Loveland CO Conclusion

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Picking up from the last post, we head for our afternoon brewery tour at New Belgium Brewing Company. We had only planned this tour yesterday but we were able to get tickets for the 90 minute brewery tour. It likely helps that they offer the tour 5 times a day. I’ll admit, I’m not positive I’ve ever had a New Belgium beer before. Their most famous beer is Fat Tire Amber Ale. But I’m sure I’ve seen their Voodoo Ranger IPA cans in stores if only because of the interesting logos. We arrived 20 minutes early and check in with the hostess so they know we are there. It’s a pretty busy place with many dozens of people around the half acre entrance area. There are many picnic tables and high bar tables and stools scattered around the area. There is also a large lawn area with many people just sitting in the grass enjoying a beer (or two).

Entrance Sign

When 3:30 rolled around, we all gathered in the lobby and met our tour guide. It was a decent sized group 20 to 25 people. Our tour guide was originally from North Carolina and had come to Colorado for a visit and fell in love with the place. She was definitely well suited for being a tour guide for the brewery and has been here for several years. We start out walking thru some of the production areas with huge stainless steel tanks and the elaborate plumbing running to them - not quite the same scale as those we saw on the Anheuser-Busch tour we took in St Louis a few weeks ago but still impressive.

Walking Thru Production Area

At our first stop, we are all given a glass of one of their beers and we are told about the history of the brewery which started in the late 1980’s.

New Belgium History Lesson

After the history lesson, we move on to a large bar/reception area. The tops of several of the tanks are sticking out of the floor and they each have glass windows to watch what is going on inside. Each tank has fancy mosaic tile borders around them with a wide variety of themes. We liked the UFO and aliens represented in one section.

Brewing Tanks

ET Likes Beer

Here we are given our second glass of another beer and we get a lesson on how beer is made. Small glass jars of the various ingredients are on hand so we can actually see what she is describing. We spend a bit of time in this area before moving out. During this stop, one of the group (not either of us) drops their glass of beer on the concrete floor. The glass scattered everywhere. While the guide was cleaning up the mess, it made me wonder why they don’t go with plastic cups since I’m sure this guy wasn’t the first to make this mistake.

Sample Ingredients

Explaining Beer Making

Next we head to a different portion of the factory. The hallway next to some of the testing areas. Not much was going on for a weekday afternoon but the facility looked impressive. There was a creative display showing the process of going from “grain to glass”.

Beer Making Machine

Beer Production

The next stop was a bit different. A large room with a wide variety of wooden barrels. More like what we might see on a bourbon tour. This area is where they experiment and produce some of their specialty beers. The third beer of the tour was one of their sour ales. I finished mine, but there were a lot of nearly full glasses left at this stop. I suppose this style of beer is an acquired taste.

Large Wooden Barrel

Back outside, we head to the bottling and canning portion of the brewery. On our way, we are offered another beer. This one in a bottle. We could either have it opened to drink on the remainder of the tour or leave it closed to take back home. We stop along the way for our tour guide to explain some more about the brewery. We happen to stop next to one of the many bicycles we have seen throughout the tour. It’s a common theme because the logo for Fat Tire Ale is a bike. Apparently after so many years as an employee, they are given that year’s specially designed bike. It sound like our guide would be getting hers in a year or so.

A Recent New Belgium Employee Bike

Once inside the bottling plant, we were met with a quiet production line and not a single worker to be seen. Our guide wasn’t happy but did her best to explain what we should be seeing. Without any bottles on the conveyor belts, it was hard to imagine. The next stop was the canning line. She was positive it would be running. It wasn’t! At least by now we had a bit of a buzz going. Our guide was partaking in beers along the way, but it wasn’t clear how many tours she gives in a day. If it is more than one, it could be the reason she enjoys her job so much. The tour ends with a spiral slide like one you might see in a playground. It is optional but we give it a try. I put the camera in video mode and hoped for an interesting clip. It turned out the spiral was rather tight and my long legs didn’t permit me to slide smoothly and the video I got reflected this problem. This was a wonderful tour and well worth the $10 per person admission charge. It reminded us of the one we did several years ago at the Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma California. The tours have very similar vibes.

Idle Bottling Line

Bottle Artwork

Idle Canning Line

Can Chandelier

Having only a couple more days left at this stop in Loveland, we really wanted to get back to Rocky Mountain National Park for a real hike. Many of the ones in the Bear Lake Corridor were still listed as snow covered so we picked a different area at slightly lower elevation. Deer Mountain Trail is listed as a 6 mile out and back hike to the top of said mountain. It does have a 1400 foot elevation gain and finishes at just over 10,000 feet so it won’t be an easy hike for us but it sounded quite nice. We got an reasonably early start, made the hour drive to the trailhead and were on our way around 10 AM. It was a crowded place and we needed to park a bit further from the trailhead but at least there was a parking spot to be had. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be the case an hour or so later. Even at the start of the trail, the views are gorgeous.

