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.
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!
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.
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]
My parents are from Colorado: mom from a small town south of Steamboat, dad from Denver. Dad's parents bought a small cabin on Mt Evans back in the late 30's. It is still there and still in the family! I have such fond memories of being at "the cabin" for day trips.
Though we are all on the east coast now (and dad passed away), a piece of my heart remains in Colorado.