Day 4 - Colorado, In and Out

The top photo is looking out from Molas Pass, CO. The second photo is the welcoming sign Entering Colorado.

Hi everyone,

Today's total mileage was 375. Total trip mileage to date is 1839.

I left Monticello, UT at about 7:45 this morning and headed due east towards Colorado. My goal for the day was to ride over "The Million Dollar Highway and get to Taos. That was a bit much but keep reading.

After crossing the state line, I turned north so I could get on the north side of the aforementioned highway. I stopped in Norwood, CO for a bite to eat and hit the road after refueling. The winds were very bad today and it was very cloudy but I was spaired the rain.

The Million Dollar Highway starts out of Ouray, CO and summits at 11,104 feet. I have to say, it was a real grind to get up and over this road. I was stuck behind 2 large dump trucks that were crawling over the pass. Add to this, road construction and a horrible road surface. It was not real fun. The end of this section of road is in Silverton, CO. I stopped there to buy water and Gatorade and rest my wrists!

However, the fun does not stop there. Leaving Silverton, I rode over several other passes all of which were over 10,000 feet elevation. I took pictures at Molas Pass and you can view them on Picassa, here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daveste99/ If this doesn't work for some reason, let me know.

Okay, so to make a long day shorter, I rode into Durango and needed a break. I stripped off all my outer gear, secured it to the bike and walked about town for a little while. I stopped in at a Subway for a quick sandwich. Durango is a good size tourist town. Lot's of shops, stores, restaurants and activities. It was way to busy for me so I hit the road.

By now I knew I would not make Taos. It was already 2:00pm and the GPS had my Taos ETA at 7:00PM. I tried to make it anyway. As I was getting somewhat lost on the roads south of Durango, I ended up riding through Pagossa Springs. It looked real quaint with lots of tourist stuff to do. I kept riding and ended up in Chama, NM. The road from Pagossa Springs to Chama was really nice for motorcycling and I arrived at 5:00PM, ready to get off the bike.

I wish I could tell you I have lots of pictures of the mountains, ranch lands, rivers, lakes, etc., but aI don't. The thing is, taking pictures while on a motorcycle ride is difficult. The reason is because usually the best shots are on sections of road where there is no place to pull off. There is either no shoulder or it is gravel or soft dirt with a good slope to it. Plus stopping, getting off the bike, removing at least one glove and taking a picture takes a long time. So, if you are disappointed about the lack of photos, now you know the reason why.

Anyway, I got a nice room outside of Chama and walked to town for dinner. Had a good Mexican dish and here I am, just about ready to go to sleep.

It is very, very windy outside and I think it is from all of the nasty storms to the north of here.

Tomorrow, I am going to take a circuitous route to Taos and rest my body. If I were to drive straight there from here, it is less than 100 miles but I created a nice loop route of about 280 miles so I can see more of New Mexico.

Take care,

Dave