Passes & Canyons Blog

Stopped going up Molas Pass by some mishap apparently suffered by some other motorcyclists.

On day four of this year’s OFMC trip we were only riding from Montrose to Durango so there was no hurry. Had a leisurely breakfast and then made a couple short stops along the way to Ouray.

Now, the last time I had gone over Red Mountain Pass was with the RMMRC back in September 2021 and there was construction underway on the pass. That meant that the road was closed from about 8 a.m. to noon, then again from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We got an early start and it was just frigid. By the time we reached Silverton and stopped to get coffee my hands were so numb I had to warm them up before I could open my gas tank to put gas in.

This was much warmer but still quite cool so you can bet I had my electric vest on and in use. And glad to have it.

We stopped at Silverton and walked around a bit. We were in the local Harley gear store—not bikes—when about 40 bikes rumbled in en masse. I don’t know if they had someone running ahead who secured parking but they all managed to park along one block of one of the side streets. We later watched them pull out and it was a seemingly endless procession, just ones and twos and threes and more and more and more. No idea where they were coming from or where they were headed.

Silverton of course is one terminus for the narrow-gauge train that runs a couple of times each day between Durango and Silverton. There are restaurants and shops strategically located right where the train comes in to draw in the folks getting off the train. We decided to have a light lunch at one of these restaurants, each of us wanting only soup.

We walked in and sat down and they were clearly way overstaffed. Presumably in anticipation of the train’s arrival. Although they had a sign promoting it, they had no soup that day so the three of us split an open-faced sandwich three ways and it was without a doubt one of the two worst meals of this trip. Then the train came in, the streets filled with people, and we departed.

As we headed up Molas Pass we soon came upon a blockage. We couldn’t see what was going on up ahead but there were flashing red lights. Once we started moving again we saw that there were a bunch of bikers pulled off along the guard-rail and they were looking pretty glum. No real idea what had happened but it would appear one of their group had a mishap. Our sympathies, guys.

One of the consequences of doing a trip like this one, where we keep the day’s miles low, is that we get into town at our next stop pretty early, and maybe don’t have anything to do. That was the case this day and we ended up sitting in the lobby of our motel waiting for our rooms to be ready.

It was at this time Bill confirmed the vibe I had been picking up from him that he just has lost interest in doing these trips. He said he did not want to go to Mesa Verde–which was our next planned destination–but ultimately he concluded it made sense to just cut out that night and move the rest up one day. If possible. And it was. I canceled at Mesa Verde and got a full refund and Dennis & I were able to move our other reservations up one day. But I strongly suspect now that this is the final OFMC trip.

Our motel was a moderate distance from downtown but Durango has a good free trolley that runs all over so we took it downtown. Had a good dinner, got some great ice cream, and also spent some time at the surprisingly well-done railroad museum they have at this other terminus to the narrow-gauge train. Once again playing the tourist on this Colorado adventure tour.

Day five of the trip was the obligatory golf day so we stayed two nights in Durango. The golf course is up by the college on a ridge high above the main part of town, offering a terrific view. So day five was fun and leisurely, too.

Biker Quote for Today

May every “empty” parking space you see in the distance actually contain a motorcycle.

It’s pretty dang hard to beat motorcycle riding in Colorado.

Over the years I have received numerous requests from folks coming to Colorado to ride, asking me for recommendations on a route. I’m always happy to oblige and each one is different, with different parameters of what they want, how long they have . . . that kind of stuff.

The most recent is from Kevin in Indiana. He said he and a buddy have ridden many of the unpaved passes throughout the state by now they want to come on street bikes with their wives and do the pavement. Rather than the hub and spoke riding they have done out of Frisco and Crested Butte, Kevin asked for “an epic continuous trip” for his buddy’s 60th birthday.

Here’s what I sent him.

OK Kevin, I have something mapped out. A couple days are a bit over 250 but under 300. Obviously you can make any changes you see fit.

