Toronto Can. to Colorado USA

***To help follow along***
Day 3 - posted July 9
Day 4 - posted July 10
Part II - posted July 12
Silv. to Ouray - July 15
Snow to sand - July 17
Grand Canyon - July 24
Into Utah - posted July 25
M.O.A.B. - posted July 28
The Bucket List - July 31


Hey All
I see the Ride Report section has been quiet so I will post about a 16 day 10,000 km trip from Toronto to Colorado that had us also ride through Arizona and Utah. From 14000ft snow covered mountains into the scorching deserts in a single day. It was a ride of a life time (until the next one).
It will take me several days to post the entire adventure. It will be a good excuse for me to go through all the photos etc and I will try to keep it geared to a Bandit crowd. I will just add to this original post if I am able to edit it rather than add new posts.

The crew:
Myself (Dave) 2008 GSF1250 SEA
Tom (Ride leader/organizer) 2008 Concours14 Looks like an Apache attack helicopter!!
Jeff (The wrench) Honda ST1300
Josh (Jeffs son) Kawasaki Versys 650
Mike (The IT specialist) BMW f800GS


Day 1 & 2....
Tom had posted on the Concours Owners Group and found a fellow rider who was willing to let us keep a truck and trailer at a piece of property for the 2 weeks we would be riding.
We now just had to load 5 bikes on the trailer and 5 guys into the Chevy Suburban for the 30+hr 2500km drive! We were going to take turns driving, 1 drives while at least one other stays awake to keep the driver alert and focused.
The route from Toronto to Colorado Springs; (If you zoom in to points B&C you will see the route up Pikes Peak and back down to our first nights stop)

http://goo.gl/maps/E0R1q

At least we have "Classy Restrooms" to have a good rub down with a wet wipe in!!!

We arrive at the break of dawn and grab a quick bite to eat before meeting our contact and unloading the bikes.
Pikes Peak is the first thing to light up in the rising sun and summons us to the top.

Despite only grabing bits of sleep in the back of the truck for the last day and a half the excitement gets us on our bikes and tackling the first of many of the incredible roads we will be riding in the coming weeks.
This photo is only part way up the mountain but you can see the road wind thru the forest on the left before the switch backs starts above the tree line.


Once we reach the top all is great, until we remove our helmets and for whatever the reason that is when the full effects of the 14,000ft elevation becomes evident. We are all very light headed and dizzy, almost nauseous, and are out of breath. You just want to sit down and catch you breath but there is no breath (oxygen) to catch! Before long you realize all of the tourists at the peak are in the same situation and kids seem worse off. Tom notices one boy in particular and summons the staff to bring oxygen to him. Realizing that by staying you are not actually going to "get better" one of our friends (Mike) decides to skip the photo op and make his way back down right away.

The road is steep and smells strongly of burning brakes. At one point Park Rangers have a spot check set up and use a laser thermometer on the vehicles brakes and if you have been riding them are told to pull over for a 30 minutes to allow the brakes to cool. We are waved through as we are just engine braking at each corner.
We all meet up at the bottom of the mountain after a pretty intense ride down where you have to stay focused. We take a moment to finally get our breath and our thoughts together, realize just how tired we are and head to the next town to get a decent meal and a good nights sleep!

P.S. Please feel free to ask any questions or even ask for more/less/different photos, there is thousands! This is a 16 day trip and I have only noted a 1/2 day of riding so it will take me a while to get through it so hopefully by the trip home I can write a decent ride report! LOL
There is a some close calls with natural disasters and a few bucket list items that get checked off the list to come....I hope you enjoy!

Regards
Dave

Great ride report Dave.

Looking forward to the next instalment....  

Top stuff Dave. I too look forward to the next instalments.   Do you have any shots of the Concours 14 ?

Looks and sounds pretty exciting so cant wait for more!

Hammy wrote:Top stuff Dave. I too look forward to the next instalments.   Do you have any shots of the Concours 14 ?

Here is a few pics I have handy. It is my friend Tom Kowalski's bike. It is absolutely gorgeous. We have hit some of the best roads in America together and no matter where we stop other riders, be they SS riders, Harley Davidson pirate types or Adventure riders they have to come over to see this bike. The Two Brothers sounds great too.




