Rocky Mountain high in Colorado - last day of our trip home

 We started today in far northwestern Colorado, in Rangely, and had an absolutely fabulous ride south to our home in southwestern Colorado. Today's route showcases dry, desert landscapes with high rocky cliffs and mesas, ranch land that reaches to the horizon, and the craggy, high Rocky Mountain peaks. It's all Colorado!

We started on Colorado Route 139 south from Rangely on part of the Dinosaur Diamond loop that showcases dinosaur fossils and museums.

The begining of Route 139 is also part of the Canyon Pintado National Historic District with 8 different easily accessible archeological sites with rock art from the Fremont and Ute cultures, plus hundreds more sites in the >16,000 acre public lands. We've ridden this road before and never tire of the quiet, harsh landscape.

As we continued south on CO 139 we started to twist and climb up 8205' Douglas Pass in the Book Cliffs. It's a gorgeous route with forested mountain views as well as the rocky cliffs.

As we descended down from Douglas Pass we stopped due to cattle in the road. We've seen 'open range - loose cattle' signs on many of the roads during this trip, and today was the first time we actually saw any cattle.

They must love this area because each time we've been on this road, we've stopped due to cattle - once a big herd that required 2 pick-up trucks to gently move them along.

As we continued south and closer to Grand Junction, the landscape changed again to dry, scrubby land with rocky cliffs.

We wound our way through the traffic in Grand Junction, the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers and a large regional population center, before heading east on US 50 - a 4-lane divided highway with desert dry land, cliffs in the distance, and lots of light industry and commercial buildings.

It's not one of our favorite roads, but it serves a purpose bridging CO 139 and US 550 east - both are fantastic motorcycle roads. We turned onto 550 East in Montrose and were excited to see the tall, craggy San Juan mountain range in the Rockies as we rode through the stupendous Uncompahgre Valley 

US 550 East runs through Ridgway and then Ouray one of the most beautiful settings for a small mountain town that we've ever been to.

Even more motorcycle fun starts when leaving Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway, a 25-mile jaw-dropping, not-for-the-faint-of-heart stretch of 550 from Ouray to Silverton with amazing steep drop-offs, no guard rails, and gorgeous mountain views at every twisty turn. This stretch of road was originally constructed as a wagon trail to support mining in this area and was paved in the 1920's. It didn't actually cost one million dollars to build - but the views are definitely worth more than $1,000,000!

We were incredibly lucky today to have very little traffic in front of us which allowed Mike to have fun zooming through the hair-pin turns. We crossed Red Mountain Pass at 11,018' and then after we passed Silverton crossed two more passes:  Molas at 10,910' and Coal Bank at 10,610'. The road still has hairpin turns and lots of climbing and descending along curves but no steep dropoffs. The views open up into high valleys with the mountains dominating everything.

US 550 drops down into Durango, another historic mountain mining town and less than 2 hours from home. We drive US 160 between Durango and Pagosa Springs, and then US 84 to our home in Chromo often, yet the Rocky Mountain views never cease to impress us.

We rode 342 miles today on our 2412 mile trip to Flathead Lake, Montana for a long weekend with our kids. We almost decided against riding the motorcycle due to hot weather and threat of wildfires, but everything worked out in our favor and we enjoyed riding new roads, revisiting familiar roads, and taking in everything riding on a motorcycle provides - sights, smells, sunlight and wind in our face, and meeting friendly people. Wave when you see us on the road!

Riding the BMW through 4 Western States in one day: Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado

 We started today a bit earlier to try and beat the mid-90 degree temperatures forecast for today, which meant the temperature dipped down into the high 40's at the beginning of our ride, then quickly got warmer when we rode into sunny areas.

We spent the night in Afton, Wyoming that boasts the largest arch made of elk horns in the US.

We rode US 89 South over the Salt River Pass at 7630' on the Continental Divide between the Gannett Hills and the Salt River Range, enjoying the mountain views.

US 89 jogs a bit into Idaho, and then re-entered Wyoming and turned south on WY 61 through a wide ranching valley as we joined US 30/WY 89. There was almost no traffic and we enjoyed zooming along the 2-lane highway by ourselves.

We turned south on US 189 for a short distance before continuing on WY 412 East, passing ranches, large mining operations, and lots of snow fences to remind us that winter can be fierce in this area.

WY 412 became WY 414 in Mountain View, and then the same road became UT 43 after we crossed the state line, riding by buttes that reminded us of Arizona landscapes, and then distant mountains.

In Manila we turned southeast onto UT 44 which climbs, twists, sweeps and then descends through Flaming Gorge, named by John Wesley Powell in 1869 for the red sandstone cliffs and today home to a  91-mile long reservoir on the Green River. The reservoir is at about 70% of it's full capacity which is quite full by today's dry standards. It's such a fun motorcycle ride that we enjoyed riding today from north to south; last week on our way to Montana we rode in the opposite direction on the more eastern side of the Gorge on US 191.

 

We continued south on US 191, another sweeping, curving road that is perfect for the BMW. We rode past another, smaller reservoir - the Steinaker Reservoir that stores runoff water from Ashley Creek to irrigate the agriculture in the valley.

We stopped for lunch in Vernal, Utah and turned onto US 40 south/east. This is part of the 512 mile Dinosaur Diamond scenic byway route in Utah and northwest Colorado that provides access to many significant dinosaur fossils and museums. The landscape is breathtaking and well worth venturing to this remote part of the West.