Figuring on you starting in Denver you can go north to Loveland, up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road to Granby and then take US 40 on to Kremmling for the night. This is shorter than 250 but with Trail Ridge Road you’ll definitely want to be making stops. You will need to make a reservation to get into Rocky Mountain National Park. The less busy entrance is the Fall River Road entrance. Park entrance differs if you want to see the park or just go through. I believe they allow people passing through in without reservations both early and late. You’ll see plenty of the park just going through. If you don’t make a reservation you might want to spend the night in Estes so you’ll be right there to go through early. That’s what my wife and I did last year.

(As an alternative to Loveland and the Big Thompson you could go up any number of passes to the Peak-to-Peak Highway and take it north to Estes.)

From Kremmling take US 40 west a bit further and turn onto CO 134 over Gore Pass. At Toponas go south to Wolcott and I-70, then east to the Minturn exit and take Tennessee Pass to Leadville, then a bit further south to Twin Lakes and go over Independence Pass through Aspen and down to Carbondale. From Carbondale take CO 133 over McClure Pass down to Hotchkiss for the night.

From Hotchkiss go west on CO 133 to CO 65 through Cedaredge and over the Grand Mesa. When the road forks north of Mesa stay on 65 (left fork) on to I-70. Take I-70 to Fruita then take the road south through Colorado National Monument, on Rim Rock Drive. Exiting the south end of the monument find your way to US 50 south and go maybe 8 miles to Whitewater. Take CO 141 west toward Gateway, then south to Telluride. This is the Unaweep Tabeguache Scenic Byway. Spend the night in Telluride.

From Telluride go over Lizard Head Pass down to Cortez, US 160 east to Durango, then US 550 north over Red Mountain Pass (the Million Dollar Highway) to Montrose, then east on US 50 to Gunnison. Overnight in Gunnison.

From Gunnison, run back a few miles to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and turn south on CO 149 through Lake City over Slumgullion Pass, through Creede and down to South Fork. Take US 160 west over Wolf Creek Pass to Pagosa Springs, then turn south on US 84 down into New Mexico to Chama. Go northeast from Chama over Cumbres and La Manga Passes on CO 17 up to Antonito, then US 285 north to Alamosa. Spend the night in Alamosa.

From Alamosa you have several options to get back to Denver. You can just take CO 17 north to pick up US 285 and follow that all the way to Denver. Or you can take US 160 east over La Veta Pass to Walsenburg, then go right back west and north out of Walsenburg on CO 69 to Westcliffe, then east on CO 96 on to Pueblo or up to Florence, to Penrose, and on to Colorado Springs.Or make your way to Canon City and then, because you guys are comfortable on gravel, take Phantom Canyon Road (CR 67) up to Cripple Creek, CR 61 up to Divide, pick up US 24, and take that to Woodland Park. At Woodland Park you can either continue on US 24 to Colorado Springs or go north on CO 67 through Deckers to Pine to US 285 southwest of Conifer. Then take 285 on into Denver.

This would be a heck of a good ride. Pick and choose what you like.

Besides being a nice guy and mapping this out for Kevin and his crew, I’ve done myself a favor here. First off, I got this blog post out of it. At this time of year it is harder than during the summer to keep coming up with blog ideas. But I may make it a triple. I figure this might well be a good basis for planning the 2025 OFMC trip. The 2024 trip is already planned but I might incorporate a lot of this for 2025. Also, I’ve been thinking for a long time about putting a ride together for the RMMRC. This might also go a long way toward that plan. We’ll just have to see what develops.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your only scoot has been a Knucklehead & you don’t even know what that is.

The OFMC on the road in 2016.

I was late getting the plans for this year’s OFMC trip set but finally did. It’s actually harder to plan a trip with shorter days than with longer ones. We’ll be staying almost entirely in Colorado this year.

The mandate from the guys–primarily Bill–was no long hard days of riding. Dennis suggested we play tourist a bit more than we generally have. I came up with a plan.

