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!

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.

Tour of the San Juans - Day 2

 We woke up to a clear, crisp morning in Montrose, Colorado and enjoyed breakfast at the Backstreet Bagel Company. Having lived in Vermont for several years we love excellent bagels, and they're extremely difficult to find in the West. Backstreet Bagels is a huge hit!

The first day of our 2-day Labor Day weekend ride in the San Juan Mountain range in the Rockies was filled with twisting roads complete with hairpin turns up and down the mountains with so many amazing mountain vistas. Today was even better!

We started off south on US 550 and almost immediately saw the high, jagged mountain peaks in the distance ahead of us. Yesterday we rode north on CO 149 on the eastern side of this same mountain range.

We rode past Ridgway State Park and reservoir, built in 1978-1987 for flood control and irrigation.

We turned southwest on CO 62, riding into the mountains past irrigated fields.

We turned south onto CO 145, riding along the San Miquel River toward Telluride.

Our route today didn't take us into Telluride, although we caught glimpses of the ski runs. CO 145 continues it's winding way through the San Juans complete with hairpin turns as we climbed and then descended over and over, always with one amazing view of the high mountains that rise above the treeline after another.

We stopped at the Sunshine Mountain scenic overview where we saw Wilson Peak (14,017'), Sunshine Mountain (12,930' where it really does look like the sun shines on it even on a day with lots of fluffy clouds) and several other peaks that were first protected in 1932 as the Wilson Mountains Primitive Area, and then expanded in 1980 as part of the larger Lizard Head Wilderness.

Soon after the stop we rode over Lizard Head Pass at 10,246' through open meadows. This area must be even more spectacular in the summer when the wildflowers bloom.

CO 145 dropped down out of the mountains as we neared Dolores (Spanish for 'sorrows' and named for the river where it's located).

We picked up CO 184 south in Dolores, riding past small clusters of houses and ranch land to US 160 in Mancos, just outside Mesa Verde National Park. 

Until now we saw only a few cars and motorcycles, but once on US 160 heading east to Pagosa Springs there was a lot of traffic and larger groups of motorcycles.

We rode 251 miles today on roads perfect for motorcycles, traveling the San Juan Byway through southwestern Colorado.

Tour of the San Juans Day One

It's Labor Day weekend so we decided to hop on the BMW and do a circular loop of the San Juan Mountains, part of the Rockies located in SW Colorado and NW New Mexico. There are over 28 peaks in this mountain range, and 6 of them are over 14,000' high. The San Juans are the largest mountain range by area in Colorado, covering 13 different counties - including our own Archuleta County. 

These mountains were created as the continental plates slammed into each other, and then volcanic activity and glaciers carved the steep mountains and U-shaped canyons. The Ute people lived here for hundreds of years, and the Spanish were the first Europeans to explore this area, naming many of the mountains and rivers.

It's an absolutely gorgeous spot for motorcycle riders and we took full advantage of the opportunities literally in our back yard.

We started our trip heading northeast on US 160 from Pagosa Springs, riding once again over Wolf Creek Pass on the Continental Divide at 10,857'. On the eastern side of the pass we turned north onto CO 149 at South Fork, at the confluence of the South Fork and Rio Grande rivers.

South Fork is start of the 117 mile Silver Thread Scenic Byway and we thoroughly enjoyed winding our way along the Rio Grande river. We passed through Creede, which bears the distinction of being the town with the most people (257 in the 2020 Census) AND the county seat of Mineral County. It's hard to believe that in 1891 more than 10,000 people lived in Creede due to the silver mining boom.

Our first stop of the day was at Clear Creek Falls, where the water shoots over the plateau down the rocks of the 100' canyon. From the highway you have no idea that the canyon or the waterfall is just a few hundred feet away - so be sure to stop.

 Not long after riding past the waterfall we started climbing up the first of two passes:  Spring Creek Pass at 10,898' along the Continental Divide.

The 2-lane paved road winds and twists, complete with some U-shaped hairpin turns up Slumgullion Pass at 11,530'. Some of the climbs are 9% grade, and we had a lot of fun zooming along, looking at the mountain peaks in the distance.

Our second stop of the day was at Windy Point overlook where we could clearly see several high peaks of the Umcompahgre Wilderness only 15 miles away.

The highest peak (the pointy one that leans to the right) is Uncompahgre Peak, at 14,321'.

We could also see the Slumgullion Earthflow Natural Landmark that started 850 years ago when a huge chunk of rock, dirt and forest broke off and slid 4 miles down the side of the mountain.

The earth continues to move about 20' each year, and as we rode past the 'toe' of the earthflow, I wondered when it will slide over the highway.

 

CO 149 took us into Lake City, another town that grew during the mining years to 5000 people, and today is home to about 430. In 1978 the Lake City Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the town is gorgeous. We stopped for lunch and then rode through the original downtown area, now home to galleries and shops.

We continued north on CO 149, riding through a gorge formed by the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River.

The landscape opened up as we rode through grasslands with far off views of more of the San Juan Mountains.

The Silver Thread Scenic Byway ends at Blue Mesa Reservoir, where CO 149 meets US 50.

The Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest body of water in Colorado, 20 miles in length with over 96 miles of shoreline. It's impressive to ride for miles along the lake, and we were surprised that there weren't more boats on the water on a beautiful Labor Day weekend. 

We've ridden on US 50 several times over the last 10 years, and there is always construction. This year was one of the only times we didn't have to stop and wait for several minutes as the traffic was reduced to one-way only for a few miles - but there was a section that was loose gravel, always challenging on a motorcycle.

We finished the day in Montrose after riding 241 miles through the stunning San Juan Mountains, looking forward to another day as we continue our 2-day ride.

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.