We rode into Colorado, the last of four states for today and then turned onto CO 64 East in the town of Dinosaur, still part of the Dinosaur Diamond scenic byway. The town was first known as Baxter Springs, then Artesia (to promote water in the area) and finally in 1966 changed it's name again to Dinosaur.

We are stopping for the day in Rangely, CO just 13 miles from the Utah border.

We rode 300 miles today, ending with temperatures right at 90 degrees - perfect to enjoy ice cream before we checked into the air conditioned motel. Tomorrow is the last day of this trip, winding our way southeast through Colorado on some of our favorite mountain roads in the state.

Rivers, mountains and wide valleys riding from Idaho to Wyoming

 We started today in Salmon, ID  and started riding south on US 93 along the Salmon River. This part of US 93 is the Salmon River Scenic Byway as it curves and twists following the Salmon River past large rolling hills and rocky mountains.

Once we passed Challis, ID US 93 now is part of the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway. The ride so far today is one of the most beautiful and fun motorcycle roads we've been on this trip.

We rode through part of the Lost River Valley until in Arco we turned east on US 26. Arco ID which in 1955 was the first town in the world to be lit by electricity generated by atomic power for 1 hour. Today the Idaho National Laboratory continues work with nuclear energy.

US 26, and then US 20 are mostly flat and straight with long range views of ranch land until we worked our way through Idaho Falls and turned once again onto US 26 east.

We rode along the Snake River that starts in Yellowstone National park, flows through Grand Tetons National park, and eventually meets the Columbia River in Washington. 

The Snake River is dammed to create the Palisades Reservoir to provide hydroelectricity, but like so many of the lakes, rivers and reservoirs in the West the water level is extremely low - about 21% full.

We crossed into Wyoming and then rode a short stretch of US 89 south from Alpine to Afton where we've stopped for the night. It was a wonderful day on the BMW, twisting along rivers and mountains, riding straight stretches bordered by ranch land, and enjoying just about perfect weather conditions for late August. We'll be ready to ride into northwestern Colorado tomorrow, looking forward to more mountains.

Riding south on US 93 in Montana into Idaho

Three days at Flathead Lake, Montana with family was awesome - lots of swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, hanging out with the dogs, and cooking meals together. 

Today we said good-bye to everyone and rode 212 miles south on US 93 to Salmon, Idaho. We followed our son Nate on his bike to Missoula, then continued on our own.

US 93 at Flathead Lake is bordered by the Mission Mountain Range and then south of Missoula we rode by the 165 mile long Bitterroot Mountain Range.

These mountain ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains that stretch from New Mexico to northern British Columbia in Canada.

Much of US 93 was arrow-straight until we started heading up toward Lost Trail Ski area on the Montana/Idaho border. This was one of the rare times when we actually saw wildlife posted on the roadside signage - this time a small group of Bighorn sheep.

We had been riding at about 3500' elevation and the twisting climb, complete with hairpin turns, took us to about 6500' before we started winding our way down the mountain, passing trucks loaded with carnival rides.

The ride into Salmon, Idaho is absolutely gorgeous with tall and craggy mountains all around the curving, sweeping 2-lane US 93 and criss-crossing the 425 mile long Salmon River.

The temperature climbed into the mid-90's so we stopped for ice cream at Salmon Scoops before back-tracking less than a mile to our hotel right by the Salmon River. 

Tomorrow we continue southeast through Idaho, planning to stop for the night just over the state line into Wyoming. It will be another hot day, so we're hoping for ice cream in the afternoon.

Riding in Montana to Flathead Lake

 Our son Nate met us this morning in Three Forks, Montana to ride with us to Flathead Lake where we're meeting up with Nate's wife, and other son Duncan and his wife, and both of their dogs to spend a long weekend on the water.

We stayed last night in the Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks and really enjoyed the early 1900's era hotel with a wide covered porch and comfy chairs plus elegant interior.

We rode north on US 287 toward Helena, passing by ranch land rolling hills. There was always a railroad along one side of the highway, and we saw a couple of trains during our ride.

After getting through traffice on the outskirts of Helena, we turned west onto Montana route 12 which wound and twisted over 6312' MacDonald Pass on the Continental Divide. We're at the lowest elevation of our trip, starting off at 7800' at our home in southwestern Colorado, climbing to over 10,000' on mountain passes in Colorado, and now at <5000' in Montana.

Once over the Pass we continued on winding and curving Montana route 12 through ranchland.

After stopping for lunch at the Avon Family Cafe with really friendly people, hearty food and delicious homemade pie, we continued northwest on Montana 141 and then Montana 200, enjoying riding along and crossing the Blackfoot River.

It was getting much warmer with temperatures in the low 90's under clear skies when we reached the outskirts of Missoula, so we put on our neck coolers before a quick 13 mile ride on I-90. We then rode north on US 93 through the Flathead Reservation, home of the confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes.

The Mission Mountain Range runs for 45 miles and features several mountains over 9000' elevation with several glaciers in these high mountains.

In Polson we turned east on Montana 35 for about 8 miles before we reached the VRBO on Flathead Lake which is our home for the next 3 days. Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi and we're thrilled to enjoy time on the lake with our family.

We start the trip back home on Sunday so look for more tales of the roads in a few days.