View Along Deer Mountain Trail

Snow Capped Mountains

The weather started out perfect and was forecast to be nice. We enjoyed the hike and the trail was in great shape. The trail is a mixture of woods and open areas. As we climbed, the views got even better of some of the snow capped mountains to the south. After the first mile or so, the switchbacks start and last for about a mile before the terrain starts to level out. It was in these switchbacks where we came across some snow in well shaded areas above ~9500 feet. None of the snow covered trail sections were too difficult but we were careful and were glad we had our hiking sticks.

Rocky Switchback

Snow Section of Trail

At the 2.8 mile point is a trail intersection. Fortunately a sign for the summit kept us going the right way. It was in this last quarter mile part of the trail where the wind was really picking up. Even in the thick woods, it was clear a storm was approaching. So much for the weather forecast. There was even more snow along this stretch and it was rather steep so it was slow going. We made it to the top and the wind was that much more intense now that we were out of the shelter of the woods. We only got a few raindrops but it was clear there were nearby areas receiving heavier rains. We lucked out and could more or less enjoy the views as the winds began to die down.

Another View along Trail

This Way to Summit

View from Summit of Deer Mountain

View of Estes Park and Lake Estes

View of the Summit

We enjoyed a snack before heading back down. There were a fair number of others coming and going from the top of the mountain. Many would ask for help with pictures to prove their accomplishment. We decided to start outer journey back down instead of becoming the resident Deer Mountain photographer. The walk back down was much easier. Others that were still heading up would ask the inevitable question “how much further?”.

Snack Break Spot with a View

Storm Clouds Approaching

Last Patch of Snow on Way Down

It was clear to us that we weren’t in the clear from the nearby storms, so we hustled as best we could. We were just about through the last of the switchbacks when it started to sprinkle enough that I put my camera in the dry bag I carry for just such a situation. Being named Deer Mountain, we hadn’t spotted any of them until the meadow area about half mile from the trailhead. Just a few run of the mill deer but it was their mountain! We made it back to the car without getting too wet. This was a very enjoyable hike and worth the effort.

Ominous View

Deer on Deer Mountain

We ate the sandwiches we had left in the cooler before deciding our next move. We had not visited the Fall River portion of RMNP yet so we decided to head that direction out of the park. We first head to  the Alluvial Fan Falls. It is located just before the start of Old Fall River Road. When we were there, this one way ~10 mile primitive road was closed and typically doesn’t open until late June or early July. That drive would be something we would likely enjoy but our timing wasn’t right. We did the short walk up to the falls. They were okay but nothing real special.

Alluvial Fan Falls

Closeup of Falls

Heading back towards the Fall River Visitor Center, we make a quick stop at a spot known for spotting bighorn sheep - fittingly Sheep Lakes. Of course as we pulled into the lot, the skies opened up and the rain was quite intense. There were several volunteers there that there to answer questions and use spotting scopes to see potential sheep, but they all scurried into the small shed or their vehicles to wait the rain out. After several minutes the rain passed by and we were able to get out and look around. No sheep to be seen but there was a herd of elk grazing in the field about half mile down along the park road.

Sheep Lakes

Herd of Elk from Sheep Lakes Parking

Herd of Elk as Driving By

One last stop was at the Fall River Visitor Center. It wasn’t open much longer for the day but we got a chance to look around at some of the displays. It turned out to be a rather long but fun day in RMNP until we can come back in late June when we are on the west side of the park.

Fall River Visitor Center

Lovely Lamp in Visitor Center

We had noticed that there are dozens of park like places in this part of Colorado that are either named “fill in the blank Open Space” or “your name here Natural Area”. They appeared to be owned by the local communities or municipalities and each seemed to have its own rules. On our last full day, we headed over to Prairie Ridge Natural Area, just to the west of Boyd Lake, with our bikes hoping to get in a bike ride. Even though the website stated biking is permitted, the sign at the trailhead says no bikes. We drove a mile or so further north to Coyote Ridge Natural Area and found this one permits biking. It was a rather warm and sunny day, and there is a rather large ridge with nearly 600 feet of elevation gain in its two miles out.

Starting Out Coyote Ridge Trail

The trail starts out as a reasonably good gravel service road and doesn’t have too much elevation change in the first half mile. The next half mile has a decent climb that isn’t easy for us. There is some sort of cabin at the end of the service road and then the trail continues but as a single track. Chris decides to take advantage of the chair on the covered porch of the cabin and relax in the shade and gives me permission to continue on.

Approaching a Hogback

The terrain in this area has very interesting rock formations. Called hogbacks, the uplifted layers of earth jut out and form a ridge or series of small hills. It’s the beginning of the foothills for the Rockies. I found the steep gravel trail to be tough to ride. Being several hundred feet over a mile high didn’t help in my breathing. It took my time, walking the bike at points and riding where possible with frequent stops to catch my breath.

A Ridge Above

Made it Halfway Up Trail on Left

I was passed during a couple of my stops by both a hiker and another mountain biker. They both looked to be in their 20’s and likely live nearby so are both acclimated to the thin air and much younger than me. I intended to get to the top of the ridge but at about the 1.6 mile mark I decided that the rocky conditions were such that not only would I need to walk the bike up to the top, I would likely need to walk my bike back down that portion. I turned back to find Chris and we had an easier ride back to the car.

Looking to the Parking Area and Points East

Next stop will be at Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora Colorado about 10 miles southeast of Denver for a two week stay.