Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
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- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
I'm on a roll, officially working yet not, so I'll show a few more shots:
In September 05, my riding buddy/friend/colleague who lives about 3 blocks away and myself went to the southwestern part of Colorado for 5 days. It's a 7 hour drive to Silverton from where we live outside Phoenix on the northeast side. I had spent many happy days camping and climbing among the many peaks in that area, the San Juan Mountains area around Durango, Telluride, Ouray and Silverton. It is one of the most spectacular parts of this continent, the people are very outdoors-oriented and sportyand every town has a few small breweries that brew the best beer made over here, everything: pilsners, lagers, ales, porters and stouts designed to replace in one evening's sitting the 6000 calories you burned off climbing, hiking, skiing or mountainbiking that day.
The drive was uneventful, we stayed at a nice campground at the edge os Silverton which I discovered in 2004 when my dad came to visit and we took a trip to the same area. The weather was dodgy, lots of clouds rolling around, and occasional showers, we had brought enduro jackets but not waterproof gear. :shock:
We rode all day every day for 4 days, got very wet on days 1, 2 and 3. Combined with the altitude (between 9000 and almost 14000 feet/2500 to 4500m) it made for a few chilly rides back to camp, where we fought over the first hot shower. We stayed in a bungalow for 4 people with a kitchen so we had plenty of room to scatter wet gear everywhere and even bring my bike, which is a street-legal as-long-as-you-don't-look-too-closely XR 650, inside at night since it doesn't have an ignition key, all you do is kick and go.
The stormy weather system that had been plaguing us finally blew away the night before our last day, and it was one of the best days of riding I have ever had. We left Silverton at 7 am and didn't get back till about 8pm. We rode every high mountain passs in the area, but no singletrack, neither my XR 650 or Larry's Suzuki DRZ 400 likes that type of thing.
We rode passes with names like Engineer, Cinnamon, California, Imogene, Ophir, and the one that is considered THE most dangerous in the whole state, Black Bear pass. Every summer people get killed on it, usually a jeep that goes over the edge and tumbles a looong way. I had driven most of these in my old Land Cruiser previously, but never quite had the sack to go down BB. Oh yes - forgot to mention - it's strictly one way, downhill. A good rider on a bike with good suspension would get up it but vehicles, not a chance.
It was a simple time - all we did was ride all day, take a hot shower, have some kind of excellent meal and 2 or 3 beers in town, and crash. The riding plus the effects of altitude (we live at 400m) took care of any skirt-chasing or pissup ideas we may have had in the morning.
The campsite with our bungalow:
The old mining town of Silverton, now a tourist town in summer and ghost town in winter:
Cinnamon Pass, northeast of Silverton:
We had lunch in a little town called Lake City on the other side of the pass, you always see many different bikes here:
The "Alpine Loop" is exactly that, three passes that you can do as a loop of about 250 k's and is one of the most spectacular drives in the country. About half of it is hard-core 4x4 route, so the great unwashed masses never swamp it, in fact the higher elevations only see Jeeps and dualsport bikes
There was ONE noticeable exception though, one of the most stunning tales of foolhardinesst I've ever seen on a bike :shock:
Engineer pass,, the middle section of the Alpine Loop:
The first half of Engineer is relatively easy, but after passing through the remains of the little mining town of Animas Forks, it gets a lot more interesting, steep and rocky, as it drops down a steep and narrow river canyon to the town of Ouray. Actually it's more like riding next to a long bloody waterfall, which makes for some stunning scenery and fun riding.
