Gone, Way Long Gone: High Mountain Day

We decided to get back up into the mountains today. A little day trip to Mount Evans seemed like just the thing.

The Mount Evans Scenic Byway is the highest paved road in North America. You can drive all the way up to the 14,264-foot summit! That's the only way I'm going to make it to the top of a 14'er on this trip. But silly us ... we didn’t think to check the status of the road. It’s been closed for the entire 2020 season, Memorial Day to Labor Day, due to Covid-19 concerns. Apparently, there is no easy way to control the number of people who are likely to gather up there.

Still, it was a lovely day to drive the scenic Squaw Pass Road (gateway to the Mount Evans road). We stopped at Echo Lake and took a short walk on the Chicago Lakes trail... just far enough to get a good view, taking Sue’s worn out hip into consideration. Then we drove to the turnoff to Mt Evans and had lunch, delicious pulled pork sandwiches from a food truck there. Honestly, it rivaled our good old NC pork bbq!

We continued on, over Juniper Pass (elevation 11,020) and Squaw Pass (elevation 9,790'). We stopped at a lot of turn outs to enjoy the scenery. Let me tell you, there were some breathtaking mountain panoramas!

We were both worn out by the time we returned to our camp site at St. Vrains State Park. A nap was essential.

Later, we roused ourselves and went for a nice long bike ride ... from the campground, under the interstate, onto a paved “sidewalk” trail, around a big holding pond, back to the campground, and all around its ponds. Ha ha! I don’t know why, but when riding with Rouse it seems we inevitably end up someplace we’re not supposed to be! But, no worries. We saw so much bird life ... American white pelicans, ring-billed gulls, osprey, red-tailed hawk, cormorants, a mature bald eagle, a great egret, a small flock of white faced ibis flying over, canada geese amassing for the night in the wind shadow.

But the real show began as the sun was getting low. We witnessed thousands of blackbirds coming in to roost in the cattails... mini murmurations of Brewer’s blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds, and yellow-headed blackbirds. They just kept coming. What a sight! Some darted directly into the cattails. Others swooped into the surrounding cottonwoods. The air was filled with their incessant chatter. In the middle of the marsh, there was a lone sentry perched on a single cattail for the entire half-hour we observed. Was this his "job", or was he just enjoying the nightly return of his neighbors?

We headed back to the campsite, watching the colors of the sunset become more and more vibrant. We settled into the camper and had a nice supper... flavorful meatloaf and citrusy carrots provided by Susanna and her Back to Basics Kitchen, plus our leftover Indian Buffet rice. Day is done.