over to Leadville.
We did not stop in Leadville and headed straight down Colorado 91 through Copper Mountain with a quick rip along I-70 and into Frisco. We grabbed another coffee here to prep for the last leg of the journey and back to Highlands Ranch.
From Frisco, we headed past the south end of Lake Dillon and over Swan Mountain Road. From there we had a quick trip through Keystone then up and over Loveland Pass. I avoided I-70 as long as possible and got us into Idaho Springs mostly on side roads.
For as much coffee as we have drunk on this trip, we have not once been to a Starbucks. I feel quite proud to have always been able to find a local place although a couple of times, the swill we got had me regretting the decision. With that said, the BMW GS homing beacon final pulled Martyn back.
Mac was so overcome by the trip he had to get down on one knee for Martyn rolling in to Starbucks. After our quick stop at Starbucks, we just had a quick trip down I-70 and around C470 to wrap up the trip. I took the side roads and US40 through to Evergreen but after 12 days in the saddle, I think we were all just ready to get back and relax.
