Posted on 11/30/2012 10:20:23 AM PST by GSWarrior
Anyone up for a drive over Colorado's Loveland Pass?
Buckle up!
brought back fond memories (sort of)
I was born and raised in Colorado spent my summers and a lot of the winter in Georgetown. Skied Loveland and Arapahoe until I was old enough to get on the ski train to Winter Park (yeah I have skied all of those other ‘famous’ places too but your chops are made at Loveland)
You should try to ski down the backside of the national forest at nighttime during a full moon. Absolutely wonderful. Have a driver drop you off at the top on HWY 6. The car can then pick you up on one of the cutbacks below. Watch out for the creek near the bottom. Big rocks.
my brother lives and works in Breackenridge
Used to go night skiing at Keystone on Tuesday nights. Rode along with a guy whose idea of fun was to drive over Loveland at night.
Did that drive once with my wife. Just spectacular. Thanks for posting.
Another spectacular mountain pass in Colorado is on the Western Slope:
I camped out near the top in October 1981, before the snow hit, and the star gazing was spectacular!
One of my favorite memories. Thanks for reminding me.
Let it snow!
I ‘m thinking of starting a Scenic Drive ping list or something like that.
Holy crap, thats one shear cliff with no guard rails!!
And no shoulder to speak of either! Most of the mountain passes that I drove over in Colorado did not have guard rails.
Another spectacular drive is Trail Ridge Rd through Rocky Mountain National Park, no guardrails either!
I did Mt Evans,the highest paved road in North America,last June.It's 14,100 feet and at the top I thought I was gonna die.Going up we saw several guys on bicycles.I had a heart attack just watching them.And just like the road you mentioned...NO GUARD RAILS! Yikes!!
Independence Pass (highway 82) into Aspen is way narrower and scarier than Loveland Pass.
Lincon did an MKZ infomercial on Loveland pass (closed) with timed speed runs from the ski area parking lot to the summit. Hit 110 MPH in spots. Beat the quadra-slam Masarati, the Jaguar and the Mercedes, just barely got beat by the BMW.
Cool :) Not so much anymore but I also loved going to the mountains during the Summer. Sometimes I would drive the back-way between Breckenridge and Keystone and then go over the pass and stop at the top. One time I hiked uphill and it took a good while to get there but the view was great though.
Just to clarify “Not so much anymore” - meant I use to go to the mountains a lot but not much anymore due to work and family schedule.
Just to clarify “Not so much anymore” - meant I use to go to the mountains a lot but not much anymore due to work and family schedule.
My favorite memory of Loveland Pass is from the early 80’s when it used to be a stage on the Tour Of The Moon bike race.
The year I remember, it was hailing nickle size hail at the top of the pass, so the riders who were already wiped out by the brutal climb up the pass at much higher altitudes than most of them are used to then got beat up even more by the hail. [big grin]
Red Mountain Pass is on highway 550 that goes from Ouray to Silverton and then on south to Durango. Not one local drives that road in the winter. No guard rails, avalanches take them out, snow sheds in some places.
One year they had to wait for the spring thaw to locate one
of the snow plows that had been swept off the road.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.