It has been a long, wet, cold month of May...and for a former Floridian that needs both sunshine and throttle response to stay stress-free and cheery, it seemed even longer. But the clouds have finally broke and the sun has made her jubilant return so I decided to work Memorial Day and put in long hours all week so that I could take off tomorrow morning for a nice 4 night trip.

I'll be leaving Denver tomorrow and heading straight for Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the million dollar highway, Mesa Verde NP, Monument Valley, and Canyonlands NP before working my way back through Grand Junction, the Palisades, Aspen and Independence Pass on Monday.

Looks like the weather will be perfect (may be a little chilly) and I'll be camping the entire time. Can't wait for that fresh mountain air and magnificent starry skies.

Should have some great pics to share with everyone by next week.

 

Just got home a couple of hours ago from my first road trip this year -- spent a week riding up to West Virginia to visit grandson and enjoy some great roads!

 

Hope you're safe and have fun!

Glad you had fun with your boy!

Can't wait to see pics both of you! I'll be taking my trip in July.... so long to wait.

 

That's the way to do it....get the Memorial Day crowds back home and open things up a little. At least that's my plan for a little ride to southern Utah in a few days. Look forward to your ride report and comments about camping spots. Ride with pride......

 

I am leaving Santa Cruz Calif tomorrow for Key West

 

I'm envious - suffering a trip drought this year with a new job. Our first real trip won't happen until the end of July.

That's a great ride. I'm looking forward to the pics.

 

You have to go all the way cross country when you have some of the best riding in your back yard ??? I will never understand some people......


I am jealous...I have rode around SC and it is nice. (Got family in Watsonville) and I am jealous of such a road trip!

 

I would like to see some pictures. Probably still quite a bit of snow up there

 

So I got back yesterday evening. It was nothing short of an amazing trip. Weather was pretty much perfect, with only a little snow/hail and rain here and there...nothing bad enough to bust out the rain gear except for the first afternoon.

Temps ranged from right around freezing to high 90s on the Colorado plateau. The mountain passes were mostly dry but the vistas were blanketed in white thanks to the late late winterspring we had and the lowlands were greener than I've seen in the past 7 years.

I have some amazing pictures and will be posting a report and pics sometime this week. For now I have to get caught up on all the work that piled up. But here's two photos that show the amazing difference in topography that a mere 70 miles (by way of the crow) leads to.

Molas Pass, the middle of 3 passes on the Million Dollar Hwy:


Sunset view to the west and north from Park Point, the highest point on the mesa at Mesa Verde NP:



More to come later!

 

Great post! Looking forward to more when you get the chance.