Denver to Phoenix...Ambling

[AVGeek]

Part 2 of my roundtrip...

I left Denver about 9:15 Monday morning...it was cold and cloudy, and the rain in Denver had just let up...but it wasn't done with me just yet...

Just north of Fairplay, I found a few mountains blanketed with early season snow:

While I didn't see Stan, Kyle, Kenny or Cartman, I did find Mr. Garrison's watering hole:

Remember that rain I mentioned earlier? I had just stopped for lunch when my bike got a bit of a bath...you can see the dark clouds heading away, but they were still mocking me with Things Yet to Come...

West of Gunnison, I came across the Blue Mesa Reservoir:

One of my goals on this trip was to ride the Million Dollar Highway...all I know is the state of Colorado didn't spend any of that million bucks on guard rails! I was really hugging the center line climbing out of Ouray. It didn't help that the rain clouds caught me as I rolled into town...or that the autumnal shedding of leaves had begun...I managed to make it to the top without incident, but the sphincter pucker factor was high!

Up on top..looking through the trees to the road I had just conquered...and ahead to the challenge that was yet to be bested...

There's an abandoned mine hiding behind the trees...you can just see the top of the workings here:

I did find a bit of gravel road on this turn off...it was a full turnaround that was very short...but was just the type of road the ST was built for...if only it was longer...

 

[AVGeek]

From Ouray almost all the way to Durango, the weather mocked me, and attempted to force me into an early shelter. I don't remember which mountain pass it was, but I hit a squall line of hail as I descended from the peak...temperatures dropped into the 40's (gladly, I had my electric liner in and set to Warm and Toasty; my gloves on the other hand, were set to Blast Furnace, but couldn't keep up with the pummeling of Wind and Rain). I had the ST in TCS1 for most of this portion...this mighty STeed never failed me, never slipped one iota, and kept me tilting at (the) wind...

Finally, just north of Durango, I had to stop to get this image...

While I'm a big train buff, darkness was setting in and my stomach was telling me about what a cavernous abyss it had turned into, so I settled for a couple of quick and dirty shots of the famed Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway...

And so Day 1 ended in a Super 8 hotel in Cortez CO...if you wind up there, check out the BBQ place two doors down. Apparently, it had just opened the week prior to my visit. I'm very glad it was there...I would consider it a must stop on this route...

 

[AVGeek]

Day 2, and the push to home...

One of my other planned stops was the Four Corners monument...

For those who haven't been here, it was $3 per person to enter the monument...it's on Navajo land, and there are plenty of vending booths to find local crafts for sale. The area around the immediate monument area is all hard pan desert, so once again I got the ST's tires dirty and rode all the way around the monument plaza, thereby riding in 4 states in less than 5 minutes...I don't think you can do that anywhere else in the USA.

The final pic of my trip...somewhere in Arizona, I don't remember if I was closer to Kayenta or Tuba City when I stopped to see these geological wonders...

From this point on, I was focused on getting home. I stopped briefly in Flagstaff to clean off the accumulation of bugs that had taken up residence on my face shield. I pushed through, and was home before 4pm, MST.

With the SS1000, I left home with about 5014 miles on the clock, and returned 1969 miles later. I set tire in 5 states, climbed up to over 10,000 feet at least three times, saw temps swing from a low of 43 to a high of 100, and arrived home with the satisfaction that only dogs and riders know...

 

[Siseneg]

VERY NICE! .. looks and sounds like fun. Brought me some memories too . Glad it was a safe ride. Looking forward to getting back out to Colo. next summer (it's been toooo long).

 

[BUGKILLER]

I thought that was you standing there. ::012::

 

[eemsreno]

Nice ride thanks for putting that up. ::012::

 

[Dakrider]

Nice ride thanks for putting that up. ::012::

Scouting off-road possibilities following Blue Ridge Parkway, Greater National Smokey Rocky Mountain and Nantahala National Forest who wants to go? Leaving Oct 5th


Sent from my iPhone www.xplor-int.com

 

[Merfman]

The final pic of my trip...somewhere in Arizona, I don't remember if I was closer to Kayenta or Tuba City when I stopped to see these geological wonders...

O.M.G. I camped here with my parents around 1965 or so. IIRC these are collectively called 'Elephants Feet' - I've often wondered exactly where those were, thanks for giving me a place to look!