Here's Animas Forks:
The ruins of a reduction mill close by:
Looking towards AF from the mill:
Within a km or so past the little ghost town the road gets steep and rocky, which gives Engineer its "moderate" rating on the difficulty scale in the guidebooks for the area. Up to thsi point it was rated "easy". Take note of this, cause it almost led to a nomination for the Darwin Awards (google that and see what comes up,you WILL laugh your arse off )
We were about a third of the way down, working hard and loving it when we pulled over for a Jeep coming the opposite way. These mountain roads have a nasty tendency to be at their narrowest at the steepest parts, and vice versa. There is a strict protocol on mountain passes like this worldwide: UPHILL TRAFFIC HAS RIGHT OF WAY. By this time, the weather was closing in and we expected to get wet before reaching Ouray. The driver of the Jeep stopped when he got to a flatter section of road, and we exchanged pleasantries. One thing about the mountains that restores a bit of your faith in humanity is the fact that under these conditions, you don't encounter any strangers. It is a hazardous environment with the very real potential of turining lethal in the blink of an eye, and the kind of people who like being there take care of each other and are always ready to help. We exchanged the typical observations of road conditions and weather, and he told us there were some Goldwings down on the road. Distance-wise we were only maybe 20 k's from the tar road and Ouray, so I assumed he meant that. Not so. He said they were on the pass just 2 k's down the trail. I didn't say anything, but thought he may have cracked the first pale ale a bit early that day.
We came bouncing around a rocky corner hard on the brakes a few minutes later to this sight:
There were two Goldwings and a BMW K1200 I was laughing so hard I almost dumped it. I simply HAD to talk to these boykies, it was the most insane thing I had witnessed in many years. This section of the pass is at least as steep as the upper part of Sani, and the road is UH-GLEE, with rocks as high as your knee and loose shit that makes it very sporty to say the least.
These guys had the same "Colorado 4 wheel trail guide" we did, in which Engineer was rated "moderate". They had ridden another pass with that rating, and it was "....easy except for one short section...." to quote the guy I was talking to. Aye, but here's the rub: as the foreword/indemnity to the book states, many trails are rated moderate or difficult based on small sections. BUT NOT ALL - some really ARE moderate or difficult most or all of the way
So they got suckered into believing that "moderate" was really aimed at sissies and that hardegat boys like themselves would do one-handers going down the puny little pass. The weather was turning ugly, which can become a life-threatening situation that high in the mountains very quickly, but as concerned as I was it was still the funniest thing I'd seen in a long time. They refused any kind of help, so we continued down the road, hoping to make Ouray before it started pissing on us.
Even so we had to stop at this old mine building, it's one of the most scenic parts of the pass:
We made it to the Ouray just before it really started pouring, sat under a big umbrella and had an excellent lunch. The shower ended, so we headed for Imogene Pass, which connects Ouray to Telluride over the highest pass in that area. The weather was very threatening all around with many showers to be seen, so we steeked it. It was quite a ride.
Just leaving Ouray, note the spectacular setting. Avery nice looking chick came up and offered to take this photo. Really.
Almost to the top we came upon a small 4x4 with a 2-stroke engine called a "Pinzgauer"which had rolled down a section so steep we couldn't stop till 100m later, two couples were in it. They were from Telluride, and familiar with the mountains, so they had been strapped in, nobody got hurt. Reminded me of a mini-Buffel, except this thing was so small and light a chicken curry fart would blow it over, from the looks of it. The one woman had a bit of a skrik but nothing the shot of brandy she was working on wouldn't cure.
The Pinzgauer back on its wheels:
On top of Imogene pass we posed for the obligatory "hero picture", a very nice Indian gentleman form Bombay and his wife took our photo and we theirs. It started to sleet, which is mostly unknown in SA - it's like icy rain, or rainy hail. We made good speed down the slightly easier slope to Telluride, and soon got out of the sleet and down a bit lower where it was warmer.
Top of Imogene Pass:
Imogene down into Telluride is very scenic, with some very narrow, steep sections and serious drop-offs. Also a tunnel:
Leaving Telluride we had to sit at a petrol station and wait for a violent shower to blow through, then again steeked it along a tar road to Ophir Pass, which took us back to Silverton. This day we got wet on Ophir, two days later we had beautiful weather.
Larry doing his "faster than a speedong bullet" impression in the rain at the summit of Ophir:
By this time we were thoroughly wet and cold, and 25 k's along aother tar road had us back in Silverton, a hot shower and the pub in short order.
That evening, walking back from the pub, we saw the 3 crazy bastards' bikes at a motel. We actually saw them in the pub the next night, they were none the worse for wear and looked a lot more intelligent (at least to me) than the last time we saw them.
