Sunday morning ride

 We decided to ride in a big circle today, heading south from Chromo, Colorado to Chama, NM and then turning east on CO 17. This is a twisty 2-lane paved road that winds through the Sangre de Cristo mountains that are the southernmost part of the Rockies straddling the Colorado and New Mexico border.

We rode over Cumbres Pass at 10,0220' and as we descended toward the east we left behind green meadows and started seeing towering rocky cliffs as we headed into the San Luis Valley. 

At over 7,600' elevation, this 122 mile long, 74 mile wide high desert valley is home to agriculture and ranching. This area was originally home of the Utes, later explored by the Spanish and part of Mexico, and ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican-American war.

CO 17 meets up with CO 285 in Antonito, and we then headed west on US 160 in Monte Vista. 

Up until this point we saw very little traffic, enjoying the road to ourselves. US 160 is a much more heavily traveled road and Mike zoomed past slower moving RVs and trucks at every opportunity.

We left home about 8:30am and by the time we reached South Fork we were hungry - and stumbled upon a superb food truck/bar/outdoor spot:  Rachel's. 

They had a small yet unique and delicious menu - we shared KoKo's Huevos and a Banana Split parfait while sitting at a picnic table in a shaded area. We were too early for the band that starts at noon on Sundays and are already planning another trip here.

We continued on US 160W over Wolf Creek Pass in the San Juan Mountains, crossing the Continental Divide at 10,857' before we descended down into Pagosa Springs.

We live about 25 miles south of Pagosa Springs, so we stopped at the Farmer's Market for fresh Palisade peaches, cherries and sweet corn before turning south on US 84 and home.

We rode 220 miles in about 4 hours (including the two stops) on a beautiful July summer morning. Fabulous motorcycle riding is one of the big reasons we live here, and today is a fantastic example of a perfect motorcycle day.

Last day of our 2-week Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana trip

 We enjoyed sunny skies our two days in Lakewood, CO visiting our son and his girlfriend, and today the rainy weather finally caught up with us. It poured all night and continued raining hard as we loaded up the BMW (thank goodness our son has a garage). We worked our way through busy Denver traffic and headed south on US 287. Due to the heavy rain and temperatures in the low 40's, I wasn't able to take any pictures until we crossed Kenosha Pass at 10,000' and dropped down into South Park, the third and final high altitude valley - over 9,000' - in Colorado that we've ridden through on this trip.

We crossed Trout Creek Pass that marks the southern end of South Park, and once again it started raining. As we wound down toward Buena Vista, the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy views of the Collegiate Peaks, the highest concentration of mountain peaks >14,000' in the country.

The rain picked up again but we had a rain-free window when we stopped for a delicious lunch at the FlaminGo food truck. They're open until 1pm - don't miss it!

More rain, then another dry spell as we rode through the San Luis Valley, a major agricultural center. 

As we started up Wolf Creek Pass, 10,857' on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains, we knew we were close to home. 

Pagosa Springs is on the western side of Wolf Creek Pass and even better the sun was shining!

We rode 303 miles today for a total of 2090 miles on this two-week trip, visiting our two sons, riding through two national parks, and seeing more of the West. Now that we live in Colorado, we plan to explore more of the area this summer - and hopefully not when it's raining!

A short day: 33 miles in Colorado's Front Range

 We had a leisurely start to our morning as we're riding only 33 miles today, from Longmont to Lakewood, Colorado to visit our son and his girlfriend.

Over 5 million people live in the Front Range, the eastern-most steep mountains of the Rockies that runs north-south from Casper, WY to Pueblo, CO. It's a beautiful area but because there are so many cities and towns, there is always a lot of traffic.

Our route took us south on US 287, first along farmland with views of the Rockies, and then into congested  city driving.

We'll spend the next two days here before our last day of this trip.

Rocky Mountain National Park

 

The highlight of today's ride from Laramie, WY to Longmont, CO was riding west to east through Rocky Mountain National Park, traveling over a narrow, twisting road with sheer drop-offs over the tops of mountains - while it was snowing!

But before we got to the park, we first rode west from Laramie on WY 230 through a wide, flat valley. Once again we wore our raingear, both to stay warm with temperatures in the low 50's and due to the threat of rain.