First off, following last year’s hellacious trip home on I-70 on Sunday with all the horrendous traffic that always entails, I suggested that hey, we don’t need to leave and come home on weekends. We can go and return in the middle of the week. Everyone agreed to that.

So we’ll be leaving on a Wednesday and going up over Berthoud Pass, through Winter Park and Granby just on to Hot Sulphur Springs. And there we’ll partake of the hot springs for a good hot soak. Just in case we’re a bit sore from the first day’s ride.

Next we’ll hit Kremmling and turn south, catch I-70 briefly to Copper Mountain, and then take Fremont Pass over to Buena Vista. We’ll make sure to get there early enough for this day’s activity: zip-lining. I had looked at doing some river rafting but we have all done that before and none of us has done a zip line. I’m hoping it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Originally I planned it out that we would backtrack to Twin Lakes and take Independence Pass over to Aspen and Carbondale and then turn south toward McClure Pass to spend a night at the Redstone Inn in Redstone. Calling for reservations, though, it turned out they have a big wedding going on that weekend and there is not an available room in town. Searching further and further afield it finally worked out that the best alternative was Montrose, and if we’re heading to Montrose from Buena Vista it made sense to take an entirely different route. So we’ll go over Cottonwood Pass down to Almont, to Gunnison, and then take US 50 to Montrose.

The next day we’ll just head straight down US 550 to Durango, going over Red Mountain and Molas Passes on the way. Durango will be a two-day stop because the next day instead of riding we’ll play golf. Golf is an always kind of thing on the OFMC trips these days.

We’ll have a pretty short ride the day we leave Durango as we are just going to Mesa Verde National Park. More playing tourist. In the early days of the OFMC we always found the cheapest place to stay we could. Nowadays we all have more money and we’re spending it. We’ll be staying at the grand lodge–the Far View Lodge–in the park. That should be really nice.

We’ll ride around and see the park the day we get there but the next day’s ride is not a long one either: it’s time for the mandatory gambling stop. We’re heading on to Ignacio, to the Sky Ute Casino Resort. We’ve stayed at the Sky Ute before but they used to be in a much smaller place and it was inexpensive. The new place is fancy and the price reflects that. And that’s before you give them money at the tables and machines. But we like a little gambling.

The next day of this trip is the longest one. We’re heading for Fort Garland and there were two possible routes to get there. One would be to just get on US 160 all the way, over Wolf Creek Pass. That’s a little shorter, but only a little, than what we’re going to do. We’ll take 160 to Pagosa Springs but then turn south into New Mexico, to Chama, and then turn northeast over Cumbres and La Manga Passes to Antonito. Then some mostly straight roads to Fort Garland.

Our final day, coming home, we have choices. The direct shots would be either to go east on US 160 to I-25 and take it all the way home, or jog west and pick up US 285 north all the way home. If we feel like a more scenic route I was thinking go east to Walsenburg and then turn northwest on CO 69 to Westcliffe, and then a series of roads up to Penrose, to Colorado Springs, and then pick a route home from there. This would be an equally long day as the previous one, so we’ll see what we all fell like at that point.

And that will do it. I’m thinking it’s going to be a good trip.

Biker Quote for Today

“I’m a decent sprinter and I can gun a motorcycle from zero to suicidal in less than ten seconds.” ? Mira Grant

The Animas River where it is crossed by Baker’s Bridge.

Red Mountain Pass was going to close for construction at 8:30 a.m. so we agreed to play it safe and leave Ouray at 7 a.m. You could call that an excess of caution, and Ralf did, saying he planned to leave at 8 and maybe we would still be in Silverton having breakfast when he got there. We were and he did.

This was day three of the Colorado Cruise, my first multi-day ride with the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club (RMMRC).

It was not as cold in Ouray at 7 a.m. as we all expected but we were already at 7,800 feet and the top of Red Mountain Pass is 11,000 feet. I blessed myself for having brought my electric vest and cursed myself for not digging out the liner for my mesh jacket. It was somewhere at home.