In September 05, my riding buddy/friend/colleague who lives about 3 blocks away and myself went to the southwestern part of Colorado for 5 days. It's a 7 hour drive to Silverton from where we live outside Phoenix on the northeast side. I had spent many happy days camping and climbing among the many peaks in that area, the San Juan Mountains area around Durango, Telluride, Ouray and Silverton. It is one of the most spectacular parts of this continent, the people are very outdoors-oriented and sportyand every town has a few small breweries that brew the best beer made over here, everything: pilsners, lagers, ales, porters and stouts designed to replace in one evening's sitting the 6000 calories you burned off climbing, hiking, skiing or mountainbiking that day.
The drive was uneventful, we stayed at a nice campground at the edge os Silverton which I discovered in 2004 when my dad came to visit and we took a trip to the same area. The weather was dodgy, lots of clouds rolling around, and occasional showers, we had brought enduro jackets but not waterproof gear. :shock:
We rode all day every day for 4 days, got very wet on days 1, 2 and 3. Combined with the altitude (between 9000 and almost 14000 feet/2500 to 4500m) it made for a few chilly rides back to camp, where we fought over the first hot shower. We stayed in a bungalow for 4 people with a kitchen so we had plenty of room to scatter wet gear everywhere and even bring my bike, which is a street-legal as-long-as-you-don't-look-too-closely XR 650, inside at night since it doesn't have an ignition key, all you do is kick and go.
The stormy weather system that had been plaguing us finally blew away the night before our last day, and it was one of the best days of riding I have ever had. We left Silverton at 7 am and didn't get back till about 8pm. We rode every high mountain passs in the area, but no singletrack, neither my XR 650 or Larry's Suzuki DRZ 400 likes that type of thing.
We rode passes with names like Engineer, Cinnamon, California, Imogene, Ophir, and the one that is considered THE most dangerous in the whole state, Black Bear pass. Every summer people get killed on it, usually a jeep that goes over the edge and tumbles a looong way. I had driven most of these in my old Land Cruiser previously, but never quite had the sack to go down BB. Oh yes - forgot to mention - it's strictly one way, downhill. A good rider on a bike with good suspension would get up it but vehicles, not a chance.
It was a simple time - all we did was ride all day, take a hot shower, have some kind of excellent meal and 2 or 3 beers in town, and crash. The riding plus the effects of altitude (we live at 400m) took care of any skirt-chasing or pissup ideas we may have had in the morning.
The campsite with our bungalow:
The old mining town of Silverton, now a tourist town in summer and ghost town in winter:
Cinnamon Pass, northeast of Silverton:
We had lunch in a little town called Lake City on the other side of the pass, you always see many different bikes here:
The "Alpine Loop" is exactly that, three passes that you can do as a loop of about 250 k's and is one of the most spectacular drives in the country. About half of it is hard-core 4x4 route, so the great unwashed masses never swamp it, in fact the higher elevations only see Jeeps and dualsport bikes
There was ONE noticeable exception though, one of the most stunning tales of foolhardinesst I've ever seen on a bike :shock: Engineer pass,, the middle section of the Alpine Loop:
The first half of Engineer is relatively easy, but after passing through the remains of the little mining town of Animas Forks, it gets a lot more interesting, steep and rocky, as it drops down a steep and narrow river canyon to the town of Ouray. Actually it's more like riding next to a long bloody waterfall, which makes for some stunning scenery and fun riding.
