Biking and Jeeping over Shrine Pass

One of our goals this summer was to take Shrine Pass Road from the top of Vail Pass over to the base of Mt. Holy Cross - we've been seeing the Holy Cross from all over Summit County for the past several years and wanted to mountain bike across the road that was built specifically for viewing the Holy Cross.  It was another beautiful day for mountain biking, here's the first view we had of the Holy Cross.

  We rode as far as the biking trail map suggested (even though the road and trail were still in pretty good condition), then had a quick snack and pedaled back to the Jeep parked atop Vail Pass.  Still being pretty early in the day, we decided to strap the bikes back on the Jeep and see how far we could make it in the Jeep on the same trail we had just turned around on.  Just past the place where we had turned around on with the bikes, we came to a clearing where we could see Belle's Cabin which sits at the top of Earl's Bowl at Vail Ski Area.  We were at this same cabin back in April while taking a ski break.

Another 1/2 mile and we hit paydirt - a wide open clearing with the most spectacular views of Mt Holy Cross.  We parked the Jeep, had a picnic lunch, then just enjoyed mother nature's beauty.

Pretty spectacular views of Mt Holy Cross!  It's also a fourteener, but well beyond our capabilities for hiking/climbing.

There's Mt Holy Cross right above the top of the Jeep.  After our break, our trek continued for another several miles on a Jeep trail (which took several hours), then we finally made it to Redcliff and eventually completed the day's loop by going through Leadville and back to Keystone via Copper Mountain.  Another awesome day in Summit County!