Now, I do love the Bandit but the Connie14 the new FJR and the K1300s.....maybe it is just the shaft drive but for now I'll take a chain and $10G!!!

Great stuff, keep em coming.
Regards
Paul

Ahhhh  so it's a "Kwaka". Had me a bit puzzled there.  Yes I think the Bandit will more than hold it's own against all the other pricey and exotic stuff. And like you say.  Money left over to buy little trick bits.

Love the report - It's going to be like watching a serial show on the TV - maybe one new installment each week so as not to put too much pressure on the photo sorting. Envious of the variety of roads you have - 14,000ft is twice as high as our highest mountain! 

Thanks Dave, awesome ride I'll bet. it's on the bucket list to get over to the states one day. Looks like you have some great roads.

Thanks Dave. Awesome views.

Wow! I'm glad you all enjoy a ride report as much as I do! I will try to step it up a notch then, and again please ask away about the bikes, the riders, the stories, the places we ride!
We have decided on this trip that we will not book any hotels or have set destinations to get to by certain times. In the mountains the weather can turn quickly and sometimes we come across places we didn't expect and just want to hang out and explore. The goal is to be off the road by around 6pm, unpack the bikes get cleaned up and find a good meal and enjoy the evening. Also the fact we have been passing warning signs of deer, elk, goats, horses, cattle and even mountain lions makes missing the night rides easy.

Each days direction, duration and destination will be based on weather, the over all mood of the group and getting to as many "G1" roads as possible. I am not sure what the Australian equivalent is but we are using Butler Maps http://www.butlermaps.com/Motorcycle-Road-Maps/1/Colorado-Map Awhile ago Toms wife got him the "Bucket List" collection of maps as seen on the attached link. These are beautiful maps that highlight the best roads and rate them G1, G2, G3. Each highlighted section then has a well written description of what you will encounter, some history, POI, etc. and shows the elevation changes throughout each section. I found it even more enjoyable riding these roads after reading the description knowing what to look out for, the names given to each section, etc.

Back to the ride...We woke up well rested although Josh and I stayed up late having a few drinks with our motel neighbours. Once out of the major cities, Americans are the friendliest people in the world. They have their fair share of issues and are in some hard times at the moment but every trip State side I take I am astonished by the friendliness we encounter time and time again.
The plan for the day is to at least make it to a town called Gunnison which would take us in a south western direction as getting to the "Four Corners", the only point where 4 States meet (Colorado,New Mexico,Arizona,Utah) is one of Toms first goals and set us up for a ride into Utah.
This group has ridden together before and each rides their own pace. Usually you have 2 or 3 in "the zone" who sprint ahead and someone is sure to be in the mood to soak in the sites and they go to the back knowing they will eventually catch up at the next photo shoot or bio-break. This day starts with all of us ooohing and aaahing around each corner. Colorado is beautiful!
Everyone has a Sena headset so the chatter is almost constant with the "Look up to the left!" "Did you see that?" "Oh my gawd!!!" . Once out of the mountains the trees shrink down to shrubs, we are riding through the old gold mining towns that are now abandoned, it is like riding through the set of an old western movie...for hours!

(The snow covered peaks in the back ground are the destination for the following night)

We get onto Hwy50 and open it up a bit as it is far more open as it is a major highway. We make good time to Gunnison and decide our final destiantion with be South Fork and although I have been champing at the bit to ride the "Million Dollar Highway" we will be taking the road parallel to it called the 149 or "The Silver Thread Scenic Byway".
http://goo.gl/maps/h7TB3
I don't recall what we had for lunch that day but whatever it was, Jeff, who almost always sweeps went to the front and just pinned it!!! The road was absolutely spectacular and completely empty. Everyone had such a great time that we didn't stop except for one photo op by the "Continental Divide" sign.

I just kept thinking, If this road is this fantastic what is the Million Dollar Hwy like??? We had a long day and rode quite hard and pull into town starving. We find an authentic Mexican Restuarant and have a great meal. Now full and exhausted we search for a place to stay and soon find a cabin in South Fork, an old train station converted into a cabin with 6 beds, some very questionable electrical wiring for a very reasonable rate.


