I wrote just three days ago about the conditions on Guanella Pass, so with that on my mind, when my wife wanted to head for the high country the next day I knew where I wanted to go.
The last time we were up there was two years ago, and what we saw then was what I described. Well, there is a lot that has changed in two years.
For one thing, the reconstruction work I mentioned has begun, and going up from the Georgetown side the road is horrible. Horrible! It’s one lane in several places, with traffic signals stopping you or letting you pass, but the road surface on most of it is so bad it’s amazing. I can hardly believe the county would let it get this bad, although I wonder if perhaps it is the heavy construction going on that has torn the road up like this. If that’s the case then of course they won’t want to repair the road surface until the heavy work is done. The project won’t be completed for another couple years.
After awhile you get past the mess and then the road is pretty good the rest of the way up. It’s mostly paved, although still rough, and just as you near the top it turns to gravel. It’s definitely passable. We couldn’t really tell what the condition was two years ago because it was all covered with snow at that time.
And it is beautiful up on top! It was beautiful last time, too, but it was an all-covered-with-snow beauty. I had forgotten just how spectacular it is when the snow is gone.
Heading on down the other side it continues as gravel and gets to be a lot of washboard. Then abruptly, about a mile from the top, you hit nice new asphalt. We guessed that this was where we hit the county line. If you look at the picture I included in the last post and you see the poor surface, that’s all been redone. The new asphalt continues for several miles and then you get back to the older surface and intermittent gravel. It’s all very passable, although if it has rained you will face mud.
So bottom line on all this, I still wouldn’t take a Gold Wing on this road but anyone who doesn’t mind doing some dirt would find this a really nice ride. You’ll need to go slow on the part where the surface is so bad but you definitely can do it. Just try not to get caught in a thundershower.
Consequently, I will be adding this road to the Dirt Roads and Side Trips page of the website.
Biker Quote for Today
Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling.
It’s not that I didn’t know this pass existed, because my buddy John rides that route periodically when the OFMC comes home through Dinosaur. John lives in Montrose so he splits off from the group in Dinosaur and heads down CO 139 home. He has told me there is a pass there but he never really impressed on me that this is a really nice pass.
