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Buffalo Pass, Colorado
By PK | November 11, 2008
Colorado has many passes climbing over it’s multitude of mountains. My favorite still remains Rabbit Ear’s Pass, with the twin rock pinnacles sitting on top. But I love to explore new ones as well. Dalton and I often will search for new roads in which to travel and have yet to fail finding something new in which to be in awe whether it’s the views, the wildlife, or the road itself hanging on the edge of a cliff that catches our breath.
Buffalo Pass is north of Steamboat and travels across the Park Range towards Walden, Colorado. The gravel road is accessable by vehicle during the summer months. During our exploration of Buffalo Pass on the first day of November, we had to lock in our four-wheel drive as we neared the top. We had received very little snow in this area prior to our adventure even on the mountain tops, so I wouldn’t try this now.
We left Steamboat on CR 36 headed north and shortly turned onto CR 38 heading northeast to east towards Buffalo Pass. My eyes soon feasted on these snowcats.
The Steamboat Powdercats provide you with over 10,000 acres of snowcat skiing on Buffalo Pass. You can access their website here for more information.
As we began to climb the western slope of Buffalo Pass, the views of the Yampa Valley came into our sights. I couldn’t wait to reach the top. Steamboat is just visible resting at the bottom of the far mountain, Emerald Mountain.
My excitement increased the further we treked on our adventure, dreading the very words that Dalton might utter…’We have to turn around’. We had heard ‘words of wisdom’ from several friends that the road might not be passable. I crossed my fingers, hoping we would be able to make it over the pass.
We reached the entrance of Buffalo Pass Recreation Area. On this map, click to enlarge, is our route, the area trails, and the surrounding area. The Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area will be to our north as we cross over Buffalo Pass. It will enable us to see views of Mt. Zirkel that will be new to me. You can read about our previous trip to the Mount Zirkel Wilderness here.
The views are spectacular offering wide open viewing of the Yampa Valley. Did you know there was a curse? You can read about the Yampa Valley Curse here.
I crossed my fingers hoping we wouldn’t have to turn around. The roads were awful as we began our descent on the eastern slope. If we weren’t fighting slippery snow covered roads, we were battling muddy ones. I awaited on the edge of my seat, as far as my seat belt would allow me, to hear the dreaded words that we would have to turn back ending our adventure. I knew where the road would end once we descended from Buffalo Pass according to the map, but I wanted to see with my own eyes ‘the other side’.
Looking back towards Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area on the eastern side.
The road, thus far, consisted of switchbacks to eliminate too steep of grades climbing over the mountain pass. My enthusiasm rivals a child’s happiness when given a bag of her favorite sweet candy and increased considerably after a glimpse of ‘the other side’.
I grabbed the map and quickly began to ascertain as to what mountain range I was seeing. It’s the northern part of the Front Range. A little to the south on this range is the Rocky Mountain National Park, on the eastern side of the Front Range the land is flat although still with an elevation of over 5,000 feet. This Front Range, when approaching from the east, is the first of the Rocky Mountains that visitors see.
With wide-opened eyes, totally in awe, I gazed upon the valley below and the Front Range. I’ve traveled extensively throughout the continental United States, and never have I experienced such rugged, raw beauty as found in Colorado. Please take time to read the poetry by Susie Kerin found on the right column of my website. She writes so eloquently about Colorado and its pioneers.
More switchbacks as we continued our descent.
At the bottom and my first clear view of the Front Range. I snapped picture after picture, never tiring of capturing the beauty God created here in these mountains. If you climbed to the top, you could almost touch the clouds that hang overhead. The next time you go outside, stop and look up, now picture almost being in the clouds and you will have experienced just one moment of these magnificant mountains.
This coyote was running across the ranch land in the valley as we headed east towards Hwy 14. I’ve seen several since living here, have heard many, but this is the first time I’ve been able to capture one in my photography.
Along Hwy 14, Dalton stopped so I could snap this panoramic picture of the Front Range. You can tell by my other photographs that I use my zoom quite often.
This wide, expansive valley is called North Park, a high, sparsely populated basin in north central Colorado. This basin opens out northward into Wyoming. On the east side, it is rimmed by Medicine Bow Mountains (part of the Rockies) to the east, and to the south and west by the spine of the Rockies along the Continental Divide. As you can see in this photo, the primary economic activities in the valley are cattle ranching. On the western side is the Rabbit Ears Range, a spur of the Front Range, and connects the Front Range on the east with the Park Range and Gore Range on the west.
