July 18th. Woke up at The Alps Hotel in Leadville and put everything back on the bikes. Ken is still a little wary of the movement on the back of his bike. We strolled over to the Tennessee Pass Cafe for breakfast and talked it over. A decision was made that we should tackle the issue now. Ken called the only welding shop in town to see if they were capable of tig welding and got an extremely vague yes and no answer. So, Ken just asked if we could take the bike apart at his facility and we will just see what is going on and make a decision from there. He said that would be fine. We finished breakfast, grabbed the bikes, headed over to the weld shop and met Jeff Fletcher. He was a pretty serious guy but I managed to get this smile out of him. We tore Kens bike down to get a good look at the sub frame. Nothing...we found nothing at all. There was some flex and we came to the conclusion that a little flex is good for absorption. Ken reassembled his Terra and we never had a problem. My rack is a one piece design and his is a three piece. They definitely feel different, but both worked well. Anyway, we started to look around and asking questions about some of this stuff laying around. It was like everything in this town that was old and still in working order, or that could be brought back into working order, wound up here so Jeff could take care of it. We showed up just in time as he was getting some old motors and generators ready for a county event. I think the newest thing on that trailer was from 1914. He used a hand crank on the 1914 generator and had to hand rotate the flywheels on the others. He even had an old Cushman Husky that he started up for us. I can't even explain how cool this was! We were all smiles.
Jeff wasn't disappointed at all that we didn't actually have a welding job for him. I think I even sensed a little relief that he didn't have to try and find his old tig torch. On to Gypsum. Hagerman Pass was the only technical riding for the day. I dropped my bike when I missed a turn and lost my footing in a rut trying to turn it around. So, two downs for me and none for Ken....what the heck!? Ken may need some help tipping over his bike.. Turquoise lake just outside Leadville and Hagerman Pass. Ken's Flex-o-Rack system.
We made it to Gypsum and crossed I-70. There were some interesting roads that took us down to the Colorado river with nice scenery and gypsum everywhere. This first photo is just before I-70 and the others are after we cross.
When I look at the photos above I wonder where in the world did the storm come from!? Everything was going great and then we hit a little rain. Before we know it, we are in a massive storm and Ken gets blown across the lane into on coming traffic. We throw in the towel right at the little town of State Bridge. Ken makes a unanimous decision that we are staying here, no matter what it costs! This was a very, very good decision. We got our cabin by the river and I took this shot as soon as we got there. Notice how the river is green. Now notice it turning brown.
It turns out that there were mud slides from the storm...on the road right in front of us...in three separate places. Now it turns to mud. And they shut the road down. It was all very entertaining!
Awesome work thus far Fab! I just got back from Idaho and Montana last night - your ride report is motivating me to start my own. I have the same REI chair. It is the cat's pajamas after a day in the saddle!
I knew you were out and would be back soon. I have done an Washington/Idaho/Montana trip, but it was on my Buell and all street. I always wanted to go back on an ADV bike and check out the back country. Looking forward to the report and some pics of all the fish you guys caught!
Heck i find so many new things 200 miles from my house every ride i cant seem to plan a big trip like this. BUT, your pix have me wanting to ride Colorado real bad.
I know exactly what you mean. Chickabee and I explore areas within 100 miles of our house on our days off. We haven't even come close to seeing it all. It might take years, and that's ok.
Here are some pics from the cabin in State Bridge. It is a good thing all this happened on a Thursday night as we were told that the following night our little cabin was going to be double the price on Friday! They hold concerts and I guess it becomes quite a party. There was a crew working on the stage set up all night. My rafting family and friends say its been like that for years. They also have tepees and yurts for rent with no bedding, which just means you have to use your own sleeping bag and pillow. In the first pic notice the frapaccinos in Ken's pack. It was the closest thing we could get to real mochas! We got up the next morning and all was well. The road crews cleared the road overnight, the river was green again, and the sun was shining. The lower pic is what is left of one of the mud slides.
Something we did not know was that this was going to be the toughest day of riding on this trip. The rain caused lots of mud and a huge water crossing. I don't have any mud shots because we were too busy trying to keep the throttle open and the bikes up. I did get a shot of beaver pond though. I have video of Ken crossing it and have yet to ever load a video on YouTube. I hope to have some video towards the end of this report. I pulled up to this and thought about getting off and walking through it to find the shallow spots....for about two seconds, and then just bombed it! The water completely submerged the motor. Hearing your motor go under water is an awesome thing. The bikes pulled through it just fine. We rode on to Steamboat Springs. Here are a couple shots along the way. Got some lunch and coffee in Steamboat and ended this section of the COBDR. From now on we are on the FOUBDR (FabOneUp Back Country Discovery Route) and it gets Fab-ulous from here! . We headed west towards Walden and pulled in for the night. Tomorrow I get to guide Ken to some of my favorite spots in the state...and possibly the ENTIRE WORLD! Not really, but they are pretty awesome. . I will close this post with a pic of the Yampa river. The Yampa is Colorado's last wild river. Not a single dam controls its flow.
July 20th. Left out of Walden and headed for the Gates of Lodore to set up camp and create a center base in Browns Park so we can explore the area for a couple of days. Here is Ken in his new camp chair with the Gates of Lodore in the background. The geography is a little different. Most of the canyons here were created opposite. Rivers usually cut deeper and deeper into the earth and create a canyon. Here, the earth rises and the river cuts it as it rises. Here are the Gates as I get closer to the mouth on the hiking trail that leaves from our camp. The Green River is doing the cutting. This is also a huge rafting destination. I believe it is a three or four day float through Lodore Canyon.
Around 1840 Fort Davy Crockett was the first white trading post in Browns park. It faded away with the fur trappers and there is nothing left of the stick and mud built fort. 30 years or so later a new trading post and community center was built in the valley by John Jarvie. The John Jarvie ranch held the post office, general store, and a ferry service to cross the Green River. John also had his own ice house, black smith shop, and water wheel to feed an irrigation ditch for the valley. He even brewed his own liquor. John lived here with his wife and four sons. He was murdered by outlaws at the ranch when they tried to rob his safe. Two of his sons set out to track them and were also murdered by those same outlaws...one within a short time of tracking them and the other about two years later. The outlaws were never caught and oddly, no one knows who they were.