Just 10 days after our stay in this cabin the entire town of South Fork was given an almost 0% chance of survival from a raging forest fire until a drastic weather change saved them.


Sorry, not many pics taken that day. I will stop here as I do not want to run on too long on a single post...and tomorrows ride is epic and had tons of photos!!!

I'm enjoying this!!

Trouble is - i'm getting more envious as the trip continues!  Keep it coming.

I think it is an international thing that if you are riding a bike , somewhere , someone will come up to you and strike up a conversation. An old fella that remembers when he once road a bike. A young kid that just wants to look at the shinny beast and ask "how fast does it go ? " .  It's a great thing that we all have in common.

Today's the day! We are going to ride the Million Dollar Highway aka San Juan Skyway aka Hwy550. One of the top rated motorcycle roads in USA. In the past we have ridden "The Tail of The Dragon" / US129, Devils Whip / NC80, Cherohala, Moonshine28, Blue Ridge Parkway...All fantastic roads located on the eastern side of USA and within a striking distance of home, but this one has us excited.
We leave the cabin in search of our caffeine fix and a quick breakfast as the usual "continental breakfast" is not available at the cabin. The local restaurant is closed, we find this in alot of towns as the economy here has really decimated some small towns. We find a gas station with surprising decent coffee and area to sit down and go over the map to devise a plan. Alot of the elderly locals gather in the seating area for thier social. They are more than willing to point out the shortcuts although we are looking for the best route,not the shortest. It is nice talking to them though. Even a local police officer, a female who could tear the head of anyone in town, arms & neck covered in tattoos joins the conversation and she is very friendly! I think she liked Mike. She warns us of popular radar trap locations on the roads we are about to hit and says she will call ahead and tell them to let us go. We asked for a picture with her, she was nice about it but refused stating how easy it could end up on facebook etc,. There is also quite a few other bikers at the gas station and next thing our group is split up talking with different people all over the place.
The road out of town is Hwy160 this will take us all the way to Durango and the start of the Million Dollar Highway. We will be on this road for about 150 miles (240km). It also takes us past Wolf Creek Ski resort. The entire length is highspeed sweepers through the most scenic mountains for hours and is absoluetly fantastic!!
This is the first leg of our journey...

At the bottom center of the photo is the ski resort. Over to the right you can see what appears as a grey wall at the side of the road, we stopped there for a quick rest...

(I didn't realize until now but they look like spy vs. spy! LOL)

We also meet this gentleman and his toy.....A 3.5 million dollar toy! He works for the ski resort bringing equipment for the ski lifts to the various runs. He loves his job!!


The next leg of the trip....(more fun)

We twist our way out of the mountains and into a clearing where we enter the town of Pagosa Springs. (The red pin)
As we enter the town it seems we have hit another little tourist town although here it is thriving. We find a fantastic little bakery with a line up out the door. The baked treats are delicious, a few guys have the breakfast burrito as it really is the first real food they have had all day and all say it's the best ever. Mental note taken as we find ourselves back here in a week. LOL

NOTE: If ever in Pagosa Springs Colorado, eat here!

Pagosa Springs omly marks the half way mark to Durango. This is going to be a spectacular day of riding!!
This is the remaining section of the 160 into Durango. You can see the 550 head north from there. This section puts us back into the mountains, along some ridges before spitting us out into a plain leading into Durango. http://goo.gl/maps/Ci9jx