Here's Animas Forks:
The ruins of a reduction mill close by:
Looking towards AF from the mill:
Within a km or so past the little ghost town the road gets steep and rocky, which gives Engineer its "moderate" rating on the difficulty scale in the guidebooks for the area. Up to thsi point it was rated "easy". Take note of this, cause it almost led to a nomination for the Darwin Awards (google that and see what comes up,you WILL laugh your arse off
)We were about a third of the way down, working hard and loving it when we pulled over for a Jeep coming the opposite way. These mountain roads have a nasty tendency to be at their narrowest at the steepest parts, and vice versa. There is a strict protocol on mountain passes like this worldwide: UPHILL TRAFFIC HAS RIGHT OF WAY. By this time, the weather was closing in and we expected to get wet before reaching Ouray. The driver of the Jeep stopped when he got to a flatter section of road, and we exchanged pleasantries. One thing about the mountains that restores a bit of your faith in humanity is the fact that under these conditions, you don't encounter any strangers. It is a hazardous environment with the very real potential of turining lethal in the blink of an eye, and the kind of people who like being there take care of each other and are always ready to help. We exchanged the typical observations of road conditions and weather, and he told us there were some Goldwings down on the road. Distance-wise we were only maybe 20 k's from the tar road and Ouray, so I assumed he meant that. Not so. He said they were on the pass just 2 k's down the trail. I didn't say anything, but thought he may have cracked the first pale ale a bit early that day.
We came bouncing around a rocky corner hard on the brakes a few minutes later to this sight:
There were two Goldwings and a BMW K1200
I was laughing so hard I almost dumped it. I simply HAD to talk to these boykies, it was the most insane thing I had witnessed in many years. This section of the pass is at least as steep as the upper part of Sani, and the road is UH-GLEE, with rocks as high as your knee and loose shit that makes it very sporty to say the least. These guys had the same "Colorado 4 wheel trail guide" we did, in which Engineer was rated "moderate". They had ridden another pass with that rating, and it was "....easy except for one short section...." to quote the guy I was talking to. Aye, but here's the rub: as the foreword/indemnity
to the book states, many trails are rated moderate or difficult based on small sections. BUT NOT ALL - some really ARE moderate or difficult most or all of the way So they got suckered into believing that "moderate" was really aimed at sissies and that hardegat boys like themselves would do one-handers going down the puny little pass. The weather was turning ugly, which can become a life-threatening situation that high in the mountains very quickly, but as concerned as I was it was still the funniest thing I'd seen in a long time. They refused any kind of help, so we continued down the road, hoping to make Ouray before it started pissing on us.
Even so we had to stop at this old mine building, it's one of the most scenic parts of the pass:
We made it to the Ouray just before it really started pouring, sat under a big umbrella and had an excellent lunch. The shower ended, so we headed for Imogene Pass, which connects Ouray to Telluride over the highest pass in that area. The weather was very threatening all around with many showers to be seen, so we steeked it. It was quite a ride.
Just leaving Ouray, note the spectacular setting. Avery nice looking chick came up and offered to take this photo.
Really.
Almost to the top we came upon a small 4x4 with a 2-stroke engine called a "Pinzgauer"which had rolled down a section so steep we couldn't stop till 100m later, two couples were in it. They were from Telluride, and familiar with the mountains, so they had been strapped in, nobody got hurt. Reminded me of a mini-Buffel, except this thing was so small and light a chicken curry fart would blow it over, from the looks of it. The one woman had a bit of a skrik but nothing the shot of brandy she was working on wouldn't cure.
The Pinzgauer back on its wheels:
On top of Imogene pass we posed for the obligatory "hero picture", a very nice Indian gentleman form Bombay and his wife took our photo and we theirs. It started to sleet, which is mostly unknown in SA - it's like icy rain, or rainy hail. We made good speed down the slightly easier slope to Telluride, and soon got out of the sleet and down a bit lower where it was warmer.
Top of Imogene Pass:
Imogene down into Telluride is very scenic, with some very narrow, steep sections and serious drop-offs. Also a tunnel:
Leaving Telluride we had to sit at a petrol station and wait for a violent shower to blow through, then again steeked it along a tar road to Ophir Pass, which took us back to Silverton. This day we got wet on Ophir, two days later we had beautiful weather.
Larry doing his "faster than a speedong bullet" impression in the rain at the summit of Ophir:
By this time we were thoroughly wet and cold, and 25 k's along aother tar road had us back in Silverton, a hot shower and the pub in short order.
That evening, walking back from the pub, we saw the 3 crazy bastards' bikes at a motel. We actually saw them in the pub the next night, they were none the worse for wear and looked a lot more intelligent (at least to me) than the last time we saw them.