Within a few miles we entered Colorado, and the road name changed from WY 230 to CO 125 as we rode through national forests into North Park, the northernmost large, high altitude valley on the western side of the Front Range. 

As we left the valley we started climbing up Willow Creek Pass and crossed the Continental Divide - but not for the last time today. 

We dropped down into Middle Fork, another wide valley at about 8000' elevation,

and then turned east on US 40 and then on US 34 east, passing Lake Granby, a large reservoir created in 1950 and the third largest body of water in Colorado.

After a quick stop for gas and an energy bar, we continued on US 34 east into Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a timed entry requirement this year, and we were lucky to have entry between 9am and 11am. Entering the park at the western entrance means far less traffic and we didn't have to wait in long lines.

When we first started riding through the Kawuneeche Valley we spotted a couple of elk and then an eagle sitting high in a pine tree. 

Then we started climbing through the pine forests as the road twisted around the mountains. We stopped at an overlook while ascending Milner Pass at 10,759', and even though it was overcast and hazy, the snow-capped mountains are impressive.

We watched the temperature drop as we climbed, first in the low 40's and then as we rode past the treeline into the tundra, it started snowing and the temperature dropped to 34 degrees.

It was amazing and sort of terrifying at the same time as Mike navigated the twisting road which at times was wet - but thankfully not icy.

Iceberg Pass on Trail Ridge Road peaks at 12,183' and while the tundra at the top was swept bare of snow, we passed tall snowbanks in the forests on the way back down the mountain.

The ride down into the east side of the park was once again sweeping turns and hairpin twisties through pine forests until we rode down into the open valley.

We exited the park on US 36 on the east side into Estes Park, first settled by Whites in the 1860's but long home to Arapahoe. It's now a busy tourist destination into Rocky Mountain National Park. From Estes Park we rode on US 36 east through a red rocks canyon as we headed to Longmont, our stop for the night.

We rode 219 miles today through remote high altitude valleys, up and down over the Continental Divide, through snowy conditions on top of 12,000' passes, and finally into the busy Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Tomorrow we have a short ride to Lakewood, CO to visit our son and his girlfriend for the weekend before one last ride home.

Windy Wyoming

 We started our day with a walk in Thermopolis State Park, home to mineral hot springs and a bison herd. We walked across the Swinging Bridge footbridge over the Bighorn River, and stopped by the Teepee Fountain, built in 1909 to cool the hot mineral water. As the hot mineral water flows over the stone base, it cools and deposits layers of travertine.

Once on the BMW, we headed south on US 20 through the Wind River Canyon, a gorgeous ride where the rock cliffs rise 2500' with the 2-lane highway, Wind River, and train tracks winding along the bottom of the canyon.

Some of these rocks date from the Precambrian period, more than 2.9 billion years ago. The road passes through three short tunnels before coming out on the south side of the canyon and the Boysen Dam and Reservoir.

Boysen State Park covers more than 35,000 acres, including the huge reservoir. Backed by the snow-capped mountains to the West, it's a gorgeous spot - and we saw hardly any traffic.

We turned west onto US 26, spotting numerous antelope as the road wound up through hills, then down long flat stretches.

There are still patches of snow on the north-facing hills, even though we were never higher than 7000'.

We stopped at Sweetwater Station at the junction of WY 135 and US 287 for a bathroom break, and thanks to the several interpretive signs, we learned about prehistoric people who lived here for hundreds of years and the Mormon/Oregon Trail that passed nearby. This is a wide-open, empty part of the country and it was a very welcome stop.

We continued on US 287 toward Rawlin, passing through more open land on roads that stretched ahead of us as far as we could see.

We stopped for lunch in Rawlin where we realized we had veered away from our planned route. We regrouped, rode a few short miles on I-80, then got back on track on US 30 toward Laramie.

On the way to Laramie several huge tractor trailers carrying wind turbine blades passed us going the other direction, and then we came up groups of wind turbines as far as we could see. We've been buffeted by strong winds every day in Wyoming, and it makes sense to use that wind for energy.

We rode 298 miles, ending the day in Laramie. This was the first day of the trip that we didn't need our rain gear and we enjoyed the sunny skies and wide-open landscape.