The third day of a trip is always special. It takes two days to unwind enough and shed the tensions of work. One awakes on the third day to find a certain peace of mind forming. All you are thinking of now is the superb riding ahead and how great it is to be alive. You make eye contact with your riding buddies and you see they, too, are feeling the change. We discuss the day’s ride at breakfast and no one is too concerned about what or where we are going. Let’s just ride.
Every time we stop to enjoy a vista, little is said. We just stand there, soak it all in and then grin at each other. The mountain roads are perfect; twists and turns, little or no traffic, uphill and downhill. This is why we came.
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A soggy morning: The instant I stick my head out of my very wet tent, a photo flash goes off. I don’t know how long he had to wait but Joe is ready with his camera. What are friends for?
The view from camp: The only thing higher than our camp are the tops of the peaks themselves. We can see the tailings from several abandoned mines on their slopes.
The ODMC Southwest Chapter packs up: Everyone’s gear is drenched. Once wrapped up and packed away, the gear will not have a chance to dry which means we’ll be setting up and sleeping in wet gear later tonight. Yuk! So we elect to head for Breckenridge where a wonderful vacation home awaits us. We’ll do day trips to explore the Colorado countryside from there.
The ODMC Northwest Chapter packs up: In the adjacent campsite, we wring out the gear as best we can and stow it away. The air up here in the aspens is clean, fresh and still. Just the sounds of the breeze moving through the trees.There’s no doubt about being on vacation now.
Breakfast in Telluride: We ride into town and enjoy a marvelous breakfast. The town is located at the very top end of a mountain valley and is surrounded on three sides by sheer mountain walls. A lot of the old brick buildings are intact.
The Bike Beauty Shot: A line of bikes on a sunny day in a remote mountain town; mighty fine indeed. There’s something really fun about pulling into town and lining up the bikes in a row on Main Street in front of an eating establishment. Maybe it’s all those Westerns I watched as a kid (and still do!). Kinda like cowboys tying their horses to the hitching post outside the saloon.
The mountains surrounding Telluride: We are now North of the mountains where Telluride is and the view is wonderful.
A lovely lake in the mountains: We couldn’t resist stopping to gaze at this wonderful sight tucked away in the hills.
One peak after the next: Colorado is filled with sky scraping peaks and those across this valley are above the treeline and 12,000 feet plus.
Independence Pass: This 12,095 ft. pass is East of Aspen. To get to it, we wind through town following signs left and right, down residential streets, past homes, and we start thinking this can’t be right. We must be lost. The town thins out and when it ends, we emerge into an alpine valley below the treeline. A skinny, beat up, two lane road runs uphill. After many twists and turns, we arrive at the top. Clearly, this route into Aspen has long since been abandoned ever since the Interstate highway went in.
Casa Dunthor 