It is here that we have our only encounter with the police. The police in most parts of the areas we ride are very forgiving of speeding in the twisties, especially motorcycles. They are more leanient to those in full gear such as ourselves (Most of the places we were riding helmets are not required!!!). They do not put up with you crossing into or even touching the painted line in corners. Yaaaa! It is usually cars they catch with this which is a huge danger to motorcyclists in these twisty blind corner roads. But when you enter the boundry of a town you better be 1mph below the speed limit!! Just like the movies, the nose of the cruiser is poking out from the "Welcome To Pleasantville" sign and there is zero tolerance.
Once in the straights we got caught up in a bit of traffic. At first we were picking cars off 2 or 3 at a time but Jeff and Josh (father&son) had fallen back a bit. We had entered what appeared to be more of a tourist attration area so cars were pulled off the road and a few people walking along the roadside. Same rule applies in this situation, sit up right, keep the revs down, look friendly and at least 1mph below the limit. Josh missed the tell tale signs and tried to pass another car to get closer to the group in front. The lights on an unmarked cop car lit up just as I passed it. The arm came out but pointed to someone behind me, a quick mirror check and sure enough there was Josh hung out to dry...20mph over. We rode ahead and pulled over at the next can't miss us spot. Dealing with State Troopers is very Yes sir, No Sir. No laughing, joking, or smooth talking. Just shut off your bike, (good to remove keys) helmet off, gloves off (mine have titanium knuckles) give him what he wants when he wants it and keep you hands where he can see them. don't go reaching into a pocket to get a camera for a cool pic.
Mike, Tom and I wait up the road as Josh is pulled over. His ever talkative dad Jeff stops with Josh. While we are waiting Tom says "He will let him go, once Jeff starts the cop will be thier best friend!" Mike and I look at each other and say "ummmm.....we don't think so!" It takes awhile for them to finally appear around the corner but Jeff is the first to ride up and says "No sense of humor!" LOL. Poor Josh takes his souvenier (ticket) out of his pocket to show the amount. He is in good spirits though

Guys....break in the rain here! I am going to jump out for a quick ride and I will finish the story later....seeesh, Im not even on the Million Dollar highway yet!!!!
Plus my new jacket arrived today, thats a good enough reason to go for a ride...right?

Regards
Dave

Grrrrrrrrrrrr......I wrote for hours, found and attached a bunch of photos and had the story progress up to the half way point up the Million dollar highway and when I tried to preview the post to ensure the maps,links,photos were all as they should be the page froze and the dreaded "Web page has timed out" message came and all was lost!!!
Oh well, I'm off work for awhile following knee surgery so hopefully I can make an other attempt tomorrow. Good night.

Really getting into your ride deport T-Leaf, keep it coming

Love your writing style, the ultimate ride report. Looking forward to more of your adventure. Very envious though.

I am so glad you are enjoying the report! Sorry it is taking so long. Once again I spent hours today writing and adding links, maps, photos, etc, only to accidentally close the window and lose it all! aaaaarrrrggghhh!!! Of course my daughter heard my screams of frustration and pointed out to just write it all in a Word document so that it saves and then just cut and paste it when I'm done. LOL.

Here, this will help with any riding envy:
A map of where I live, the roads are in a perfect grid because it is flat as a pancake here. You ride straight every where and only turn to avoid small bodies of water!
http://goo.gl/maps/6JgQV
We have to ride for hours, either north into Northern Ontario or South into the USA (a weedend In Pennsylvania which about a 5 hour ride away is fantastic).
But it is not Colorado!!!

Now here is what a foreign eye see's of your local roads...and the reason I so enjoy the other Ride Reports!
http://goo.gl/maps/Bj7UM

Believe me, I'am the envious one.

Dont be fooled. Australia doesnt have endless windy roads for every biker to enjoy. Where I live is also flat as a pancake, the roads are substandard surfacing, and one spents time dodging stones, holes and roadkill.  We all envy other people when our own conditions suck   
I live about 4 hours inland of Melbourne. The dark orange color is where the better roads are, apparently  

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Yes - I was thinking along the same lines. 

There are quiet a few places here in Australia where you could travel the same distance (i.e. Toronto to Colorado), heading in the one compass direction, and still be in the same state.

