As distance between these two towns is only 70 miles or so we decided to stay in Boulder until lunch which we would have with our daughter Cristina, and leave Boulder after lunch.
Spent morning relaxing by the pool catching up with emails and news around the world.
We had lunch in a small Thai restaurant as Cristina loves Asian food.
At 3pm we were ready and left Boulder.
We rode West on Boulder Canyon (Highway 119) to Nederland and then joined the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway (Highways 72 and 7) towards Estes Park.
We arrived at Estes Park and went to our hotel for the next couple of nights, dropped off most our our luggage and also took some time to enjoy the little river that borders our room.
As we had arrived with plenty of sunlight left we and made our way to the Rocky Mountain National Park.
We entered the park on Highway 34 and made our way up the mountain on Trail Ridge Road which is the highest continuos paved road in the United States.
The road crosses the Continental Divide at Milner Pass (elev. 10,758 ft or 3,279 m) and reaches a maximum elevation of 12,183 ft (3,713 m), near Fall River Pass (elev. 11,796 ft or 3,595 m). Near the highest point on the road is another pass, Iceberg Pass (elev. 11,827 ft or 3,605 m).
There was still lots of snow/ice on the mountain and temperature which was at 77F when we entered the park went all the way down to 45F by the time we reached the peak. There was also a strong gusty wind blowing us into the mountain that made the ride interesting. There was very little traffic on the roads and the views were amazing.
Unfortunately there was a number of strong fires that were raging by Grand Lake and you could see the smoke in the air.
There was also water on the road in different places as the snow/ice is melting down and the water is making its way to the valleys.
We saw quite a lot of game in the park and as we were rounding a corner encountered a herd of elk that allowed us to get very close and we were able to take some great pictures.
When we arrived back at Estes Park the sun was setting and was getting dark so we decided to go directly to dinner which we had at The Waipiti Pub.
We then rode back to our cabin, opened the window and enjoyed the sound of the stream as we fell asleep after another great day.
Click HERE for all the pics for Day 11
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