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.
Very good day today with decent weather. Departed Glennwood Springs, CO and headed up Hwy 82 where the goal was to reach Aspen, Independence Pass and The Twin Lakes beyond. Aspen looked kind of like an alpine town./ Plenty of tourists holed up here. We, however, tore right through without stopping, and climbed up the narrowing, scenic road up to Independence. Temperature dropped as we climbed up, and reached a low of about 34 on top of the pass. Snow was scattered all around, and the fog hung low. We met two other riders on Gold Wings and exchanged stories and weather conditions. At about 12100 feet, this place feels surreal.
Road up to Independence
At the pass
The ride down on the south-east side of Independence was gorgeous. Didn’t stop for pics though. We followed 82 passed Twin Lakes and headed south on 24 to Buena Vista. We planned to have lunch here, but couldn’t find anything, so we continued up toward Cottonwood Pass. It was still overcast as we started the climb, and of course the temp dropped drastically. Beautiful views, and terrific road.
Top of Cottonwood Pass
Then the miles and miles of dirt road that awaits us on the other side of the pass. Perfect…
In the middle of nowhere, this little place shows up. Taylor Trading Post close to Taylor Lake.
They even have gas. Great. No food. Lunch has to wait. We hit up the bathroom, ate some snacks and continued the hunt for lunch. 20 miles later, we found a pristine fishing’ lodge with a restaurant along Gunnison River. Perfect. Chicken wraps for lunch. But it was raining, which put a little damper on the fun.
We decided to continue, this time hunting for a spot for our castle. We finally found it on the west side of Gunnison on the shores of Blue Mesa Reservoir. We set up camp, started a good camp fire, and…..just as we had a good roaring fire going, the rain start again. Time to dive into the tent for the night. About 200 miles with fantastic view today.
190 or so miles for the day. Felt much better after eating a good breakfast. Broke camp and followed Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway 128 that runs along Colorado river for miles and miles, which is why its called The River Road by the natives.
We eventually hit I70 East in Utah and continued on into Colorado down to Grand Junction, following I70 to Glennwood Springs, where called it the day.
Shots from Arches NP.
Arches NP
stopping as we hit the CO border
Along Scenic Utah 128.