Once we share a laugh and cheer up Josh we are off and in no time we are into remote areas with little traffic and the pace picks up again and we race from one mining town turned tourist attraction to another and between each the views are beautiful but the speeding ticket has cost us time and with the Million Dollar Highway in the near future we resist the temptation to stop for more pictures. I remember zipping past this water fall and trying to signal to the riders behind me to take a better look. Mike later found this photo of it online.
We ride into Durango, it is a large bustling town with much heavier traffic but we make our way to the start of Hwy 550 and pull in to a gas station to fill up and get some refreshments. We quickly take over the rest area at the side of the station and devour beef jerky and other gas station delicacies and get our caffeine fix with iced coffee. Tom as usual gets out the Butler Maps and plans out the next leg of the journey. Mike the IT guy in the bunch will hit the OK button on the GPS tracker so friends and family can follow him in real time and soon have the Ipad out the check in with work. Josh will be chatting up any and all females within range. I am off to find level ground in the self car wash to check the oil level, the chain tension and tire pressure. The altitude changes have a huge effect on the tire pressure (My can of shaving cream blew out in my case!) Jeff, Jeff saved our spot on the bench!!
The plan is to stay in the town of Ouray which is the end of the G1 rated section of the highway. It is only about an hour and a half away which will get us into town quite early in the evening . This will give us a chance to find a place to stay and unpack the bikes. Tom has been eager to jump in the natural hot springs and wants to hit the town tonight for a bit of partying as we have yet to go out at night and have some fun.
Here is the route, I hope the link gives you an active map so you can zoom in and maybe even drop the Golden Google man for a Streetview. Point A is Durango, Point B is Silverton, Point C is Ouray. http://goo.gl/maps/y1csA
The start of the highway has us riding in a valley between two mountain rides, we are hugging the base of mountains on one side and follow the twisted remnants of the river that created this flat millions of years ago. The views are amazing as it is very warm yet snow peaked mountains are every where. The colour and texture of almost each mountain is vastly different than the next. We ride past many farm and ranches and numerous communities but the road remains relatively straight and flat. We are still excited and start racing into each corner only to find yet another straight section. We are still having fun and the views are spectacular.

Once we have done a few mile and there is no longer any signs of civilization we really start ramping up the speeds and enjoying the sweeping corners a bit more but a Million Dollars ??? We stopped for one reason or another and maybe Tom wanted to check we were on the right road but if we just read the sign in front of us we would have realized that we were at least going in right direction. LOL

Sure enough the road becomes twisted! Tom soon fishes the GoPro out of his tank bag to capture the curves and turns and points it at me. I race by with a wave to camera and don’t let off, I’m loving this! Sometimes Tom runs with me when I go into this zone but he must have stayed back to catch the other guys on the video. On the first few switch backs I can catch a glimpse of the group heading into corners I passed 3-4 turns ago and I just keep powering out of each corner harder and harder. There is one particularly large tight switch back that forces you down through the gears but once through the next corner comes into sight and is a huge 180 degree sweeper that looks like something from a race track.
Hard on the gas and back up through a couple of gears and then I realize why it looks like a race track! On the infield of this gorgeous corner is a police station instead of pit row! I am already hanging off the side in anticipation of the lean coming in this corner but find enough time to roll off the throttle, shed some speed and without thinking take an off shoot road that is mid corner as if to say “Why would I speed into a corner when I want to get of on this road, Mister Officer Sir?” I pull up to the Silverton Museum and information centre where the guys will be able to see me. I see them coming off the mountain and carving through the huge switch back. It simply looks so cool! The fun part was short but definitely perked us up enough to think “That was it? Fun yeah, but we have ridden better.” The views of the abandoned mines throughout the mountains where we have stopped are incredible and we are at the top of the Main Street, Silverton and it looks very inviting.
The orange fans are the result of the ores being mined simply being pushed out the mine entrance and sliding down the face to a place they would be easier to load on carts.
Ouray, our destination, is over in those mountains somewhere. 

The mines are all but exhausted and a huge remediation program is in the works as the water has become contaminated in many places as a result of the mining that has gone on in this area. It is mainly a tourist town now. Speaking with a local restaurant owner the various restaurants now take turns opening on different months just to get by.

TAXI!!!! Follow that car!

At the end of Main St lies this mountain. Look at the trail that zig zags it way up the base.


