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| Why not start the day off with a hearty breakfast? I haven't eaten at a Waffle House in years, but remember the greeting that you always receive upon entering and the nearly infinite ways to get hash browns. |
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Do you have one of those "Atomic Clocks"? If so, here's where the signal to for it comes from. This is where the National Institute of Standards and Technology transmits their WWVB signal from. |
| Probably much of the electrical energy that I use comes from the Platte River Power Authority's Rawhide Energy Station. This is one of the cleanest coal burning power plants in the nation. It's about seventeen miles north of where I work and I can easily see it on clear days. I've never seen any smoke coming from the stack. |
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On I-25, a few miles south
of the Wyoming border is this limestone formation on both sides of the
highway. The Carr Natural Fort used to be a rest stop, but a few years
back when they reconstructed the road, they took out the exit. It's
still accessible off of a side road. Reportedly, there was an Indian battle that took place here between the Crow and Blackfoot. Here is a link that I have found for the site with some more photos: http://www.wallpaperdave.com/fort.htm
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| Carr, Colorado is listed by some as a ghost town. However it still looks pretty inhabited to me. There are some dilapidated buildings around, but also what looks like a current post office. The second photo here apparently used to be a railroad ticket office. |
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More electrical power generation. These windmills owned by Xcel Energy are right next to the Wyoming border. Ponnequin Wind Facility |
| Here's a somewhat dated "Point of Interest" sign along US-85. I imagine that it has been here since before I-25 linked Denver and Cheyenne. The sugar beet industry is now miniscule to what it once was. |
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One last stop. Here's a
remnant of the Cold War. This site was once home to a Atlas ICBM.
This was the Atlas E11 site. E sites stored the missile in a horizontal
position and was raised into its launch position.
Here's a link to a decent website with plenty of info and pictures on the Atlas program: http://asuwlink.uwyo.edu/~jimkirk/atlas.html The site has been adopted by Colorado Engineering Experiment Station Inc., where scientists are performing gas flow research. |
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If you're unfamiliar with Google Earth, now's the time to become aquainted. Here's a static screen shot of my trek. Download Google Earth and install it, then click on the "View in Google Earth" icon below.
This is my first ride at Pawnee National Grasslands. I've heard things like it's just a crater with too many riders, so I've decided to go see it for myself. The Northern Colorado Trail Riders held their annual "Laugh-In Trials" last week. Dana doesn't want anyone to know that she took third place, so don't tell anyone.
The OHV area is only open from November to April and just recently opened. It's not too crowded today. The area is about 2.5 miles long by about a half a mile wide. It's like a mini canyon. My guess that its about 40 feet deep at its deepest point. Overall, interesting and fun terrain -- but nothing like the mountain trails we're used to. It's a great place to practice and gain confidence in some skills. This day wasn't too crowed. If the ATV's begun to encroach, just move along.
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A couple of shots from the entrance. It looked a bit intimidating at first, but overall it's pretty easy terrain. It's up to you where to go. It's prudent to scout a bit first before dropped over that ledge of taking on that climb or jump. |
| A couple shots of typical terrain. Craig and I find each other interesting enough to take a picture of each other simultaneously. |
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Steve and Dana tackling the same hill. We typically took this drop off from the other direction. What you don't see is a significant ledge below. You need plenty of speed to "pop" up it. |
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Steve on his KTM 450EXC -- it's such a sweet bike. Craig's DR650 in the foreground -- I don't know how it does it? |
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Yours truly coming back to earth. Steve took this shot and got it timed just right. |
| The "Canyons" - this is some of the easiest sections. Some of the gullies are really tight and narrow and twice as deep. The soil has been turned into talcum powder. Steve had just dumped it in the hole and is getting back to it. |
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Craig compiled a small video (4.65 MB) of me riding. It's a .avi file, so you'll need to view it with DivX or install the DivX codec.
| Last Update: October 22, 2008 | mooredan@suncup.net |
View in Google Earth
