A beautifully sunny yet cool day here in the great state of Colorado. My family and I headed out towards Roxborough State Park, located on the SW side of the Denver Metro Area for a little bit of hiking.
Temperatures were in the mid 50s on the ride out to the park, it was quite brisk but bearable. I'd neglected to put on my jacket liner you see, when we'd stopped for gas for both Yoshie and my wife's SUV.
We got some good parking at the park and we set off for the Fountain Valley Trail, which was rated the easiest hike of the trails open to the public. Please see the slideshow for some pictures of the cool looking rock formations one can see at this nearby local state park.
We were done with the hiking just short of Noon and I took my leave of the family, they headed home and I headed towards US 285 via the C-470 slab towards the settlement of Grant and the southern end of the Guanella Pass Road.
Yoshie rode along just fine, at or above traffic speed with no issues; her driveline thrumming smoothly below me as we climbed and descended the hilly portions of US285. She powered up the inclined portions of the highway with just a slight twist of the throttle and it was quite the pleasure to have that ability once again.
The beginning of the Guanella Pass Road near Grant is packed dirt with stretches of washboarded dirt and clusters of small rocks poking out from the dirt surface. Yoshie settled into a brisk but not fast pace as traffic was light and she make light work of the uneven terrain, potholes and loose sand and gravel accumulations.
After a few miles, the road becomes nicely paved with some rough spots all the way to the top of Guanella Pass. I made it to the top of the pass on or about 1:30 PM and parked Yoshie by the side of the road near the summit parking lot. There were a lot of people at the summit, all doing some hiking and generally enjoying the good weather. It was perhaps a bit "cool" at the top but nothing remarkably cold.
The second half of the slideshow has four pictures of the scenery visible from the Guanella Pass Summit Area.
I saw a few examples of Fall colors beginning to appear in a few locations, it's not here yet, Fall, but it's close!
I was back home by 4:00PM, so as you can see, both these attractions are really close by to the Denver Metro Area, and quite nice to take the family to or just ride by yourself.
Some of my previous riding involving Guanella Pass:
Ride Safe. Ride Aware.
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