We have all parked our bikes, stripped off our gear and decided to spend a bit of time exploring the various gift shops, cafes, and even a Harley Davidson store which states it is “The Highest Harley Davidson Shop”. I am off in search of a much needed coffee, Jeff and Josh are shopping for gifts for friends and family and Tom needs his daily homemade soup. We split up and agree to meet back in 45 minutes or so. A few minutes later Mike pulls up along side me as I walk up the street. He has been absolutely dying to get that BMW dirty and so far has been limited to only the paved roads. This area is full of some of the best off road mountain passes there is and he is excited! He is also very thoughtful and does not want to hold up the group or mess up the plans for an early night. He is almost asking if he can go play but before he does I’am saying “ GO. Get up there! This is what this trip is all about. I will tell the guys when I see them and trust me they will be happy for you. Plus this place is great, we will not be done in 45 minutes. GO”
Mike used to race dirt bikes years and years ago. He hadn’t really ridden on roads until last year. He is an incredible intelligent man and done very well for himself and reached a stage in life where he felt the need for adventure and has fallen in love with motorcycling. He has the best gear, the best gadgets, he reads up on the various adventure routes that are out there and has done some spectacular rides with other friends who usually also keep him to paved roads so this is huge for him and I am excited just seeing how excited he is. I would have waited all day for him.
He returns well over an hour later and it turns out to be absolutely perfect timing as we had finally just all met up and decided on a little diner to grab a bite to eat in when he rolled up and he was beeming!
Check these out!









I see a DRZ in my future!!!!

I will call it a night here.
Oh and by the way, while we were having that bite to eat and listening to Mikes’ story, a few local riders came in to talk to us. They asked if we came up from Durango or down from Ouray. When we said we came up from Durango and were heading to Ouray for the night they both smiled and said “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. Your about to ride one of the best roads there is.”
Whooooooohoooo!!!! EAT UP BOYS!
(This Word document thing works wonders! LOL)
Regards
Dave

Wow Dave.  You are certainly setting the bar pretty high for us Ozzies to follow.  I think my future ride reports will be : " I went for a ride " .  The End.  Absolutely absorbing adventure.   You should have made a doco'of the trip and sold it to the National Geographic channel or something similar.  Would be great viewing.  Can't wait for the next leg.

+1  

Hello again. I hope you had a great weekend. Some internet provider problems and a beautiful day with some of my good riding friends that had us out riding to a lunch worthy of its own ride report came up...smiley face.
Had a chance to ride the new Aprilia RSV4 Factory that just came back from a track day but my knee is still so swollen from the surgery that bending it enough to get my foot on the peg was too uncomfortable...sad face.

Anyway, back to the Million Dollar Highway!!
Before we leave the restaurant, the owner, who Josh successfully had tell him the secret recipe for the soup, warns us that we will sometimes be crossing over to the mountain ridge that was on our right and that it is cut into such a steep mountain face and with little to no shoulder that the oncoming traffic tends to scare away from the edge and creep into our lane. Great advice. (Remember we drive on the right side of the road. Both figuratively and literally. LOL)
This pic was on the way into Silverton. You can see the road drops off at the bottom of the photo and the driver cheating over the line. The drop will now be on the other side and we will be riding along the cut mountain face.

Have a spin around here >>> http://goo.gl/maps/1qjok

We pack the gifts and souvenirs we have collected into what space we have in the cases and Tom does one ride up and down Main St to record it on the GoPro. We head back to Hwy 550 and finish the huge corner I had started hours earlier. This is the remainder or the route, zoom in or use street view! Although the day the Google truck drove it is wasn’t as clear as the day we did. >>>> http://goo.gl/maps/jUepW

We only have about 40 km’s to go so what ever it is it won’t be lasting very long but the fun starts immediately! We start of riding through the forest through high speed sweepers with mountains of yellow, copper, rust, green and grey rising up above the trees. It is absolutely beautiful. We drrop back down into that flat between the mountains and follow along side a winding river, rushing with water from the snow melt that has made its way down from the mountains is crevices that have cut in so deep they are often hard to see. I recall Mike mentioning how he loves riding roads that follow a rivers edge and I say to him that this road is so spectacular that I think the river is following it! These sweepers allow you to sometimes see 5-6 curves ahead and just invite you to flick the bike back and forth. Soon we run into this....

And they are off!

The road just keeps getting better and better and what little traffic we do run into pull aside in the various look outs to let us pass. We are winding our way back up down the faces of the mountains and have a few runs where it appears we are just pin balling between them. I have at certain points on other roads and on other trips hit points where everything comes together and it is almost like an epiphany, a feeling that I have just rounded a corner and found the most beautiful place on earth. That is the feeling I had time and time again on just the last 20km of this road alone that made this road one of my all time favourites. On this trip we will find our selves on better roads, we will ride through scenery that I still have trouble believing is real but this road, The Million Dollar Highway, on this particular day, at this point in time was the most beautiful place in the world.




