The Colorado Plateau on a rainy, cloudy day

The last day of a motorcycle trip has a different type of feel. We've been wearing the same clothes for several days, I've gotten used to minimalist living (which of my 2 shirts will I wear today?), I search out any fruit or vegetable that I can possibly find (fresh watermelon for breakfast at one hotel, oranges and apples in big bowls all day at another made me really happy), we've fallen into the rhythm of life on the bike (get up, eat breakfast, pack, ride through gorgeous countryside all day, stop every 2-3 hours for gas, food, water or just to stretch our legs; arrive at another hotel, unpack, go for a run, shower, eat dinner, sleep), and we're finally anxious to get back home.

We started the day in Blanding, Utah where the rain poured down all night long, and thankfully started to let up just as we headed out. Even with the rain, fog, and clouds that hovered below the tops of the craggy canyon peaks, this area of southeastern Utah is spectacular.

I kept imagining what this part of the country must have been like millions of years ago when volcanoes, inland seas, movement of the tectonic plates, and wind and river erosion began forming this high, dry desert canyonland known as the Colorado Plateau. The limestone and sandstone rocks and cliffs  have descriptive names such as arches, natural bridges, pinnacles, and monoliths.

Most of this area lies within the 27,000 square miles of the Navajo Nation, home to 173,000 people. That works out to about 6.5 people per square mile, which means the majority of the time we saw only the desert, rock formations, canyons and the sky. There's so little traffic we could stop on the narrow road shoulder to take pictures, or slow down to watch a solitary mule on a hill.

Our route took us south through Utah into Arizona toward Flagstaff, where we turned west on US 40 which mostly follows the route of the old Route 66. We can see the San Francisco Peaks from our home in Prescott, and today as they came into view we knew our trip was almost finished.

Minutes after we pulled into our garage, a hard rain started once again. Later that evening as the sun started to set we looked out the living room window to the San Francisco Peaks, now to our north.

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.

 





 









Pike's Peak or Bust

When the Colorado gold rush started in 1858, prospectors heading west painted 'Pike's Peak or Bust' on their covered wagons. We started the day by riding up the 19 mile paved road to the 14,115' summit of Pike's Peak, riding above the tree line on 'America's Mountain' that was first ascended in 1820.

Starting up the Pike's Peak highway at 8:30am was a good idea, because we had the road to ourselves and Mike could ride as fast as he wanted up and down the twisting hairpins. We stopped on our way down the mountain at mile 10, where Nate was racing in the Pike's Peak Downhill longboard race.

After watching the race, we headed west to Cripple Creek (elevation 9,454'), former gold mining town and current home to several casinos. The Band's "Up on Cripple Creek' song kept running through my head as we rode on sweepers and hairpin turns into the town.

We ended the day back in Colorado Springs, where we were surprised by bright sunshine and 90 degree temperature. It was cloudy and cool high up in the mountains, which seem to have their own weather system.

Tomorrow we start our two-day trip back home to Arizona, heading west across Colorado into Utah. We're hoping to miss the rain and thunderstorms that are in the weather forecast - keep your fingers crossed for us!

Colorado mountains

I always imagine Colorado as brown and rocky, but today's ride through several national forests and across pine-covered mountains was lush and green, especially compared to yesterday's ride through the dry desert-like high mesas.

on US 550 North toward Durango

 

We started off in Farmington, New Mexico and quickly crossed into Colorado, riding through the southern part of the San Juan National Forest, 1.8 million acres in southwestern Colorado. Pagosa Springs, elevation 7,000' and home to several hot mineral springs, is on the western side of the Continental Divide.

 

 riding east from Pagosa Springs

 

 

We crossed the Continental Divide on 10, 857' Wolf Creek Pass. We're riding through the Rocky Mountains that range from Canada to Mexico. Technically, Wolf Creek Pass is in the San Juan Mountain range with six peaks higher than 14,000'.

 

Wolf Creek Pass

 

The 1.8 million acre Rio Grande National Forest is on the eastern side of Wolf Creek Pass and the Continental Divide. We rode through the Forest on US 160, and stopped for lunch in Del Norte, originally a stage coach stop and a supply town for local mining operations.

 

 

 

I enjoy eating lunch in small, local restaurants to get a feel for the area. We were the only motorcycle riders among two men wearing cowboy hats, an elderly couple, and men dressed in casual business clothes. Del Norte is on the western edge of the San Luis Valley, a high altitude, desert-like basin that is heavily irrigated from underground aquifiers to support local farming. It's surprising to see dry, arid landscapes right next to bright green fields.

 

 

 

We rode on US 285 N through the San Luis Valley and then headed east on US 50  at Pancha Springs (elevation 7,465') and on through Salida (elevation 7,083').  The temperature today hovered near 90 degrees, even though we're at a high elevation. We stopped for a drink of water and talked with three guys heading out to ride motorcycles on the dirt forest roads that criss-cross the mountains.

 

 

We're staying in Colorado Springs (elevation 6,035') for three nights to watch our youngest son, Nate, compete in the Pike's Peak Downhill longboarding race. The lower elevation and miles of asphalt in Colorado Springs raised the temperature into the high 90's. The combination of heat and stop-and-go traffic made us glad to get off the bike and into an airconditioned hotel room.

 

We've covered almost 800 miles the past two days across three states, and we're looking forward to riding up the Pike's Peak highway tomorrow and looking down into the valley.















Colorado bound

"I was standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona....." lyrics from the song by the Eagles kept running through my mind today. Our first stop on a 2-day trip to Colorado Springs was Winslow and as we rode northeast from Prescott I kept humming the classic Eagles' song.

We're headed to Colorado Springs to watch our son, Nate, race in the Pike's Peak Downhill longboard race this weekend. It's our first opportunity to ride the BMW on a multiday trip since we moved to Arizona one month ago. I'm amazed at the varied scenery on today's 415 mile trip:  up and down steep mountains, long sweepers through pine forests, brilliant green valleys bookended by high, dry mesas; mile after mile of sagebrush, deep and dry washes and creek beds, irrigated farmland, and terrain that we can best describe as 'moonscapes'.

After lunch in Winslow, we traveled on Route 87 north and Route 264 east first through the Hopi Reservation and then into the larger Navajo Nation, 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The road stretched out in front of us, and at one point Mike figured he could see 14 miles into the distance.
 

 

We saw preparations for the Navajo Nation Fair as we rode through Window Rock, and talked with a couple of people at the gas station about the hundreds who come into town for the fair, pow-wow, and rodeo competition.

Just east of Window Rock we crossed into New Mexico, the first time we've been in this state. We turned north onto Route 491, one of the Navajo Nation scenic roads known as the Trail of the Ancients because it winds through countryside first settled over 10,000 years ago.

We were surprised to cross canals filled with water and bright green fields of corn and hay as we rode closer to Farmington, NM our destination for the evening. The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry operates one of the largest farming operations in the country.

It felt jarring to ride down the 9% grade into the busy city of Farmington after spending the past 7 hours riding through countryside where we often didn't see a house for miles. At one point this morning a sign announced "no services for the next 51 miles" and at the end of the day we're in a city of 45,000.

Tomorrow we head north into Colorado and the Rockies, and I already have another song in my head:  Rocky Mountain High by John Denver.