Day 116 - High Country Hollrah Hootenanny

This weekend we traveled from Steamboat to the Winter Park area where we have stayed in the past. It was the scene of our friends Rosie and Paul's 50th Anniversary. They celebrated in grand style with nearly 200 family and friends from all over the country. What an amazing tribute to some of the finest folks on the planet. Paul has been my good buddy for almost 40 years; we've shared lots of great times. As a matter of fact, we've ridden motorcycles together for most of those years. Happy Anniversary Rosie and Paul!!

Devil's Thumb Lodge - the gorgeous scene of the 50th Anniversary Extravaganza!

Paul and Rosie's little event commanded almost all available rooms in the Winter Park area. Since we were only 90 miles away in Steamboat, we thought we'd just travel back and forth for the various events of the weekend. Rosie would have nothing of it; and...as if she had nothing better to do, she made arrangements for us to stay with some friends in their immediate neighborhood. We must express our gratitude to Rosie and our host and hostess, Mike and Cindy for opening up their home to us. 

With little on the docket for Saturday morning, Lizzy and I climbed into Jethro the Jeep and headed up to Corona Pass (AKA Rollins Pass depending upon which map you read). It's located above and just southeast of Winter Park. Paul and I rode up there last year without the girls; I was anxious for Lizzy to see the countryside from off-road and almost 12K feet.

This is Jethro...he insists we refer to him by name

Heading up to the pass

Peering at the peaks

The road to the top is a mix of gravel, washboard, potholes, muddy dips, and rocky terrain. It's not a place you'd think of taking the family car. Boy, were we wrong! In our four hours on the mountain we encountered 80-100 adventurers and 50+/- vehicles of every possible ilk. Ours was one of three Wranglers. Probably half the vehicles were 4wd trucks. The rest were every brand of SUV imaginable. Throw in about a dozen OHV's and 1/2 dozen mountain bikes and you've run the gamut. Even the rocky mountain passes are suffering from traffic. Mighty small planet these days. Hard to escape the madding crowds.

Worth the effort to get to the top.

Plenty to see

Jethro, strutting his stuff

With a big evening ahead of us back at Devil's Thumb, we reluctantly headed back down the mountain. Here are a couple of scenes looking back at Winer Park on the return trip. It was a glorious day and a great weekend.