This link was posted before but really does a nice job of giving you the feel of the ride.....Plus I don't have a copy of the edited GoPro video we took yet! >>>> http://vimeo.com/55454743

You had to keep in mind just how technical this road is and not focus on the stunning views, We all know you go where you look and it is a constant battle between wanting to look around to soak it in and the rider in you wanting to cut the apex that much tighter, turn in just that little bit later and use just a little more lean.
We stopped at this water fall for a photo shoot. We had to spin around because approaching it from the south as we did you cannot even see much of it and nothing of what is feeding it. It has cut so deeply into the rock you could practically step over it at points. There is an obvious look out point with a walkout platform that catches our eye and once on top of it is when you realize there is a water fall.

The bottom half....

And looking down from the walk out point...


Here is the satellite view to give it a different perspective....


Each of us were awestruck at just how great the stretch of road we just enjoyed was, especially after the let down we had felt on the first half into Silverton. Mike mentioned to me that he imagines Switzerland would look similar and further along the road just as we were about to enter Ouray we came across this sign.

We found a collection of hotels tucked in the corner of town and found this place. It would have great views if the bloody mountains weren’t in the way.
Here is a view of the basin that the town of Ouray sits nestled in. You can see the road wind into town in the bottom left corner....




The unexpected stop in Silverton, and the amount of time definitely cut into the time we had to spend in Ouray. Tom still wanted to get out for a nice dinner and a night on the town. Tomorrow was my birthday and we were going to go out to celebrate. We got our rooms and unpacked the bikes. I was so excited from the ride I don’t think I took off my helmet or shut off my bike. I was going back to do it again!!! Mike was already on line with slew of gadgets, Tom was unpacking and organizing the room and gear, was probably on a beer and snack run and I figured I had time as there was still plenty of light and by the time I got back these guys would just be getting out of the shower. Jeff decided he would come with me. We twist our way out of town and back up the face of the mountain and we are off. We practically had the road to our selves but travelling in the opposite direction it seemed completely different. We could recognize certain landmarks along the way that stood out on the first past and no served as markers as to how far we had gone and what lay ahead. I would pick my moments to race ahead and then wait for Jeff and get his blessing to go a bit further before turning around. We kept going until we got back to those giant S turns. I was glad because I don’t know if it was because I knew the camera was on us but I ran the worst line of my entire trip through that corner the last time. LOL . Now I could sleep.
The sun was just starting to set as we made our return trip to the hotel. We were able to sit up and really take in all the sites on this pass and again, with just the changing light it seemed like a completely different road. We were back on the side of the road that was beside the “wall”, not the drop off. All along the mountain roads that are cut in like this is “Watch For Fallen Rocks” signs but we were both surprised to see just how many more rocks had fallen onto the road from our original run just hours earlier.
We got back in town and the guys were still dragging their asses. The visit to the hot springs was obviously cancelled and the tiredness had kicked in, must be the fresh air! LOL Tom apologized for scaling back the birthday celebrations but we were still going for a good meal and a pint and we would party it up another night. We found a fantastic Irish Pub in town and they happened to be showing the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not always a given in the USA but on every TV in the bars back in Toronto although our Toronto Maple Leafs were beat out in the greatest 5 minute collapse in the history of pro sports in the previous round. I am hockey daft and the only one not only in our group but in the entire bar glued to the TV. It was a great game and the guys seemed to enjoy me explaining the little “nuances” of playoff hockey. The game went to sudden death overtime and I had everyone in earshot on the edge of their seats by the time the game was won.
We returned to the hotel and came up with a plan for tomorrow. Ouray was the home to some of the greatest off road mountain passes and they had just been opened recently. First thing in the morning Mike was going to take the cases and bags off the BMW and ride trails and fire roads that he had been watching on youtube and Adventure forums. Josh although on a bike marketed as dual purpose but clearly made for the street was going to join him just to get a taste and then turn around when they got as far as his Versys could handle. I was going to ride the Million Dollar Highway, again, and I was going to go Ton-Up somewhere on it. (Over 100mph). Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!
No need for one of those natural sound makers to help us sleep, this river was rushing directly behind our room. Awesome.