Mountains of the Rabbit Ears Range are Parkview Peak, Sheep Mountain, and Elk Mountain. Pictures of Elk Mountain, also called ‘The Sleeping Giant’, can be viewed in this article, ‘Discovering Northern Routt County, Colorado’. Traveling west along Hwy 14 will take you to State Hwy 40, and then heading west you will go over Rabbit Ear’s Pass and down into Steamboat Springs.
The summit of Rabbit Ears Peak is the weathered remains of a volcanic plug. When this volcano ceased activity, the molten material cooled and hardened into a shaft of granulate volcanic material bonded together with a reddish lava. To see additional photos of these majestic 100-foot rock pinnacles and see the views from the top, click on either of these past articles, ‘Four-Wheeling Rabbit Ear’s Mountain, Colorado‘ or ‘Hiking Rabbit Ear’s Pass‘.
When Dalton and I hiked and four-wheeled up to Rabbit Ear’s, I stood in the front and the back of the rock pinnacle on the left of the above picture. The views are incredible!
At the intersection of Hwy 14 and 40, you will cross the Continental Divide. There are three passes that cross the continental divide along Hwy 40. If you turn left here, you will cross Muddy Pass, turn right and you will cross Rabbit Ears Pass. The third pass is Berthoud Pass as you near Denver (to the left).
Muddy Pass is one of the lower crossings of the continental divide. It is rarely closed in winter and has a mild approach on both sides, with no switchbacks or tight spots, unlike Rabbit Ears Pass. Rabbit Ears Pass is significantly steeper on its western side (near Steamboat) than the eastern side. Rabbit Ears Pass receives a great deal of snow in the winter and is subject to regular short closures during heavy winter storms.
So like two pioneers in the midst of the Rocky Mountains, we seek and explore Colorado, with faith, fortitude and courage. Ahead of you in this photo is Steamboat Springs, nestled along the edges of the Park Mountain Range. Godspeed and God Bless as you and yours continue on your daily travels of life.
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Topics: Colorado |
November 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Hello PK,
I’ve stopped by here a few times, but didn’t see any posts, so I left. I scrolled down and had almost left again. I’m glad I kept on scrolling down.
May I ask why you bury your posts? Visitors who don’t know your layout will think as I had that all you have here are just promos and widgets.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your post. My family and I had travelled throughout the south west parts of Colorado ealy June of last year. We were all awed by the magnificent beauty of the Colorado mountains. I took lots of pictures as our vehicle was travelling at maximum speed. I posted some of them in my blog. My husband usually hunts up in the Elk Mountains. He filled his 2 tags of deer and 2 tags of antelope this year. He was not lucky for elk, but his buddy’s son got his bull elk.
Thanks for dropping me an Entrecard.
Tasha
November 11th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Absolutely stunning! Simply breathtaking. I can only imagine how magnificent it was to see in person! I’ll be in Estes this weekend and am very excited to get back in the mountains, even if for only a couple of days.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
A comprehesive, detailed account of you exciting dicoveries in this wild country. I love the powdercats, the wonderful landscape and that travelling at speed coyote. Pioneers is an appropriate word to use to sum up your experience.
Any horses planned in the future?
November 12th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Tasha, Thanks for stopping by and looking around. Colorado is a beautiful state. I’ve been to Durango, Silverton areas, and through Wolf Creek Pass, awesome scenery. I take a lot of my photos on the run also. If not, we’d be stopping every few minutes.
Not too many hunters bagging elk this year. I had heard there was a big kill last year due to the weather. Their numbers were depleted. It affected mule deer as well, but I still see lots of them.
Thanks for visiting.
PK
November 12th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Leigh,
Thanks for visiting again and dropping a comment. Hope you enjoy your weekend in Estes. I’m sure you’ll see lots of elk. I was so amazed when I was there to see them walking around town. Keep an eye on the weather, we’ve been getting sporadic snow making the roads awful to travel at times.
PK
November 12th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Yes, we are pioneers. I wonder if it would have been easier in the early days of Colorado when the west was still being won compared to now when the price of land has skyrocketed to prices the ordinary person cannot afford?
I miss my horses terribly. I think Dalton and I would love to have horses again some day after we buy some land. But right now, it’s just not in the picture. Boarding them are so expensive. Now that I live where there is snow, I would love to have a sleigh. Snowmobiling is fun, but there is a wistful appeal to sleighing.
Thanks for visiting, Martin.