Day 6 – The sun returns and we dry out on the Continental Divide

NOTE: I’ve had a few blog followers ask me to provide details on the bikes we were riding.

Mike Powell: 2007 Yamaha Star Stratoliner
Steve Hahne: 2010 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Electra Glide Limited
Bruce Miller: 2004 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic
Mike Herrmann: 1996 Honda Gold Wing SE
Me: 1998 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic

-CH




Ride log for Friday, August 20, 2010

Talk about the difference between night and day: after last night’s treacherous ride through driving night-time rain, we awoke to clear blue skies. We packed up the bikes and headed out for Pueblo. Riding US 160 east, we stopped at Wolf Creek Pass for photos. The elevation at Wolf Creek Pass is 10,850 feet and provides a beautiful view of the San Juan Mountains and the San Juan River.



We continued on US 160 to South Fork, where we picked up CO-149, also known as The Silver Thread. It runs 135 miles from South Fork to the Blue Mesa Reservoir, near Gunnison. Interestingly, it includes crossing the Rio Grande River a few times. It’s only about 50 feet wide where CO-149 crosses it. Pretty cool. We rode the Silver Thread through Lake City and Creede, with a photo stop at the Continental Divide at Spring Creek Pass in Gunnison National Forest, elevation 10,901 feet.



We spent a little extra time off the bikes here and hiked through the forest. It was so quiet and peaceful. A bit of a Zen moment for all of us.



We rode CO-149 to US 50 east, and stopped in Gunnison for lunch at Mario’s Pizza. During lunch, we began discussing changing our hotel plans for the night. Instead of riding to Pueblo, we decided to ride to Buena Vista and find hotel rooms. A lady we met on the sidewalk in Gunnison (a Buena Vista resident) said there were lots of hotels in BV and we should have no problem finding a room.

With our bellies full of salad and pizza, we got back on US 50, stopping at Monarch Pass for a snack and photos. The elevation at Monarch Pass is 11,312 feet and has a nice visitor’s center. While taking photos of the bikes in front of the Monarch Pass sign, we spotted a small bat on the pavement in the parking lot. The poor little guy seemed lethargic until I approached him to take get some photos and video of him. As I stood over him with my camera, he seemed to come back to life and actually started to chase me, providing a nice photo opportunity for all the other riders in our group. Before departing, we also called and canceled our rooms in Pueblo, feeling confident that we’d find lodging in Buena Vista.



Here's a nice photo of me being chased by the bat. Notice that both Mikes have their cameras out:

And here's the video I was shooting in the flattering photo above:



We saddled up and made our way to Buena Vista via US 50 east then US 285 north. When we arrived in Buena Vista, we learned that most of the hotels had no vacancy, evidently because of a weekend event in Leadville. Our first choices, the Best Western and the Super 8, were full. We finally found lodging at the Great Western Sumac Lodge. It was clean and reasonably priced. In addition, the management was bike-friendly and allowed us to park our bikes under the canopy in front of the office. The manager also told us that they always have a box of clean rags available for motorcyclists to use to wipe down their bikes in the morning. She asked that we make sure to return the dirty rags so they can be laundered for the next biker to use. And the hotel has a very 1960’s vibe, complete with wood-grain paneling and a swag lamp suspended by a chain. Very cool.






A nice view of the sun rising from our room at the Sumac Lodge:



Today was an easy ride and a welcome change from yesterday. We logged 254 miles on the bikes under sunshine and blue skies, with high temps in the 70s. It’s forecast to get into the 40s tonight, so tomorrow’s trip to Mount Evans, the highest paved road in North America, will likely be a cool ride. Time to break out the heavy coats and chaps.