You're a mad man! Yes, the vastness and beauty of this land puts things in perspective.


Yes, round trip & at this point we are headed home.

 

Day 31 Continued-

Short on time today, so short report.


With fresh batteries in Marys' camera and the video camera, we head up the hill. We've never been on this road before, not sure what to expect, but it looks good from here!







The views are stunning!







The road has a great surface...







...it is fast, winding, banked well, and steep...







...with some sharper curves here and there...








...that I slow down a bit for, but for the most part I am running up the hill at 60-70...







...mostly in 4th gear, yeah, it is steep! Every now and then I jump into 5th.







Before you know it, we are at the summit! Besides being 11,300 feet, it is also at the Continental Divide.

We spent a few minutes in the gift shop...







...then went over to the corner of the parking for a scenic view while we ate lunch....








...that's a ways down to the snow!






More on Day 31 coming soon.

 

Kevin,
Is your windshield some model of Long Ride Shields? Asking because of what looks like their little stick-on logo at the bottom (referring to photo of you changing camera batteries). I have a LRS 8" elite recurve and have been thinking of "full size" shield of some make for long, multi-day trips.

 

Beautiful view of wilderness gotta love the ride thanks for taking us along. travel safely fred

 

Yes, it is the LRS 14" Ultra with a recurve. It is really good in the cold, rain, snow, sleet.

I have been waiting almost 2 years, and I see that they now have the Javelin. It looks very similar to the Stealth model. I had a Stealth on my '11. It was a great windshield!


Thank you Fred!

 

Day 31 Concluded-


This is the little scenic corner where we ate lunch.







Packing up and getting ready to head out...








...the new larger Tour-Pak, that looks smaller, can hold quite a bit!







A look back toward the summit as we head down.







Unlike the pace I set, tearing up the hill to the summit...







...we taking a slow easy ride down, enjoying the winding road...








...& the curves (that I do speed up in a bit, just instinct-lol)...







...and the beauty of the mountains.








We are soon out of the mountains...








...and looking at a long straight road.






More in next post.

 

Day 31 Concluded-


Relaxing, cruise control on 70, heading down the road.







We're riding thru quite a variety of landscapes today...







...this seems like a lake, but it is Gunnison River.







Mary in the Mirror, and some fellow travelers ahead.








Back next to the river, with an amazing view!








This was a nice winding road thru a canyon, with a fair amount of traffic on it.







Finally got past the truck/trailer...








...but soon after the canyon ran out, but not the fantastic views!








Nothing like being in the wind on the open road!







Those mountains with snow on them...that is where we're headed!





More in next post.

 

Day 31 Concluded-


Making our way thru the town of Montrose, the last town before Ouray!








We're on the other side of Montrose now....








...that's where we're headed! We were just here last year, and are very happy to be back.








This is the last pic Mary got before the battery died...since we are just a couple of miles from Ouray we did not bother to stop and put a charged one in.







Here we are at the River's Edge Motel in Ouray. It is one of the few motels that we made reservations at ahead of time. She made them over 2 months ago and barely got them that far ahead!







I don't think there is anywhere you can turn in this town where there is not a good view!







After we unpacked and showered, we went up to Main Street and had dinner on the rooftop at the Ouray Brewery.







A pic on the way downstairs.







Back at the motel, the sun is still bright, high on the mountainside.






More coming soon.

 

I rode my bicycle from Ouray to Durango. The 3 passes that day were Red Mountain, Molas, and Coal Bank. This was on July 20. Almost 800 cyclists. About 3/4 of the way up Red Mountain Pass, it started raining. At the top, hail and snow. At the top I met about 20 folks that were off their bikes shivering under a tent. I refueled with water, coffee, and bananas and rode down the pass in slush, rain, and hail. I had good rain gear..but it was cold. I pedaled to stay warm. I got to the bottom to start Molas pass, and was stopped by a Colorado Highway Patrolman. He said no one was allowed up the road...4-6" of snow! I was ready to ride!! I rode into Silverton to the fire station. It was there that about 40 cyclists were bundled up awaiting ambulances to take them to a hospital. They were suffering from hypothermia. I was one of about 60 folks that rode down...I was fine. It took about 50-80 busses and numerous trucks to get us to Durango..just in time to set up our tents and eat. It was AWESOME!!

 

I saw the same sun and shade when Hunting in MT. years ago nice to see a picture of it brings back great memories. Thanks again! please as always travel safely fred