On the road again

 Today is our first day of a 3-week trip into the Canadian Rockies, down through Glacier National Park, and back home. We originally planned this trip right when COVID hit, which meant we couldn't cross into Canada or west through Glacier. A lot has happened since then - we moved from Arizona to Colorado - and now have the opportunity for this trip.

It's hot this summer so we left home at 7:30am for a 6 hour ride northwest to Grand Junction, CO. On the way through Pagosa Springs we saw four hot air balloons - a fun start to our morning.

The ride on US 160W to Durango is one we make often, and we enjoyed the cool air with temperatures in the 60's. Once in Durango we headed north on US 550, climbing into the San Juan National Forest on one of the most beautiful and incredibly fun motorcycle roads we've ever been on. We passed the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge train along the way.

After a quick stop for gas and a snack in Silverton, established in the 1870's during the Colorado mining boom, we started on the 25 mile section of US 550 known as the Million Dollar Highway. Built in the 1880's for supposedly 1 million dollars to connect the two mining towns of Silverton and Ouray, it's a motorcyclist's dream. 

The 12 mile section from Red Mountain through the Uncompahgre Gorge is downright scary - no guardrails, lots of twists and hairpin turns, rocks on one side and a sheer drop-off (remember there are no guardrails) on the other. Mike doesn't get to look around and take in the gorgeous views so I take photos to share with him later.

Once through Ouray - another 1870's mining town - the ride becomes very tame although still beautiful, riding past Ridgway State Park and the park's 5 mile long reservoir as we continued north to Montrose.

We stopped at Backstreet Bagels for lunch on one of the best bagels we've had since we left Vermont 12 years ago, then continued on US 50 west along Colorado's Western Slope through Olathe - famous for fabulous sweet corn.

The temperature was in the mid-90's as we rode along the divided 4-lane highway between the Grand Mesa, West Elk Mountains, and Uncompahgre Plateau. The landscape here is completely different from the jagged mountain peaks in the San Juan mountains.

We were hot and thirsty when we pulled into our hotel on Main Street in downtown Grand Junction, named because it's where the Gunnison and Colorado rivers meet in the Grand Valley. We'll cool off and enjoy the evening before starting Day 2 of trip as we continue north toward Canada.

First ride of 2023

 A lot has happened since we last were on a BMW trip: we moved from Arizona to Colorado! We live in the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado, and are thrilled to watch the deer, elk, chipmunks and birds all around our home.

Today we started a 2-week trip, first heading to Bozeman, Montana to visit our youngest son. We rode 255 miles for the day, first riding west on US 160 out of Pagosa Springs to Durango. 

                                     

Pagosa Springs

In Durango we picked up US 550 north, one of our favorite rides through the San Juan and Uncompahgre national forests. I've never ridden south to north, and this is the earliest in the year we've been on this route. There's still a lot of snow after one of the snowiest years on record, and the aspens at the higher elevations haven't yet started to leaf out.

This narrow, 2-lane highway is famous for tight hairpin turns and sheer drop-offs with no guardrails. There wasn't much traffic and we had a lot of fun zooming down the road.

550 goes through Silverton, one of the highest towns in the US at 9,318' and our entrance today to the Million Dollar Highway that runs between Silverton and Ouray. These were originally gold and silver mining towns and today are more famous for the astounding scenery and remote backcountry adventures. 

I had on my raingear from the beginning of the trip to stay warm (temperatures in the 50's and low 60's) but when we spotted rain clouds ahead, we stopped so Mike could put on his rain gear.

I love how small the BMW and Mike look in this photo against the huge mountains!

It was raining as we rode through Ouray, and then the sun came out as the valley opened up. We stopped in Montrose for lunch, and then continued on US 50 west and north toward Grand Junction. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes in Colorado. We were out of the snow-capped mountains and at lower elevations riding through the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area. 

We rode through the Uncompahgre Plateau where red-rock canyons and sandstone bluffs dominate the landscape.

As we headed into Grand Junction, Mike had some fun at a stoplight with a guy on a Ninja. They both did wheelies, and Mike accelerated ahead. The power of the BMW!

We're spending the night in Grand Junction on the Western Slope of the Rockies and looking forward to sunny skies and fun riding tomorrow as we continue north toward Montana.

Tunnels, twisties, and temperature changes on the BMW in Colorado

Today was all about the three T's:  tunnels (9!); twisties up, down and through the Rocky Mountains; and temperature changes from a low of 50 degrees near the top of the Continental Divide to a high of 96 degrees as we finished our ride into Grand Junction.