We started up the pass and it got cold in a hurry. The sun was up somewhere but with the mountains we sure couldn’t see–or feel–it. By the time we got to the top my fingers were ice cubes and the rest of me was not far behind. I really couldn’t feel the warmth from my vest except I know that without it I would have been totally frozen. I anticipated warmer air as we descended.

But Silverton is still 9,300 feet up there so you can be excused for not noticing much more warmth. Finally we were coming to a bend where I could see sunshine but as we came around it we suddenly had the blazing sun, barely above the horizon, smack in our faces, almost totally blinding us. And then we were back in the shadows.

We got to Silverton and stopped first for gas. My tank bag on the V-Strom covers the gas cap and there are two clasps that need to be undone to access it. For a couple minutes my fingers were too numb to open the clasps. And then it was only with difficulty that I inserted the key to open the gas cap. Give me some coffee and some breakfast!

Not so easily done. Every restaurant in this country seems, at this time, to be short of staff. Posted hours mean nothing; they open when they open. We could find only one open restaurant in Silverton and they had a 90-minute wait. We settled for coffee and pastries at an open coffee shop. And Ralf showed up.

Back on the bikes, we headed toward Durango but Bob knew a better route. About 20 miles south of Silverton we turned off onto County Road 250, took a couple of sharp turns, and stopped at a bridge over a good-sized stream. This was Baker’s Bridge and Bob explained that it was the place where, in the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Butch and Sundance landed after they jumped off a cliff into the river below. Now, it wasn’t where they jumped from, but this is a movie and they filmed the jumping somewhere and the landing somewhere else. This was the somewhere else.

We then stayed on 250 as it ran along the hillside of the valley leading down to Durango. Coming into Durango we turned onto North College Drive, still on the hill skirting the town, and finally coming out on CO 3 at the south end of town before getting onto US 160 eastbound. We totally missed all the mess and congestion that is Durango. What a great route! And it was very pretty, too.

So we headed east on US 160 over to Pagosa Springs. We stopped for lunch in Pagosa but again found it hard to find a nice restaurant that was open and didn’t have more than an hour to wait. Finally we just split up with some going to a nicer place and others going to fast food joint. And Charley and Karen went off to their daughter’s house.

We had agreed to meet up again on top of Wolf Creek Pass but that didn’t happen. Nobody was interested in waiting who knows how long at the top of the pass when they’d rather be riding. So our group rode on down to South Fork where we stopped for gas. Then we turned north on CO 149 up over Slumgullion and Spring Creek Passes. Starting down Slumgullion we caught up with some riders and — surprise! — they were part of our group. They had passed us while we were getting gas.

On through Lake City and down to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and to Gunnison. That was a long day’s ride. Good to reach the end.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you’re a HOG member and think you’re an outlaw.

Dennis and me at the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

After a day off the bikes we were ready to ride again. Today’s destination: Durango.

Another early start had us riding in the cool of the morning along Blue Mountain Reservoir and on to Montrose. By Montrose it was hot and time to peel off some clothes. Heading south we passed through Colona and thought about stopping and calling John, who lives up in the hills nearby, but didn’t figure we should. John is one of the OFMC founders but he has health issues and is no longer riding. Those same health issues have him and Cheryl happily isolating way out here away from the virus. We didn’t think he would even want to come down and meet us in Colona so we didn’t even suggest it.

As we approached Ouray the sky ahead was ugly up ahead but we figured we’d keep going until we needed to suit up. We headed up Red Mountain Pass and it wasn’t looking bad but finally Dennis decided to pull over. We geared up and before we were ready to roll again the rain was falling. Good timing Dennis. But it never rained hard and we could have done without the gear.

