17 Passes in 32 Hours
Steve Smith had asked my assistance in planning his Colorado ride and he sent me this follow-up now that he’s back home. He rode some passes I’ve never been on. Makes it especially interesting. Here’s Steve’s report.
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My trip started in the western North Carolina mountains on Friday, July 3. My dog and I made Oklahoma City that night thru some nice hot weather. Saturday, the 4th, we kept on to New Mexico and up thru Taos to Antonito, Colorado area. I was not sure just exactly where some of the campgrounds were located on your website, so I took the safe route and checked AAA where I found the camp ground at Mogote. The people were nice and had a free cook out that evening. The facilities were nice with a shower and nice shaded camping area for $18.
Stunner Pass
The next morning I rode past the camp grounds that you mentioned and they looked very nice. My goal was to ride to the pass and find a sign and get a picture, so my first pass that morning was La Manga. It was a nice ride over to Cumbres for my second pass in just 30 minutes or so. I retraced my tracks back across La Manga to the forest road 250 and up to Stunner Pass. This road was very navigable but not recommended for a shiny Harley or Goldwing, due to the rocks and potholes. I was riding a loaded 1150 GS and it was slow going in a few places. As with all the roads in Colorado, they are all very scenic with great vistas. I kept going north up to the highway and made a left turn to Wolf Creek Pass for my 4th pass that day.
The next two passes were easy to achieve on a great road up thru Creede and on to Spring Creek Pass and then Slumgullion Pass for the 5th and 6th passes. Just past Slumgullion towards Lake City I made a right turn towards Los Pinos Pass. This road was even rougher than the road to Stunner but still was very scenic. At this pass the sign had disappeared so I have no picture of that one.
Once thru the pass it was about 29 miles out to Hwy 114 and to North Pass for my 8th pass. A u-turn took me back to Gunnison where I went up thru Crested Butte and on towards Kebler Pass. Before I got to that one there was a road off to the left to Ohio Pass. I found no sign but a nice rocky, pot-holed road for a couple of miles. Kebler was my 10th pass that day and the road on out to Paonia was a very nice gravel road. The aspen surrounding the Lupines and was a sight to behold. That evening I camped at the Redstone campground for $32. Yes I went over McClure Pass but since it was under 10,000 ft, I didn’t count it for that day.
By the end of the day I had ridden over 10 passes above 10,000 feet and was done with the pass counting in 10 hours.
Los Pinos Road
The next morning, I left Redstone and ventured up thru the slow traffic at Aspen to Independence Pass. Wow, the views were great. My next pass was Tennessee Pass north of Leadville. I retraced my track back to Leadville for lunch and then up to Fremont Pass. I continued north to I-70 over Vail Pass and then on to Shrine Pass, just a short 3 miles from the rest area on a good hard packed road that any bike could handle.
Next in my sights was Loveland Pass and then to Guanella Pass south of Georgetown, but the road was closed for construction so I went to Berthoud Pass instead. That was my last pass, as I told my sister I would be at her house north of Woodland Park at 4 PM. The road down thru Deckers was very nice and I was able to beat or avoid some rain and hail.
My total account was 17 passes over 10,000 ft. I started around 8 AM on July 5th and was drinking a cool one by 4 PM the next afternoon or 32 hours total. In hindsight I could have done more if I wasn’t so packed down and left my dog at home, but we had an excellent ride thru some very beautiful country.
I would not recommend Stunner and Los Pinos Passes for an inexperienced rider. That may be done better in a car or truck. On the other hand, any bike could make it, but it may be missing some parts that get rattled off during the ride.
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OK, so thank you Steve for that ride description. Now I’m going to have to find out where Stunner and Los Pinos Passes are.
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July 13th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Wow…enjoyed very much…loads of information regarding CO. passes…thanks…
July 14th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Good info on passes. However, I would encourage anyone from out of state to avoid riding in CO if at all possible. I was involved in a Harley vs. deer accident there (NE CO) on May 30. Given the circumstances (bike totaled, deer dead)I came out remarkably well (road rash and bruises).
Still, the fact that I survived apparently showed audacity on my part… I was ticketed for leaving the scene (a passing motorist helped me… shaken/ disoriented/bleeding and limping… what would you do… say “No, I’ll wait here 10 miles from anything?). I reported the accident 47 minutes after it occurred 11 miles south of Brush. Apparently that was not fast enough.
This ordeal (in addition to losing my beloved Dyna Low Rider,and medical bills) has cost me an additional $700 for legal fees (this was a SUMMONS- so either way I pay; pay a lawyer or pay several hundreds of dollars to drive 900 miles out there…plus I’m sure there would be a contempt of court charge or two).
Colorado law (LE, court system, etc.) seems to prey on out of state riders. When I am able to ride again-Colorado will never be on my travel itinerary.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Wow JD, that sounds pretty miserable. I certainly understand your aversion to coming here again.
That said, I can’t believe your experience is typical and anyone who lets that stop them from coming here to ride is missing out on some great roads. But yeah, I sure understand where you’re coming from.