 Telluride,
CO to Redstone, CO |
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Sunday, July 2
Riders: Scott,
Trev, Paul, Eric & Grady
Distance: 229 miles
Highlights:
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There are zero facilities at our
campsite so there will be no showering or sprucing up and tooth
brushing is done along side one's bike with water from a canteen. After packing up our gear, we head
into Telluride and have a delicious breakfast at Maggie's on the
main street. We descend from the San Juan
Mountains and ride around them to the Northeast. We make our way
North to Montrose and then travel East to the entrance of the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison National Park where we find a canyon so deep,
over 2,000 feet straight down, that it boggles our minds. Along with riding the
South Rim and
 stopping at every viewpoint, we spend a fair amount in
the Visitor's Center. We learn that the rock at the bottom of the
canyon is some of the oldest exposed rock on Earth, Precambrian, or
�basement� rock, and is nearly 2 billion years old. Best of all, a
park ranger tells us about the little used road that descends that 2,000 feet to
the river and she suspects that we'll get a real kick out of it.
Well, she's right. Once the road plunges over the canyon rim, it becomes a
very steep, single lane asphalt ribbon with wonderfully tricky
hairpin turns. And as the road dead ends at the river, we have no
choice but to ride it back out. Yes!
We depart the Park and head East to a
crossing of the Gunnison River which enables us to ride the road
that follows the North Rim of the Canyon. This lonely stretch of
road turns out to be absolutely first rate riding as it
constantly twists and turns to follow the canyon's edge. This is the Holy
Grail motorcyclists seek: working the gears, twisting the throttle, listening
to the engine work, feeling the tires on edge, shifting one's weight
from side to side, absorbing the landscape as it rolls past, reading
the road surface, intuiting what's around the next bend, achieving a
state of harmony. This is what we came for and it's a gift when it
all comes together like this.
We decide to spend the night at a
rustic campground in McClure Pass, elevation 8,763 feet, in the
Rocky Mountains. It's located in a gap at the western side of the Elk Mountains, south of
the town of Redstone. As we ride North toward the pass on Highway
133, we are treated to some amazing mountain scenery in the Ruby
Range and the Raggeds Wilderness.
We set up our tents in an aspen grove
and then
ride approximately 9 miles down an 8% grade to Redstone, a tiny, 100
year old mountain village, to seek some dinner. We are amply
rewarded by discovering the
Redstone Inn and we feast like kings. We return to camp and
while seated around the campfire, we perform the ODMC induction ceremony for Grady. He's looking a
might anxious as if some hazing may be
 involved but he
visibly relaxes when we merely hand him a t-shirt and patch and
shake his hand. I can't imagine where he gets the notion that we're
a bunch of crazed, sadistic bikers but then Lord knows what terrors
Pablo and Uncle Bob have been hinting at since the beginning of the
trip.
The campfire camaraderie is most
excellent and we sleep peaceably in the aspen grove.
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Photos |
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Click to enlarge --
Downtown Telluride
A hearty breakfast in Telluride
before hitting the trail
The beauty shot on the rim
of the Black Canyon
Admiring the view at the Black Canyon
Here's what we're looking at
And this...
Biker sign language for
"Look up! An eagle!"
We found some mighty fine
eating at the Redstone Inn |