It didn’t amount to much, however, and was totally stopped by the time we reached Silverton. Silverton, in case you are unaware, is a mandatory ice cream stop. And we’re nothing if not law-abiding bikers. Silverton was crowded but most people were wearing masks even out on the street. Clearly we were not the only ones who were determined not to let a microorganism spoil their vacation.

The sky was looking ugly again as we got ready to leave so we put the rain gear back on but once again it could have been left off.

The cruise on down to Durango was uneventful, other than Bill’s failure to notice as Dennis tried repeatedly to get him to pull off so we could shuck our now hot extra layers. Finally he and I just pulled off and figured Bill would notice we weren’t behind him. Rolling again we soon came on Bill, who had taken the opportunity to shed his own gear.

“Was there a problem,” he asked me.

“Dennis wanted to stop and take stuff off but you didn’t notice his signals to you.”

“He should have pulled around me and pulled off.”

“Tell that to him.”

We really do have some signals agreed upon but they don’t work if the person in the lead is not paying attention.

By the time we got to our motel, however, Bill was glad to have gotten that stuff off beforehand. It was hot! What changeable weather we have in Colorado.

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider: 06. — Password is “WillieG”

Cruising into Ouray.

We took off from Silver City this morning in the cool and made good time. We went through some nice farming and ranching land and then got into the Apache National Forest and went up and down and winding around through some beautiful country. And it stayed cool. Early in the day we stopped at a tiny little place and found they had ice cream so 10 a.m. was ice cream hour on this day.

Then we continued north and ran into more chip seal. This road was not all twisty like the one the day before but the chip seal went much longer. It’s about 38 miles from Apache Creek to Quemado and we hit the chip seal after about 5 miles. This was where the work was going on where the overlay was the freshest. It got progressively better–more embedded with less loose stuff–as we went along and toward Quemado it had even been swept, although none of it had been striped yet. I explained that while planning the route I had consulted Chipseal.gov to find where all the work was planned so I could route us through as much as possible (wink). Dennis noted that I had done a fine job in that regard.

By lunch, though, it was hot and the land was still nice but not as nice. These New Mexico highways have 55 mph speed limits and, in the lead, I generally ran at about 65. But later in the day, on a highway with zero traffic, I kicked it up to 75-80 just to burn through these very straight miles. We reached Gallup and found our hotel and kicked back with some beers.

Friggs was feeling amazingly good this morning, considering his crash yesterday. He had expected at least a sore shoulder but didn’t even have that. It’s pretty amazing. The one really telling image though is his helmet. This top quality, expensive helmet is absolute trash, though he will wear it home. All you need to do is look at the side of the helmet and then think about the side of his face and there is nothing at all to be said. No words can ever say as much as that image.

Leaving Gallup the next day we had a long, straight, relatively uninteresting ride north to Shiprock. Yes there are some big rocks around here sticking up hundreds of feet from flat ground but the area is mostly flat and very brown and barren. Then east to Aztec and north to Durango. It gets prettier as soon as you get into Colorado and I was surprised to find that it is only 33 miles from Aztec to Durango.

North out of Durango it gets dramatically beautiful quickly. Up to Silverton over Molas Pass and then to Ouray over Red Mountain Pass. The Million Dollar Highway. There was construction in places on U.S. 550, so at times it was pretty slow going. Of course, if you were behind Friggs—which I was—it was all slow going. After his crash the other day, Friggs is spooked and not at all confident on the mountain curves.

Then there were the idiots. We got behind a tanker truck over Red Mountain Pass and traffic piled up behind us. We’re not crazy, nor did we have any reason to rush, so no problem. But several idiots sped past us and then proceeded to pass the truck on blind curves with double yellow lines. If someone had been coming the other way there would have been slaughter. It was only luck that kept everyone alive. What is wrong with people?

Reaching Ouray, our day’s destination, we found our motel and awaited the arrival of OFMC co-founder John, who was missing his first ride in our 30-year history. Health issues have forced John to give up riding but he lives just a few miles north of Ouray so he came to join us for the night. The first thing Friggs did when John arrived was to tell him about his crash and how he has decided to give up riding after we get home. This was the first time Friggs had stated such an intention, though I had wondered if he was having thoughts of that sort.

