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.

Riding into Colorado mountains, snowy passes, and high desert

Our motto on motorcycle trips is to be flexible and enjoy the journey. We needed that motto this morning when Tom, riding with us on his Victory Vision Tour, discovered his rear tire was flat. We thought of all the potentially disastrous scenarios if he'd had a flat yesterday while riding in mid-90 degree temperatures through remote areas of the Hopi or Navajo reservation; or twisting up and down the hairpin turns on Buffalo Pass.

Not only was he lucky the tire went flat overnight, but his luck held when the Farmington, NM Four Corners Harley-Davidson  dealer had a tire that fit Tom's bike and was willing to change the tire right away. Tom raved about the service and the friendly folks who took care of his bike. Holding true to our motto, Mike, Christine and I went for a walk while Tom was getting the tire repaired and discovered the gorgeous trail system along the Animas River behind our hotel.

We started our trip northwest to Grand Junction, Colorado 4 hours later than planned, but that gave us the opportunity to ride into Grand Junction just before dusk with views of the almost-full moon over the high mesa and a cooler ride for the end of the day.

We started the ride in hot and dry New Mexico, riding along route 170 through irrigated farmland.

About 30 miles later we crossed into Colorado, and the scenery immediately changed to lush pine forests and rolling hills covered with green grass.

We saw a herd of elk and not far down the road a herd of buffalo. I've been looking for buffalo since we moved to Arizona last year, and these are the first I've seen. As we rode through Mancos, CO we caught our first sight of the Rockies towering in the distance.

We stopped for lunch in Dolores, CO, a small western town on the banks of the Dolores River that flows out of the San Juan Mountains.

The Depot Restaurant advertised the best burgers in Colorado, and also offered elk and buffalo burgers - perhaps from the same herds I saw earlier? I opted for the regular cheeseburger.

Mike talked with a motorcycle rider who was heading out of the mountains. He told us that the black clouds we'd been watching all morning were in fact a rainstorm coupled with cold temperatures, so we put on extra layers of clothing and rain gear before we started north on Colorado 145.

Since the raincover on the waterproof bag the Bennies borrowed from us flew off in the wind yesterday, they jerry-rigged a black plastic garbage bag cover that stayed put for the rest of the windy, cold and rainy ride.

Less than 10 miles later the temperature dropped - and kept dropping into the high 40's as we climbed toward Telluride on the San Juan Skyway through the heart of the San Juan Mountains. The road twisted and swooped around the corners with foggy views of the snowy (snow in July???) peaks all around us.

We rode into the Telluride ski resort for a very welcome cup of hot chocolate and a rest out of the cold rain.

We parked the bikes at 9300', our highest elevation for today. I added another clothing layer before we got back on the bikes and headed down toward the intersection of Colorado 145 and 141 where the rain finally ended and we were surprised by the amazing Unaweep Canyon.

Until this point my camera was safely tucked under my jacket liner, motorcycle jacket, and outer raingear. Even with a few scattered drops of rain I couldn't resist pulling out the camera to take pictures and video of the towering redstone cliffs that rose vertically on both sides of the road.

We've ridden through the red rock canyons in Sedona, AZ but this canyon kept going for almost 100 miles of jaw-dropping scenery. The canyon cuts across the Uncompahgre Plateau, often with a small stream keeping us company along the side of the road. We saw fewer than 5 vehicles through the entire canyon, which meant we could zoom on the sweepers or slow down to look around to all sides to take in the views.

We finally dropped out onto Route 50, and spent the last half-hour of our trip riding into Grand Junction and watching the sun start to set.

The day started off on a potentially negative note with a flat tire on Tom's bike, and ended with a ride through an unbelievable canyon. What will tomorrow bring?

Up and down the Colorado mountains

Think of Colorado and you probably imagine towering mountain peaks. I think about the sky:  brilliant bright blue on a sunny, cloudless day; menacing and dark with billowing thunderclouds; mist hanging down below the tops of the mountains on a rainy day, and a sun so blinding that even wearing sunglasses I need to cover my eyes to see clearly ahead of me.





early morning in Colorado Springs

 



The lowest elevation for the past four days was in Colorado Springs, 6,035' above sea level. It's amazing that even when we travel down into the valleys, we're still over one mile above sea level.

Today we rode west across Colorado into Utah, crossing the Rocky Mountains and winding through several steep canyons. We started off retracing our path from Friday, heading south on Colorado 115 and then west on US 50. Twisty Route 50 took us through the Arkansas Headwaters with craggy, rocky cliffs close to the edge of the road, ranches tucked into the hillsides, and miles of pine forests.

Arkansas River near Salida, CO

 

Sawatch Range

 

 

We barely had time to catch our breath before we crossed the Continental Divide on Monarch Pass. The temperature dipped down to the low 50's as we climbed to 11,312' and the clouds started to gather over the tops of the moountains.

 

Monarch Pass

 

We dropped down to around 7,000' on the western side of the Monarch Pass, into a high mesa valley that quickly became another winding, twisting road through the Curecanti National Recreation area. There are three reservoirs on the Gunnison River that stretch along the river canyon. We saw several fishermen and small boats as we rode 20  miles along the shores of the Blue Mesa Reservoir, created in the 1960's to provide hydroelectic power.

 

 

 

 

 

I could easily spend a week here, riding along the dirt roads the criss-cross the mountains, taking a boat road on the reservoir, and hiking on the miles of trails.

 

We were only half-way through the day but we had another amazing mountain road in front of us:  Colorado 145 which winds through the San Juan National Forest with several peaks over 14,000'.  Mike loved riding this highway with technical hairpin turns, long sweeping descents, and steep 7% grades. We passed by Telluride, originally home to silver mines and today a world-class ski area.

 

 

 

 

By the time we rode out of the San Juan mountains into the Great Sage Plains on the border between Colorado and Utah we thought the amazing scenery was behind us. We didn't count on the deep canyons that cross this high (over 6,000' elevation), dry area and the dark rain clouds that covered the entire sky.

 

There's little traffic and the small towns are spaced far apart in this remote corner of Colorado. We stopped at the Dove Creek Superette, which sells groceries, hardware, flowers, and hunting supplies for this town of around 700 people - and it's the largest town in the county.

 

We stopped for the night in Blanding, Utah which was originally settled by Mormans. I thought the name must be for one of the original town founders, but learned the town was originally called Grayson, and changed it's name in 1914 when a wealthy easterner offered a thousand-volume library to any town that would adopt his name. The town changed its name to Blanding, the maiden name of the easterner's wife and shared the prize with another town in Utah.

 

We missed most of the rain today as we rode west, and we're still smiling with the memories of the canyons, mountain peaks, and lakes. Tomorrow we head home, south through Utah into Arizona. It sounds like rain gear will be required.