Author: Oliver

I tried to capture the incredible scenery that we were riding through on highway 24 today even though it involved a 30 mile section of I-70 which didn’t make Diane very happy, especially with a speed limit of 80mph. Thankfully, traffic on the interstate was light and we were off of it before long. Avoiding the interstate all together would have been a two day detour since Canyonlands National Park extends quite a way south with no easy east-west connection.  No epic hikes today, just beautiful landscape.

Continue reading Moab to Torrey, UT

Being on the road and camping can lead to interesting encounters. During our ‘down day’ on Thursday, while sitting  in the community kitchen in the late afternoon using our electronic gear, Diana and Faulk, a couple from Canada joined us at our table because the other tables were taken by a church youth group. We struck up a conversation and chatted amiably about our plans and what they had seen and planned to do. When we ran into them again on late Friday afternoon they shared their itinerary which listed the campgrounds they were staying in. They had done their research – Diana had a “must have clean bathroom” criteria similar to Diane’s – which we leveraged by making note of the campgrounds in Torrey, UT (Capital Reef National Park) and Escalante, CO (Grand Staircase Escalante) since we are planning to visit both places.

Continue reading Canyonlands National Park – Island in the Sky

We got through the rainstorm with much less leakage. There were a couple of drops but nothing that wouldn’t allow us to go to sleep. Morning broke with lingering black clouds but no rain.

Continue reading Hovenweep – Ruins Trail hike

With the rain fly replacement situation squared away we left South Fork albeit a little later than usual. We had no traffic for the first part into Pagosa Springs which made the winding road through the mountain pass even more enjoyable and was deemed “Diane’s favorite road, so far”. We stayed on US160 all the way to Cortez, CO, winding our way through the river valley and gentle hills (by Colorado standards).

Continue reading To Hovenweep National Monument

Same waterproof duffle bag, same failure. After my bag failed on the last trip

it was now Diane’s turn to have her exact same model bag fail, also along the ‘welded’ seam. Hers was so bad that only after a couple of times of handling the bag the seam kept separating almost all the way! Not good. Not only is it obviously no longer waterproof but there is the danger of stuff falling out when the seam separates at some place that we didn’t duct tape.

Continue reading Equipment Failures

Even when we don’t have to take down and pack a tent it takes us long in the morning to leave 🙂 (damn, all out of excuses). Then again, we weren’t really in a hurry to get stuck in Denver rush hour traffic so it was around 10:30 when we finally left Mike’s place. Leaving Denver behind us we were heading into uncertain weather with black clouds looming all around us. Since my ‘point&shoot’ camera that hangs on a lanyard around my neck isn’t waterproof it stayed in the tank bag for most of today’s ride.

Continue reading Heading west again and trying to avoid the rain

Since locating a campsite last night took us further east than planned we evaluated ways to get back west. One option was to double back where we came from through Montrose (boring) or take CO-92 to Hotchkiss (Diane vetoed) and then head towards Grand Junction and ultimately the Colorado National Monument.  Sidenote: In addition to standard street maps we also have a set of Butler Maps that are motorcycling specific, highlighting all the ‘interesting’ (aka twisty, scenic, long drops to the bottom) roads.  Any potential route is always crosschecked against the Butler map. Diane is using it in a way I’m sure the designers didn’t intend to — she’s looking for routes to avoid rather than take :-).

Continue reading How to avoid mountain passes

The morning started a little slow after sitting by the camp fire and drinking beer last night ;-). We didn’t leave the campground until 10:00am to head north into Montrose, CO where we did some grocery shopping before continuing to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Continue reading Black Canyon of the Gunnison

The first hiking and viewing attraction we are heading for is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Ever since we passed the park entrance sign a couple of years ago on a ride I have been meaning to go back and check it out. Getting there will take us two days so after leaving Navajo Lake State Park, our destination for the day is Ridgway State Park in Colorado (~200 miles) where we stayed in 2012.

Now, that sounds like a reasonable distance to travel for the day but there’s a caveat. Namely, Diane’s challenge of ‘heights’. Looking off bridges, sheer and steep drops, pose a challenge for her. So why are we going north into Colorado – mountains to the left and right? Mostly to escape the heat of the lower elevations in Utah and Arizona where we also want to go – after things have cooled off a little by late August. Today would bring the first ‘pass’ of our trip – Lizard Head Pass on CO145 leading into Telluride, CO.

The ride through northern New Mexico and into Colorado led us through gently rolling hills of sage brush and later farm land until we got to Delores, CO when we joined up with CO145 which runs along a river into the mountains towards Telluride. As we climb in altitude we can see the mountains and the clear demarkation of the tree line. The air cools to the point where we have to close the   air flow zippers on our jackets to keep warm. It’s a very scenic and not too dramatic ride though there are a couple of tight turns and drops. The drop offs though are not immediately to the the right or left of the lane but rather buffered by a large shoulder and often times extra space which makes them a lot more tolerable for Diane.

By the time we get to Telluride the worst is over as we start the final leg of the day, joining CO62 in Placerville into Ridgway, CO. We stop to pick up a six pack of beer 🙂 before heading to the campground and stop for the night at Ridgway State Park just up the road on US550. We lucked out and got the last available camping spot for the night. The campground is scenic, sitting on top of a plateau with great views around – perhaps that explains the rather stiff camping fee of $32 for the night ($18 to camp and $7 per motorcycle to enter the park). Still cheaper than a hotel (not to mention nicer) but it does seem a little steep for some dirt to pitch a tent ;-). At least they provide wheelbarrows to cart your gear from the parking lot to your campsite.

By its nature, camping lends itself to meet your neighbors. While we were setting up camp, one of our neighbors walked by all ‘suited up’ in protective motorcycle gear greeting us and asking if those were our bikes in the parking lot. We started chatting and later joined him, Joe, at his campfire for more stories and beers. Turns out Joe rode up from Orlando, FL (!) to ride the famed passes of Colorado for the week before picking up his wife at the Denver airport and heading out to Estes Park for more camping and riding. Nice and easy going guy. We really enjoyed talking with him. We failed to get a picture with him.