In discussion, however, John mentioned that he had thought about continuing to come along, in his truck, but didn’t think driving alone was all that appealing. But if Friggs would like to ride with him then by golly, the two of them could be right back with the group again next year. Friggs jumped at that suggestion so that may well be the way we go next year.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles: more spacious than a car.

Recap: Steve and some buddies are coming from New Zealand in 2009 for some motorcycle touring in Colorado and Utah. This series of posts lays out their proposed routes, with my comments. Your comments are welcome as well.

Day 3

Our biker buddies are leaving Gunnison today, making just a partial loop ride. The plan was originally to do another day trip and spend a third night in Gunnison, but that has been changed, and I think the new plan is a lot better. They’ll end up tonight in Ouray, which is a very nice place to stop. The ride will cover about 270 miles. If they pushed on back to Gunnison it would be another 90 miles, 60 of which they would then retrace the next morning. This is definitely a better plan. Here’s the map. Or click the link to view the larger map.

The day begins with a short jaunt west on US 50, just to the eastern end of the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Here you find CO 149, which goes south to Lake City and beyond. Lake City is a pretty little town that is famously home to Texans and the Alferd Packer Massacre Site. For whatever reason, Texans who like to vacation in Colorado have settled on Lake City as their main spot. I even heard a story some years ago that the state of Texas was considering acquiring property around here and creating a Texas state park. That was probably bull, but you get the picture.

As for Alferd Packer, he is Colorado’s only convicted cannibal. He and some other men were stranded by snow in the winter of 1874 and he was the only survivor. It turned out he had survived by eating his companions. The University of Colorado at Boulder has named the cafeteria in its student union the Alferd E. Packer Memorial Grill. There’s a monument that marks the site as you head south out of town.

Heading south out of town on CO 149, you soon cross Slumgullion Pass and then Spring Creek Pass. Once over Spring Creek Pass you will definitely want to stop and check out South Clear Creek Falls. It’s just a quarter mile off the highway on a good paved road. No fees as I recall.

Further along on CO 149 the route leads to Creede. If you just stay on the highway you’ll go past the town but that would be a mistake. Stop here for lunch, or at least for ice cream. Ice cream is very big in Creede.

CO 149 runs into US 160 at South Fork and our riders here take a right. This goes up over Wolf Creek Pass and down to Pagosa Springs. Wolf Creek Pass is another of those great passes you come to Colorado to ride. Here’s an example of what you’ll see coming down on the west side.

From Pagosa Springs US 160 leads west over Yellowjacket Pass, another low pass, and on to Durango. Durango is another town that would be well worth staying at for a day or two, but that’s not on the agenda today.

Heading north out of Durango on US 550, our riders will cross two lower passes, Coal Bank Pass and Molas Pass, before descending into Silverton. This part of Colorado seems thick with picturesque towns and Silverton is another of them. It’s also the home of a big hang-gliding festival each summer.

Continuing north, the road crosses Red Mountain Pass. You may get tired of me saying this, but this is another great pass to ride. Plus, one of the really spectacular parts of it is the descent into Ouray. I definitely prefer to take this road north to south rather than going the other way.

Ouray is an excellent place to stop for the night after a day in the saddle. Good restaurants and hot springs are a terrific way to end the day. Be advised that unless you stay at one of the motels that have hot springs on their property you will have to pay to soak. We stayed at the Box Canyon Lodge one time and that is one I could recommend. If anyone else has recommendations please leave a comment with your thoughts. Thanks.

An Aside

For those of you who have been here before and are surprised to see the change in the layout, let me explain. I just updated to a new version of WordPress, the blog application I’m using, and it blew away all my customizations. Now it’g going to take me a while to make this thing look the way I had it. Bear with me.