We started the day early, leaving the hotel at 6:30am to beat the traffic around Denver. The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains defines this entire area. The temperature was in the mid-60's, but since we expected it to get cooler as we crested the Rockies, I wore a long-sleeve shirt and one jacket liner. As usual, we took the winding, twisting, scenic route on US 6 heading west into Clear Creek Canyon, a steep gorge with high rock walls on both sides of the 2-lane highway.

We rode through 5 tunnels on this twisting route that was the site of some of the most intense activity during the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859.

US 6 turns onto I-70W to cross the Continental Divide and provide a major East/West transportation route through the Rockies. We rode through 2 more tunnels:  The Veterans Memorial Tunnels near Idaho Springs, built in 1961 and the Eisenhower Tunnel that is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world at 11,112' as it passes over and through the Continental Divide. We stopped in Silverthorne for gas and to put on more liners and warmer gloves to better tolerate the temperature - now hovering around 50 degrees.

We descended down the western side of the Continental Divide and rode through 3 more tunnels as we wound our way through Glenwood Canyon. Because the canyon is so narrow and deep, the 4-lane interstate was specially constructed with two, 2-lane highways, one for east-bound traffic and the other for west-bound traffic, that are nearly on top of each other.

We usually avoid Interstate highways in favor of smaller roads with less traffic but there aren't a lot of choices going East/West across Colorado. I-70 in this area feels more like a smaller highway with plenty of twisties to keep us happy.

We turned off I-70 at Glenwood Springs where we promptly stopped to shed the warm gloves and extra jacket liners as the temperature started climbing. We wound our way first on CO 82 and then CO 133, which to our delight climbed and curved over McClure Pass which at 8,755' isn't the highest pass we've crossed on this trip, but it has gorgeous views of the Elk Mountains.

As we descended down the western side of McClure Pass, we rode past Paonia Reservoir, built between 1959 and 1962 for irrigation storage in this high, dry desert area of Colorado.

We were surprised to see huge coal mining operations near the town of Somerset in the North Fork Valley, and learned that this area used to house 3 major coal mines. With the recent decline of coal, only one mine remains open.

The Hightower Cafe in Hotchkiss advertises "Strudel, Trout and Walleye". We couldn't pass it up, and stopped for lunch. Mike discovered that our waitress moved here 4 years ago from Craftsbury, VT. Small world! Since the temperature was now close to 90 degrees, Mike put on his cooling vest and we both added our neck coolers.

The high desert countryside reminded us of northeastern Arizona. We typically think of Colorado as much greener than Arizona, but the Western Slope is primarily desert.

We turned onto US 50 heading west into Grand Junction where we are spending the night. Grand Junction is the site of the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers and has a very friendly, walkable downtown area with sculptures, parks, and many restaurants with outdoor seating. After 302 miles on the BMW, we're ready to relax for the evening before continuing toward home tomorrow.

Sunny ride into Aspen

Bright blue skies and a hot sun greeted us this morning in Grand Junction, Colorado.  At around 60,000 people, it's the largest city on the Western Slope, which is all of Colorado west of the Continental Divide. Its name comes from the junction of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, which to our amazement are both fairly large moving bodies of water. We're used to 'rivers' in Arizona, which typically are dry and sometimes have a trickle of water. No wonder there is so much green here, even in a high desert climate.

Tom and Christine's friends Bill and Cynthia joined us for today's ride to Aspen and led us on a route that started off heading east on Interstate 70 through the Grand Valley that is bordered by the Grand Mesa, the world's largest flat-topped mountain, on one side; and the red rock cliffs of the Colorado National Monument on the other. We rode past vineyards and fruit orchards in the green valley along the Colorado River, an area originally the home of the Ute people with white settlers arriving in the 1880's. 

Usually I dislike riding on busy Interstates, but the scenery trumped the semi-trucks on the 20 miles we were on I-70. We left the interstate at exit 49 onto Colorado 65, the Grand Mesa Byway, that twisted and turned through the dry landscape.

We turned off on 45 1/2 road to enjoy more sweepers before rejoining I-70 and continuing east.

We stopped in Rifle for lunch at the Shooter's Grille where many of the waitresses wore a holstered pistol on their belt. I'm always curious about the history of names of towns, and legend has it that Rifle got its name from an old cowboy surveyor who left his rifle leaning against a tree and after that referred to the area as 'Rifle'.

We finished the day riding on I-70 to Glenwood Springs, then on busy 4-lane Colorado route 82 into Aspen. The road bisects mountains covered with pine trees, with intermittent vistas of snow-capped peaks in the distance. Our odometer turned over  to 24,000 miles just outside Aspen, and we slapped a high-five and did a little dance on the bike celebrating the mileage.

This was the first day of the trip we didn't need our raingear, surprising since July and August are known for rain and thunderstorms. Tomorrow we spend a full day in Aspen, and we're looking forward to exploring the town and mountains.