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.

Riding from northwest Colorado through Utah and into Wyoming

 Today is the second day of our ride to Flathead Lake, Montana and we rode 326 miles from Craig, CO to Pinedale, WY.

We started off west on US 40 through rolling hills covered with sagebrush with almost no other vehicles on the road and nothing to see as far we looked around us.

Mike kept noting that we were riding through 'the big empty' - it's amazing how far you can see to the horizon and how little manmade objects there are.

We rode past signs for Dinosaur National Monument and remembered when we visited here 18 years ago. The Colorado welcome center just over the line into Utah was a great bathroom stop, and then we continued on US 40 past Blue Mountain that displays different levels of sandstone, rock and fossils first deposited 290 million years ago when a shallow sea covered this part of the western United States and has been eroded by wind and water ever since.

This is a prime hang gliding and paragliding spot with some people able to fly 100-150 miles on the thermals. We didn't see anyone today, but it's amazing to imagine. It's a perfect spot for a photo of Mike on the BMW:

Every town we rode through in this area plays up the dinosaur theme, and after we passed the huge pink dinosaur in Vernal, UT we turned north on US 191.

US 191 goes through the Flaming Gorge and the reservoir formed by the dam on the Green River. Signs along the highway point out the wide variety of geological deposits as the road twists and curves through stupendous rock formations.

Most of the time we've been riding at over 7000' elevation and today we dipped down below 6000' before ascending once again to over 8000'. Once again we couldn't see anything manmade except for fences and sometimes electric lines as we rode from Utah into Wyoming.

We're in Pinedale Wyoming and tomorrow continue north into Montana, looking forward to riding through more of the Rocky Mountain peaks.

First day riding to Flathead Lake, Montana

 It's been a busy year and this is our first longer motorcycle trip in the US. We're headed to Flathead Lake, Montana for a long weekend with our kids and today rode 361 miles from our home in southwestern Colorado to Craig, CO.

We rode over three high mountain passes today:  Wolf Creek, Poncha, and Tennessee and loved winding our way through the Rocky Mountains.

US 24 from Buena Vista to Leadville CO

downtown Leadville

Leadville was part of the 1860's gold rush and the population reached it's peak of 30,000 people in 1877 with the combination of gold and silver mining. Currently about 2600 people live in Leadville at 10,119' which is the highest incorporated town in the US.

We continued north on US 24, twisting through the hairpin turns and curves through the Rockies.

As we descended Battle Mountain on US 24 we passed by the abandoned mining town in Gilman. The EPA closed down the mine and the community in 1984 because of mining related toxins in the ground water.

US 24 ended and we crossed the Eagle River on CO 131 continuing north past the high peaks around Vail.

Continuing north we rode through a wide valley around Yampa, named by the Ute tribe for an edible plant along the river. The Flat Top mountain range rises in the west.

We ended the day in Craig in northwestern Colorado, midway between Denver and Salt Lake City in an area of rolling hills covered with sage brush.

Tomorrow we continue northwest to Pinedale, WY looking forward to more Rocky Mountain riding.

Mountains and aspens in New Mexico

 We woke up this morning to fog covered streets in Taos, NM so we took our time getting started. By the time we rode out of the city of Taos, the fog and clouds were clearing.

We decided to ride some out-and-back routes into the mountains, hopefully avoiding long delays for road construction that we encountered yesterday. We first rode to the Taos Ski Valley, founded in the early 1950's by Swiss skiing pioneer Ernie Blake and his family. It's mid-September, so no snow yet, but we kept spotting stands of aspens turning bright gold.

NM 150 curves and twists through canyons about 15 miles from Taos to the ski area, making for a fun and beautiful morning ride.

Back in Taos, we rode north on NM 522, a straight road with long roller-coaster hills with long views toward the mountains. This section is part of the New Mexico Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway and the Old Spanish Trail northern route.

The Old Spanish Trail was a trade route connecting Taos, Sante Fe, and other northern New Mexico towns with southern California. The area was explored by the Spanish in the late 1500's, and then used by traders until the 1850's. It's a lot of fun on a motorcycle, and we can't imagine covering this high alpine, dry area on horseback.

We turned east in Questa on NM 38 toward Red River, once more winding and curving through the mountains. 

Instead of continuing southeast and circling back to Taos on US 64 since we rode much of that route yesterday, we turned around at Red River, originally founded as a mining town and today home to a small ski area and lots of outdoor activities.

 As happens to us frequently on motorcycle trips, it was too early for lunch when we got back into Taos, and the 2 hour ride home offers no places to stop and eat. We settled for an energy bar and a bottle of water from a gas station and headed home on US 64 north. We crossed the Rio Grande River gorge, and then stopped at the beautiful rest area on the north side of the river.

The bridge was built in the 1960's and at 650' above the river, it's the second highest bridge on the US highway system (the highest is 700' over the Glade Creek in West Virginia) and the 5th highest bridge in the United States. This area is also part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. We walked a short way from the rest area to look out over the gorge and the river below.

We were glad it was sunny with just a few clouds as a colder Fall wind picked up as we continued north on US 64 toward home. This is a very low traffic road that climbs over 10,000' in the Sangre de Cristos range of the Rocky Mountains. 

As we continued toward Chama, NM we had wonderful views of the Brazos Cliffs that tower over 11,000'.

Chama is only about 25 miles south of our home in southwestern Colorado, and as we got closer to home I was able to take a photo of the view we see from our windows: V Rock, Navajo Peaks and Banded Peaks.

We enjoy long motorcycle trips where the days develop a rhythm and we see something new around every turn, and yet these short, 2-day trips near home give us a welcome break from work and daily life plus the opportunity to experience more of the area where we live. We're already planning our next trip!