One thing about entering a town in the dark is you really don’t get a good feel for it. Coming into Cortez shortly after sunset it was my impression that it sat on a featureless plain. The morning revealed something somewhat different. Like most mornings in Colorado, this one was cloudless. This Super 8 motel started serving breakfast at 5:00 am so I got downstairs and was fueled by about quarter after and then went outside to do my morning examination of the bike. The day before had been a tough one for it with the long pulls across the desert, the energetic sprint up the Vermilion Cliffs to Jacob Lake and back down after viewing the Grand Canyon as well as all the unpaved miles in the Garden of the Gods where it took a good beating. Up to now the oil level had not changed on the trip but this morning it could use some topping up and while I was attending to that the morning light began to work its way into the day and revealed a beautiful ridge line to the south, Ute Mountain to the west and Hesperus Mountain to the east and some hills to the north.
I always wonder about the reason for the placement of towns and it seems that the main reason for this one is falling on the intersection of the roads leading north to Utah, south to Arizona and New Mexico and east to Durango. Much like Socorro, this town has a main drag lined by motels, restaurants and gas stations and were it not for establishments catering to travelers there would not be much of a town to speak of.
I turned north off the main street onto route 145 which would take me over just one pass on the way to Montrose. As the road rises out of Cortez a stop to look back is rewarded by a view of the ridge that borders the town to the south as well as a good look at the north of Ute Mountain. Not a dramatic view but a quiet beauty that is particularly pleasing to the eye.
This is Ute Mountain as seen from route 145 just north of Cortez
This is the ridge line that borders Cortez to the south as seen from route 145 just north of Cortez, Colorado.The first town I passed through was Dolores which is on the north bank of the Dolores River. I am not sure if the river was named for the town or if the town was named for the river; it is most likely the latter being that this is where route 145 first meets the river if you are northbound and for people headed north would have been the first large source of water after Cortez and the last for folks headed south so rather than talk about the place where the road crosses the Dolores River they just referred to the place as Dolores. That is my theory ....... you do get an awful lot of time to think when traveling alone on a motorcycle ....... not that that means you come up with anything meaningful. :)
One more thing about the town of Dolores that struck me as interesting; Dolores is located in Montezuma County and not in Dolores County which is just fifteen miles north. Weird!
The next town was Stoner with nothing remarkable about it other than the name which, being that it was founded before the sixties, is probably not the hippie hangout its name suggests.
Mount Wilson, elevation 14,246 ft. seen from the south on the approach to Lizard Head Pass.
The first pass of the day was Lizard Head Pass at 10,222 feet. I stopped here to take a couple of photos of the bike at the pass and also some of the surrounding mountains. Just up the road from here is Telluride. I have heard stories told of the beauty of this area but none of them prepared me for what I saw. Colorado has some beautiful scenery but the Telluride area is just absolutely stunning. I have a good friend who’s husband comes up here to camp and fish each year and has been doing so for many years and now having seen it I understand what draws him back year after year!
A mountain that is not identified on my map but it is the view to the south from Lizard Head Pass.
This is Wilson Mountain from the road north of Telluride.
This mountain is not named on my map but Telluride is in the valley that is on the other side.
After Telluride the road hugged the north bank of the San Miguel River providing nice easy curves that allowed me to take in the vegetation as it changed from high alpine to sparse trees in red soil and rocks. I turned east on route 62 which took me over the Dallas Divide at 8,970 feet where I got a pretty good view of the mountains around Telluride. As the road descended into Ridgway where I would take route 550 north to Montrose I had to slow to a crawl to get by a cattle drive that was using the roadside as a transit to a different pasture. I was pretty excited as it was the first time I had ever seen real cowboys; they really do wear spurs and chaps but none of them was armed with a six shooter! I have been around farms long enough to know a little about cows and one thing I can tell you about the ones on this drive is they were extremely displeased about the drive. To a cow they were each bellowing at the top of their lungs, their nostrils were flared, their eyes open wide and their heads turning every which way as they trotted along bumping into each other, trying to stay away from the whistling cowboys and the one at the back who was shaking a large beer can with pebbles in it.
Another mountain not named on the map but it is also in the Telluride area.
This is a different shot of the same mountain range. I do know that it is in the Uncompahgre National Forest and the streams from it feed the San Miguel River which flows into the Dolores River near Uravan, Paradox and Bedrock, Colorado.
As is this one. I like this photo because it almost looks like you can just reach out and touch the mountain.
Same mountain, different shot. I hope this gives you a feel for the way the view changes with each mile even when you are looking at the same thing.
This is Uncompahgre Mountain with an elevation of 14,309 feet.
Another shot of the mountain who's name remains a mystery to me.I stopped in Montrose to munch on trail mix, use the bathroom and call my friend Terry in Denver to let him know my progress. From here I was to take route 50 east along the shores of the Blue Mesa Reservoir through Sapinero to Gunnison and then up the Tomichi River and up Monarch Pass which, at 11,312 feet was the highest of the day.
On the climb up to Gunnison I had the cruise control set at 10 over and was enjoying leaning into the curves. With the speed limit set at 45 it was a pretty relaxing climb as there were no switchbacks, just sweepers. My reverie was interrupted by a guy passing me on an older Yamaha. I figured he was a local and knew where the cops hide out but this being a major road I did not want to take any chances so I did not use him as radar bait. On the way down the other side I quickly caught up to him as he clearly had no clue how to ride the corners. Now, I am not all that skilled a motorcyclist but you know bad when you see it and this guy bordered on pathetic. Part of what makes motorcycling exciting is cornering. It is much different than cornering in a car and there are a bunch of decisions you need to make as you approach, as you negotiate and as you exit a corner.
