Friday, September 29, 2017
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
4 - 8/22/2017 - Cotopaxi to Lake City, Colorado. 170 Miles
Woke up early, got packed up and on the trail by 9:00am. Nice riding through the high desert and foothills again. We were gradually gaining elevation and soon were in the forest. Not far out of town, we caught up to some fellow TAT riders from Missouri. They had stopped for a coffee break. After some small talk and a few jokes, we said goodbye and set out again. Made it Salida by 11 or so and had a late breakfast. Back on the trail again, we were now climbing into the big mountains! At about 2:00, the thunderstorms started building, the rest of the afternoon we were riding in rain. Not real heavy rain until the last 20 miles or so into Lake City. I had hoped to stay the night at Lake San Cristobal where my family vacationed when I was a kid, but again due to the rain we decided to seek out lodging. We arrived in Lake City cold, wet and tired! This is my kind of town, I think there were more dirt bikes on the road here than cars! We found a reasonable, old motel for the night with a 2 bedroom room. Once we were cleaned up and warmed up, we walked over to the Packers Cannibal Grill and had a great dinner! Wasn't sure what the "Cannibal" reference was all about, it's all over here in Lake City. Apparently, Alfred Packer was an American prospector who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. He and five other men attempted to travel through the high mountains of Colorado during the peak of a harsh winter. When only Alfred reached civilization, he claimed that the others had killed each other for food, and confessed to having lived off the flesh of his companions during his snowbound state and to having used it to survive his trek out of the mountains two months later. After his story was called into question, he hid from justice for nine years before being tried, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death. Packer won a retrial and was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison for manslaughter.
Anyways, we had a great ride today, beautiful scenery, mountains and forests! Some more challenging riding up in the mountains today as well! We crossed Marshall Pass (10,842ft), Black Sage Pass (9,735ft), and Slumgullion Pass (11,530ft).
After a good dinner we watched a little T.V. and went to sleep early. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, crossing the Rockies!!
***NOTE; Clicking on the pictures will open them up in a larger, gallery view.***
Anyways, we had a great ride today, beautiful scenery, mountains and forests! Some more challenging riding up in the mountains today as well! We crossed Marshall Pass (10,842ft), Black Sage Pass (9,735ft), and Slumgullion Pass (11,530ft).
After a good dinner we watched a little T.V. and went to sleep early. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, crossing the Rockies!!
***NOTE; Clicking on the pictures will open them up in a larger, gallery view.***
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| I see BIG mountains to the West! |
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| What a view! |
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| Late breakfast in Salida! |
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| Uh oh, sky is getting dark again! |
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| "Borrowed" these photos from internet. It was pouring when we were here and the mountains were in the clouds! |
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| YEE HAW!! |
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| "I need a drink or 10!" |
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| Pretty old school but clean enough and warm & dry!! |
Monday, September 25, 2017
3 - 8/21/2017 - Trinidad to Cotopaxi, Colorado. 200 Miles
After a great nights sleep, we got a leisurely start in the morning. Got the bikes packed up, ate a little breakfast and were on the trail at about 11am. We really didn't know what to expect as far as how easy/difficult it was going to be to navigate. Thankfully, we discovered it was really pretty simple!
The trail meandered through the high desert and rolling hills. Very pretty with lots of wildflowers and wildlife. We saw many Antelope and deer throughout the day. We stopped to watch the eclipse, it was pretty neat except I was missing the total eclipse back in Redmond! The sky was clouding up and we were getting a few sprinkles here and there, nothing too serious. The trail then made it's way up into the foothills and mountains. Very fun trails! We stopped at a gas station/Subway in Westcliffe and had a late lunch. It was probably 3:30 - 4:00 by the time we were ready to head back out. We only had 27 miles to Cotopaxi, where I knew there was a KOA we could stop at for the night. However, there were big thunderstorms building in the direction we were headed! We bypassed a small section of the trail by riding the highway for a few miles and thought we got in front of them. We managed to dodge the storms until we were about 7 miles from the KOA, then the skies opened up on us! After riding in a downpour for a few miles, I pulled into the 1st place I saw that looked like it could offer shelter, Hillside Colorado cottages and Post Office. We parked the bikes under a tree, huddled on the small porch of the Post Office building and waited for the rain to let up. 10-15 minutes later, the storm passed, we finished the ride to Cotopaxi KOA. It was still raining a little so we opted to rent a cabin for the night instead of having to set up tents in the rain. The KOA Campground hosts were very nice and made sure we had everything we needed. They kept the office open for us so we could come in and get some food, (there were no restaurants nearby), and cook a frozen pizza in their little kitchen. Chris put the pizza in the oven but didn't realize it was still on the cardboard! Needless to say, the crust was under cooked but we ate it anyways, it was good! Nice to be warm and dry, took a hot shower and went to bed.
A short video - https://youtu.be/vp87VogYSmc
***NOTE; Clicking on the pictures will open them up in a larger, gallery view.***
The trail meandered through the high desert and rolling hills. Very pretty with lots of wildflowers and wildlife. We saw many Antelope and deer throughout the day. We stopped to watch the eclipse, it was pretty neat except I was missing the total eclipse back in Redmond! The sky was clouding up and we were getting a few sprinkles here and there, nothing too serious. The trail then made it's way up into the foothills and mountains. Very fun trails! We stopped at a gas station/Subway in Westcliffe and had a late lunch. It was probably 3:30 - 4:00 by the time we were ready to head back out. We only had 27 miles to Cotopaxi, where I knew there was a KOA we could stop at for the night. However, there were big thunderstorms building in the direction we were headed! We bypassed a small section of the trail by riding the highway for a few miles and thought we got in front of them. We managed to dodge the storms until we were about 7 miles from the KOA, then the skies opened up on us! After riding in a downpour for a few miles, I pulled into the 1st place I saw that looked like it could offer shelter, Hillside Colorado cottages and Post Office. We parked the bikes under a tree, huddled on the small porch of the Post Office building and waited for the rain to let up. 10-15 minutes later, the storm passed, we finished the ride to Cotopaxi KOA. It was still raining a little so we opted to rent a cabin for the night instead of having to set up tents in the rain. The KOA Campground hosts were very nice and made sure we had everything we needed. They kept the office open for us so we could come in and get some food, (there were no restaurants nearby), and cook a frozen pizza in their little kitchen. Chris put the pizza in the oven but didn't realize it was still on the cardboard! Needless to say, the crust was under cooked but we ate it anyways, it was good! Nice to be warm and dry, took a hot shower and went to bed.
A short video - https://youtu.be/vp87VogYSmc
***NOTE; Clicking on the pictures will open them up in a larger, gallery view.***
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| Almost ready to ride! |
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| "Me too!!" |
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| The Eclipse! |
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| Neat old church |
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| Beautiful country! |
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| Where are we? |
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| I hope that storm doesn't come over this way! |
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| What storm, I don't see any storm..... |
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| KOA Cabins rock! |
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| KOA |
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| These tent spots were right on the river! |
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| The Arkansas River |
Friday, September 22, 2017
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