460 or so miles for the day. Had a long lunch in Oklahoma City, so we lost a little more ride time than usual due to a long lunch. No pics for today. I’m posting some shots I took outside the tent at Molas Lake Camp after we woke up in 30 degr. yesterday.
Taken towards the east the night before
Left Molas Lake around 9:00 AM. Temp dropped to 30 degr overnight, so Lois’s tootsies got cold. Continued down 550 (Million Dollar Hwy) to Durango, where we ate breakfast.
After breakfast we stayed on 550 until hitting I40 in Albuquerque, NM. Then a straight shot to Vega, TX. In for the night at Days Inn. 496 miles for the day.
Left Silverton in the morning with about 40 degr. on the thermometer. The ride out to the park is just 9-10 miles, where we set up camp. This is truly a beautiful camping park.
Took quite a few shots, but no uploads for now. Have to do it later.
We decided to rent a Jeep for the excursion today. A good thing too, because where we went today were not at all suitable for our bikes. The “roads” looked like rock quarries, or packed up with snow. Just too rugged for two wheels.
But what a nice day it was. We started with a good breakfast, picked up the jeep, loaded it up with our camera gear and clothes, then started up from Silverton towards Animas Fork, Cinnnamon Pass and Engineer Pass.
The road started as pavement, changed to dirt, then changed to a rock pile. The jeep handled it all fine.
Towards Animas Forks
Animas Forks
Old mining town Animas Forks
Towards Cinnamon Pass
Headed to Engineer Pass
Then it was time for Clear Lake. We made our way down from Engineer all the way back to Silverton, then out of town on the other side, a bit north on 550, and we started to steep climb.
View on the climb up
Clear Lake
Headed back down
Last stop was to scope out our camp ground for tomorrow. Molas Lake Campground it is, and the scenery is,,,well, nice. We’re headed there tomorrow.
Molas Lake. We decided on a campsite across the lake from where I shot this.
We broke camp in a hurry after taking a peek at the weather radar. No breakfast, no coffee, just stuff and go. We didn’t have to wait long before the weather hit. Rain, wind and 40 degrees temp. Headed to Montrose on Hwy 50, the rain came down in sheets. Arriving in Montrose, we took refuge in a home style cooking restaurant, where we had a good breakfast and coffee.
The rain let up a little when we started down south on 550 (Million Dollar Highway). However, it just turned worse as we continued south. By the time we rode through Ouray, it rained hard again. Headed up Red Mountain between Ouray and SIlverton the temperature really dropped fast to about 33 degrees. Snow started showing up on the side of the road, and traffic slowed to a crawl through the hairpin turns up Red Mountain. There were quite a few other bikers on the road, and a some of them didn’t look like they were geared for high elevation mountain weather.
Arriving in Silverton, we didn’t waste any time finding a motel. The weather let up in the afternoon and turned sunny. Good time to do bike chain maintenance, wash clothes, and take a stroll in town hunting for BBQ.
Needless to say, we don’t have any pics. About 100 miles for the day. We’ll stay in Silverton for a couple a days.