Travel Log: Durango>Telluride>Moab>Salt Lake>Ketchum>Missoula>Whitefish c Pics

[Giranda]

Travel Log: Durango>Telluride>Moab>Salt Lake>Ketchum>Missoula>Whitefish c Pics

We are a few days into our trip. The Spyder arrived without incident (Dave's Dream Ride Transport) to the Fun Center dealer in Durango. I had the 4600 Mile servie performed there. We flew into Durango on Friday the 12th. Storms in Denver delayed us a little but we made it.

We checked into the Strater Hotel downtown Durango. It is a cool hotel with a fun piano bar.

June 13: Took the Spyder to Mesa Verda National Park. Took Weatherhill Mesa Road to the Long House Cliff Dwelling. Coming from Illinois, the roads were quite a bit different. Lots of tight curves and switchbacks. The pics does not do it justice. The second Pic is Sharon in full "Superteam" garb (We visited my son soon after we got our Can Am jackets and matching helmets. He said we looked like we were some kind of Superteam or something).

One tactical error on the trip, we did not fill up as close to the Park as possible. As there are no fuel stations in the Park, we did not feel confident to also travel to the Cliff Palace on the opposite Mesa. Tomorrow through the Red Mountain Pass to Telluride via Ouray. I did this (opposite direction) 32 years ago on a Honda 750. More to come.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Glad you are having fun. Remember the only time you can have too much gas is if you are on fire! The ride to Ouray is fun!

 

[Giranda]

June 14-15 update

June 14: Leaving Durango, we saw the Durango-Silverton Steam train leave. The ladder trucks were recognizing the train ride because the owners of the Steam Train were donating all of the proceeds of this ride to the fallen firefighters in Arizona.


Through the Red Mountain pass to Ouray. I can remember some of this from my past trip (32 years ago). This is a spectacular ride. We were lucky to make it with no rain, as we are in the middle of the monsoon season. If you ever gat the chance to ride this, it is beautiful. Iwas dissipointed that the Zumo 660 GPS stops reading out elevation above 10,000 feet. Spyder ran flawlessly.

Stopped in Silverton and Ouray. Had lunch in Ouray at the Beaumont Grill, very good. Made it into Telluride, and parked across the street from our hotel (New Sheridan). I got to Park the Spyder right outside the front door. Sitting in the bar, I am amazed at how many people stop to look over the Spyder. First Pic is the Red Mountain, second is Ouray.



June 15: No riding today, just looking around Telluride. It is in a box canyon, and we hiked up one of the paths along the Bear Creek at the canyon's end. The pic is near the Bear Creek Falls, looking back towards Telluride.

 

[ARtraveler]

Great pictures from a great adventure. :thumbup: You are in some of the most spectacular scenery that the lower 48 offers. Glad to hear you are enjoying the trip. I recommend getting gas when you see it. That way, you will never be wondering if you can make the next leg of the trip.

 

[Giranda]

June 16-17 update

June 16: Another day in Telluride. Took in the town.



Also did some more hiking. This pic is a house on a falls in the mountain.





June 17: We had quite a bit of rain, and I found out that they closed the road out (2nd pic below) of the canyon on the 16th due to mud slides. On the 17th the road was opened, but there was still considerable mud on the road. In fact, a rider on a Gold Wing slipped and dumped his bike in front of us. I pray he is okay, I did not see him as he was already transported via ambulance. His bike did not look too badly damaged. I was really happy for that "extra" wheel in that circumstance.



We left early in the morning of the 17th so did not have to contend withthe afternoon rains of the monsoon season. The road to Moab was prettier than I had expected. Looks like I am out of space, so I will continue in another post.

 

[Giranda]

June 17-19 update

June 17: Here is some more. Again, travelling from Telluride to Moab was very pretty:



We were able to take in the lower portion of Arches National Park in the evening. This is a spectacular place. Some of the best sites are, as you would expect, off the road. So no pics with the spyder at those.



We stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge, about 12 miles up the Colorado River from Moab. The ride along the Colorado was very impressive. When we checked in we found we had a very nice view, and were about 100 feet from the river. Here are a couple pics of our "back yard".



June 18:

We did some driving around. Our first stop was Canyonlands NP. We did the Schaffer trail. This starts with a narrow dirt shelf road with many switchbacks. As we are from the flatlands, this was scary as hell. Below is a view of the road, and the 1000+ ft vertical fall. You can see the continuation of the road at teh bottom of the canyon.



I was not brave/stupid enough to try the trail on the Spyder, we rented a Jeep.

In the afternoon, we went up into the La Sal mountains for a ride. Nice views, lots of deer. Looks like I am out of space again, I will post the pic in the next issue.

 

[ARtraveler]

Great pics. Utah has some of the most awe inspiring landscapes around. IMO of course.

 

[Dragonrider]

We just finished the opposite loop. Portland - Winnemucca, NV - Torry, UT - Durango (rode the train) - Colorado Springs (up Pike's Peak) - Rocky Mtn National Park - Kennerer, WY - Boise - Portland. Above 11,000 ft 17 times, above 12,000 ft 6 times… nary a hiccup….