We left a little late this morning at 9:50am. We topped off with fuel and headed north out of Durango on US550. The skies were very cloudy and without the sun, temps were very cool at only 70F. We quickly gained elevation and crossed over our first pass, Coal Bank Pass, at 10,640ft. The temps dropped into the low 60s so we pulled over after about 10 minutes and put on our wind liners. It was a good thing we did as the temps remained in the low 60s for the rest of the morning.
The first major town we came to was Silverton. The town is very rustic and looked to have a lot of outdoor recreational activities nearby.
Only the main street was paved, the side streets were all gravel. We noticed this in two other towns today. The next stretch of US550 from Silverton to Ouray is known as the Million Dollar Highway and is well known for its curvy roads and stunning scenery.
The top of the Million Dollar Highway was at Red Mountain Pass at 11,018ft. This is the highest elevation of our trip so far. The views were amazing and the road was in good shape and free of traffic.
After lunch we headed south on CO route 62. It was not long before we noticed rain clouds not too far away along with impressive lightning strikes. We rode in and out of light rain for about 30 minutes. We turned off of 62 onto 145 south at Placerville. The rain began to intensify and we saw several lightning strikes nearby. It was a bit intense being so high in elevation during a storm, luckily we were descending as this was happening.
By the time we got near Telluride we ducked into a Conoco gas station to top off fuel and put on rain gear. We decided to put on just our rain jackets as the rain was not hard enough to warrant putting on the pants. We kept going since the radar showed the rain was not moving out of the area anytime soon.
The rain lightened up a little when we left the gas station. The temperatures also fell into the low 50s as we continued along CO145. The rain gear is pretty warm so we were pretty comfortable at those temps. Ironically we passed by Sunshine Mountain but the only sunshine at that moment was the liquid type.
CO145 took us into Cortez where we picked up US160 east. Shortly outside of Cortez, the rain became torrential. The rain was falling faster than it could drain off the roadway. It was during this 10 minute frog strangler of rain that Michele said that she could feel cold water seeping into her pants! Through many mining towns there were remnants of the old operations.
Once the deluge subsided, we rode the next 20 minutes in dry conditions and mostly dried out by the time we arrived back at the hotel a little after 4pm. Thank goodness our hotel has a garage in the basement. Rob spent at least 20 minutes cleaning the entire bike with just a spray bottle and reusable cloth. The bike was horribly filthy, the road grime got all the way up to the back of Michele's seat.
The entire route today was about 230 miles. We decided to order takeout for dinner and order in advance online from Fired Up Pizzeria several blocks from our hotel. We are glad we did because the restaurant was very busy. The rain also picked up and started pouring as we waited 10 minutes for the pizza to be ready. Rob brought a big golf umbrella with us and we walked back to the hotel in steady rain. Right as we got back the skies opened up. This much rain was not expected today.
Despite the rain after lunch, we had an amazing scenery day, one of our best ever. The Million Dollar Highway is just spectacular in every direction. Michele was snapping pictures so often that we had to stop to change the camera battery at a scenic overlook since she forgot to keep one in her pocket.
Tomorrow we leave Durango and head northeast to Salida, CO.
No comments:
Post a Comment