Glad to get out of the heat in SoCal and landed in Flagstaff. Left the coast at 4am and beat it out of the high desert fast with temps only hitting 84 . Arrived mid day and due to rain just did some scouting so hope rain will hold off in the am. 9200 Ft. at Arizona Ski Bowl to get my bearings. That's some snow lower right and the Grand Canyon on the horizon. The smell of the aspens and pondorosa is a great change. Just outside of town is the the trail network, legal for dirt bikes and mtb. Conditions looks good. A good omen for the first day of the trip after 9 hours drive. More to come...
Too bad was pouring rain this morning and all the way to the CO line. In Durango now... Going to get my scouting done for tomorrows ride. Monument Valley looked awesome on the drive even schrouded by rain. Probably going to take the Husky up the Hermosa Trail as an up and back. Then some mountain biking. Well today brought storm clouds and while I picked up my ORV Permit a nice lady at the Forest Service Office did a weather check for me and storms on the radar for Durango, Ridgeway and Grand Junction so didn't risk a longer ride on the Husky and picked a less stormy area close to town on mtb. Better safe than sorry riding solo in new terrain. 11 miles at Horse Gulch ... Top of Mike's Trail... Lower Meadow... Planning on a few rides here, Silverton and out of Ouray and Ophir depending on conditions.
Poison Spider! It was predicted 5 days of rain in Colorado so figured Moab might have a chance for more spotty conditions and I knew the slickrock would be rideable. This was yesterday. Today was the day to get the Husky out. This morning awoke to this and a very peaceful night I have not had in years camping... I rode out to Hurrah Pass as I knew it would be rideable after the rains and also I'm not planning on any rides that I have to hike-a-bike with my mtb. I am cautious and today was a good test. One waist deep water crossing but the next one had very fast moving water. Heading out to Hurrah Pass... First water crossing. Uhhh, top of boots check, top of fender check. Phew...!
Mid point of yesterdays ride... No bike tracks and fast moving water so better to be safe... Rode up and down Porcupine Rim today. My goal was to ride above the water. 21 hard rocky miles and 3k of elevation. Totally wrung out. Food and another night camping, then probably head to Grand Junction to get a room. Moab is ridiculous for motel prices these days. $120+ for Motel 6? =/ Half way up... Looking out at Castle Valley on top of Porcupine Rim... Almost down to the van and the Colorado River...
Left Moab after breakfast and filling up my portable shower at the spring at the base of the rock on 128. Some places in CO reporting 100 year floods. Defntely seing lots of it... The Sprinter really works well for this kind of tour. Just move the tool boxes and crap and roll out the mat and sleeping bag... Found perfect conditions on the Kokopelli from the exit 2. I stopped in at the bike shop in Fruita to ask about trails. The guy reacted positively when I mentioned motorcycle and said he was just out here last night on his so filled me in. The rain tamped down the sand and the sun dried out most of the puddles. I made it up to the mesa where was just easy level rolling so turned around. Good mix of rock and sand for me. Rode about 26 miles. On the way out...
and one more of the Kokpelli... Some HD clips from my attempt to Hurrah Pass and at the Kokopelli... View: http://youtu.be/ubKDw1XKuec More rain so toured the Colorado National Monument... Basecamp for a couple of days is in Ouray, CO. Beautiful and sunny this morning driving from Fruita. Stopped at the Ridgway Resevoir for a paddle workout... View: http://youtu.be/Lih98CWkTz0
Took a tour to Governor Basin by way of the Yankee Basin Road to 12,000 ft. Graded road mostly due to lot's of fresh mining going on but the top two miles were more challenging. Tomorrow maybe head over Imogene Pass into Telluride. Heading down from Governor Basin... My trusty steed was getting ornery and decided to lay down in the trail. I kicked her a few times and she decided to let me ride some more. View: http://youtu.be/LvFX5g1hRhs
Made it to Telluride and back over Imogene Pass. For me it was just the challenge I needed as I left when was wet and had a hailstorm up top. The turn off to Imogene followed a road which was actually a stream bed I rode down and once on the main ascent crossed the stream a few more times. The climbs were rock bed and then loose rock with some dirt but wet so had to be real careful on the descent not to get the tail out. No problems and the Husky motored up like a tractor. A few stalls at elevation as I was idling in places but the decompressor is now working and the EarthX battery spun the engine effortlessly so my blood pressure was not an issue ;-) First time over the pass... View of Telluride on the descent... View from the Tomboy Mine halfway down the descent to Telluride... I pulled into Telluride and was going to stop but no parking on the main drag and I already had my fill of coffee so stowed my jacket and mounted up for the return.
The rain stopped and time to ride Hermosa Creek. I decided since I've never set foot on the trail and with all the rain it might be challanging so a pre-ride on mtb was in order. The trails were from hell after all the rain. First few miles not so bad. A few puddles and mud but further on was a full on rootfest and rocks and more mud. I soldiered on and while my Garmin GPS was saying I pedalled 47 miles I figured was time to turn and head out. Already feeling the adventures and the alititude... Time for a recovery day. Anyway rode 13 miles with a bunch of hike-a-bike. A guy did show up later and headed out on his Yamaha. More skilled than I and I made a smart move not riding the Husky. Might not have ended well. From Dutch Creek... Hermosa is most of the trail from the right side and the last draw where I go right is Dutch Creek. All this stuff is legal for dirt bikes as well as horses, etc...
