Up and Down Bear Creek

The idea yesterday, with the beautifully sunny but not too warm weather we're experiencing here in Colorado, was to explore the small mesa-like hills to the south of where I now work. I can see the hills with their flat tops, hence mesa-like, from the third floor of the building where I am captive 8-9 hours every workday....glistening with snow in the distance, beckoning to me.

T'was not to be, the dirt road leading to them is fenced off and while the gate was open, large no trespassing signs kept me from further exploration.

So, you'll have to make do with pictures I took below along Bear Creek Rd and Bear Creek Canyon Road. I headed west on Lincoln Avenue until it gradually turns north and becomes University Blvd. Westward again on County Line rd finally got me to Santa Fe Blvd where one is forced to do a quick sprint on the E-470 super slab to the Wadsworth blvd exit.

I got off on Wadsworth and turned south till I could get on Deer Creek Canyon Rd and head into the foothills. Road conditions were pretty good, the areas in the shade still sported a "wet" look to them and accumulations of snow/ice and sand were in evidence. I've seen it worse while on two wheels and turned back, but today I was on Natasha and as I've said before, three wheels makes a difference!

Deer Creek Canyon road, while wonderfully twisty and turning in parts, generally does not lend itself to pictures as the rocky canyon walls are so close to the side of the road. I did manage to find a suitable spot for pictures though I had to turn around to get into position safely.

Rocky wall along Deer Creek Canyon

Once at Fenders, I took Turkey Creek North until it passes under the US285 highway. Winding my way further into the mountains on Turkey Creek, I arrived at the junction with CO73. I headed north on CO73 and eventually things started to look really familiar and I found myself in the town of Evergreen.

Foregoing the usual turn for CO74 and the Bergen Parkway, I instead turned onto Upper Bear Creek canyon road as I remembered a scenic location there from a past ride:

The view of the mountains one sees when clear of the town of Evergreen, along Upper Bear Creek Canyon Road.

After the above pictures, I had me a near encounter with about three deer on the road. Luckily they were in the other lane and as I tried to slow, they scampered off away from me and into the woods. Close one!

I continued on Bear Creek rd but it eventually dead-ends in a sparsely populated housing area where it must get real quiet at night. Didn't see but one person the whole time and the area was thickly forested.

Once back to Evergreen, I went east to start heading towards home. I was on CO67 which eventually becomes known as Bear Creek Canyon Rd. I've said it before but it bears (no pun intended) repeating, Bear Creek Canyon Rd is really twisty and on two wheels can be quite technical at speed. Being as I was on Natasha, I kept to the speed limits, making sure I didn't fly the chair by accident. I'd pull off where safe to let the cagers who wanted to go faster than the speed limit get by.

Sometimes, this having to let faster traffic go by would result in my being in a good spot for pictures:

Bear Creek Canyon Road

I am very glad that I was heading east on this road, as I saw a line of about 10-12 "rice boy" wannabe mario andrettis zooming along westward. They were going at a fast clip, closely following each other through the curves. I'd be very surprised if tonight's news doesn't mention a multi-car pileup in the mountains.

Got to Morrison and turned south to US285 which I took North into the Denver metro area. From that point on, it was highway, city streets and mild Sunday afternoon traffic all the way home.

I got 170km in today, with perhaps 160km yesterday. As I filled up my gas tank, I did the calculations and Natasha's MPG really climbed once I took the sidecar's windshield off. I went from 24 to 33 mpg! For a 70 year technology motorcycle with a 750cc engine, dragging the weight she does, that's pretty good!