The fundamentals of cornering are slow, look, lean and roll. Slow down to an appropriate entry speed, look into the corner, lean the bike over and then roll on the gas. The decisions you make as you do this include the following and you really should be going through this thought process with each corner; The first is what line you will follow through the corner – will it be an early or late apex, or, will you go down the middle of the lane? On a blind right hander you should hug the white line because cars tend to cross over the center line and you really don’t want to end up helmet-to-hood ornament. Next is slowing to the appropriate entry speed for the line you have chosen and you should be at that speed when you get into the entry window. The entry window is the point at which you look into the corner to determine several things – have you chosen the appropriate line, is there gravel or other debris on the road, have you selected a good speed, do you have enough margin to deal with any surprises? Having made those determinations and their associated decisions, it is in the entry window that you get off the brakes begin to lean into the corner and roll on the gas and enjoy the pull and the power.
This guy waited until he was IN the corner before he braked and then he braked most of the way through as he followed a zigzag path through the corner. To make matters worse these were gentle sweepers and he was going through them a good 15-20 mph slower than could be done very safely! I shifted down and passed him on the next straight; he was not happy about that and crowded me a little as I did not go more than ten above but the next corner came up in about a quarter mile and that was where I left him wobbling about. He did pass me when I had stopped to take a photo but we ended up stopping at the same gas station in Gunnison. Unusual for a biker, he did not pull up to the next pump so we could chat.
It started to rain a little before Gunnison where I stopped for gas and then stopped but the skies were a menacing gray, releasing the occasional shower on the ascent. Thankfully they were sporadic enough that the roads did not have a level of moisture that necessitated slowing for safety. I was concerned about keeping good time because I was meeting up with friends for dinner and rain was forecasted for the afternoon and I wanted to be out of the mountains before it came down. With the skies looking the way they were I decided that I would change gloves at the top of Monarch pass. It was in the 40’s up there and I stopped in front of the sign to take a picture. When I got off my bike it started to snow. I could not believe it and quickly went to work on the gloves and in the couple of minutes it took to change gloves snow had started to accumulate on the bike! It was melting when it hit the parking lot so I hoped it would be the same with the road. I hopped back on the bike and started the descent. I only went half a mile before the windshield was rendered opaque by the accumulated snow and I had to keep brushing it off my visor! Thankfully the snow only lasted for about two or three miles. A few miles later, when I was down on the plains west of Poncha Springs, I stopped to change gloves and saw a kid on a sport bike wearing just a tee shirt as he was headed up the pass. It may have been in the 80’s down here but he evidently had no idea to expect rain and snow through the pass. I hope he made it okay!
I stopped at Monarch Pass to take a photo of the bike on the highest pass of the day and notice that portions of the parking lot are dry.
It suddenly started snowing and in the time it took me to take the first photo, pull gloves out of my tank bag and walk around the bike to this side the snow was already starting to accumulate on the bike and the entire parking lot was wet plus, you can see the snow starting to stick on the embankment on the edge of the lot over the bike!
I turned north on route 285 in the Arkansas River valley and the ride up to Johnson Village where I would turn off onto route 24 offered great views of the following mountains – Ouray at 13,971 feet, Shavano at 14,229, Antero at 14,269, Princeton at 14,197, Yale at 14,196 and Harvard at 14,420. I wonder if those educational institutions paid a little money for those peaks to be named after them or, if it was simply the east coast establishment’s way of putting their stamp on the west.
This is Mount Shavano on the left at 14,229 feet and Mount Antero on the right at 14,269 feet taken from route 285 just north of Poncha Springs. Monarch pass is just to the left of Shavano and you can see that it is still snowing up there.
Though none of the next three passes held any of the drama of Monarch the cresting of each did reveal yet another highland plain bordered on all sides by snow covered mountains. At 10,001 feet, Kenosha Pass was the highest but I did not get the rain and snow I expected. After Kenosha the descent into Denver started and with each turn the sky got darker and more threatening. Just before the appropriately named town of Conifer I came up on a pick-up truck with a bunch of bankers boxes neatly stacked and strapped down ..... with the exception of the center one at the back. Somehow it had slipped and was hanging off the back with only the strap holding it on. I flashed my headlights at the truck and he eased over a little, I passed and pointed at the top case of my bike and then at his truck and then at the side of the road in a frantic manner and he slowed down but did not stop. I watched him in my mirrors for a mile or so but then decided that I should probably pay more attention to my own business than his so I wished the best for him and carried on.
This is just after cresting Trout Creek Pass, 9,847 ft., looking across the South Platte River valley and plains towards the mountains that I would cross on Red Hill Pass, elevation 9,986. For a feel of scale, the base of those peaks is about 20 miles away.It started to rain when I go into Denver. I had to get on the freeway for a few miles and when I got off I called Terry again to let him know I had made it and would meet at his office. I got gas and then the skies opened up with a violent thunderstorm. I waited at the pump for a few minutes and when the rain did not let up I pulled out and had a rather interesting ride through the rain as I got myself lost trying to find a mall near Terry’s office where I would take shelter until he was ready to leave. I was not successful in finding the mall but I did make it to a bus shelter/information stand about a quarter mile from his office and took shelter in there where I waited for his call. Of course it stopped raining as soon as I found shelter but the timing was perfect because he called a few minutes later and directed me to his office.
We met up at the office and I followed him home where I could get out of my wet gear before we went to dinner. At the house we were met by his wife, Claudia, and their two enthusiastic dogs. We enjoyed a delightful dinner at a nearby restaurant and returned to the house where we watched the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Eastern Conference final series. Theirs is a beautiful house and they put me up in a nice bedroom in the finished basement with what has got to be the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in!! Boy, did I get a good night’s sleep!!
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