Mike and I headed out today for Rockies Gold and decided to visit Kolob Canyon on the way to meet some friends in Cedar City, UT.
It’s a beautiful canyon…
…when you get to see more than just a mile and a half of it.
Unfortunately the road was completely washed out from recent rains.
On arrival everyone started catching up with each other, or was that text messages?
The next day we all headed up to Cedar Breaks. Rocky and I were in sport mode. :)
These signs make me breathe harder for some reason.
The crew is taking in the sight from the viewing platform. Some for the first time.
What a view it is
I guess this is a true Rocky Mtn. High!
Moving east from The Cedar Breaks we are riding through Red Rock Canyon near the entrance to Bryce Canyon
It doesn’t take long to pass it so take your pictures fast.
These next few are of the guys on the HogBack but I totally failed to capture what is taking place.
You can’t see it but there is little shoulder on each side of the road and dropping near vertical for a few hundred feet on both sides.
We stopped for two kinds of fuel in Boulder, UT. Some for the bikes
Some fuel for us too at the Burr Trail Grill
This is the start of the 60 miles of the Burr Trail, some of it paved, some of it dirt.
Only some scenic pics now. Will only caption if I think they need it.
All good things must end sometime, here the road turns to dirt.
Another small mile stone
Woke up to a free bike wash after the dirt road.
Our plan for Thursday is to take a day off from the motorcycles and ride the Durango-Silverton Railroad.
They were just bringing the engine for our train out when we arrive at the depot.
The tracks are pretty narrow gauge and I was wondering if the train was going to stay upright in the curves.
My friend Mike is a retired Rail Road guy and was chomping at the bit for that whistle to blow.
I think somewhere between 100 and 200 people made the trip
He was giving me the evil eye because I had one toe over the safety line
Some of the old freight cars from when the railroad was more than just a tourist trip.
A museum that I didn’t visit
Some of the passenger cars are closed and some are open air.
The engines are of the coal fired steam kind
And off we go
There are a few places along the route where passengers can board or disembark
The rest of these pics are mostly scenic views and comments won’t be necessary unless they are.
There were a few places where the engineer would blow off steam and create a rainbow
I think he said that this old powerhouse is still generating power
We are only 15 minutes into this 7 hour ride and Larry is starting to worry that it will be over too soon
Mike is really determined to get a better view
Jim thought I took up too much room on our assigned seat so he moved to the front to be more comfortable
The steam engines need water and have to take on 4 to 5 thousand gallons a couple of times each way of the trip.
Once in Silverton, everyone disembarks and heads for lunch
Naturally we chose the only place in town that had a waiting line
None of us had any complaints about the food
I guess they can use parts from almost anything to fix old trains.
Rules, rules, rules, you know what they say about rules
Bridge over troubled water
Some of the route reminded me of those roads in Peru
Today we are heading to Rockies Gold via the Million Dollar Hwy and Hwy 141. This is the town of Ouray on the million dollar hwy and better known as the Jeep capital of the world.
Mike Jim and I are waiting for Larry and Scott who stopped at another overlook
A few pictures of Scott following his father Larry today
They did a great job of leading the ride.
When we arrived at our motel, my friend Jim (Wheels) was there. It’s been a few years since I met him in Death Valley. He’s updated his ride to the new DCT too!
His new trike is about as sharp looking as one could get.
He was able to use the same wheelchair mounting system that he had on his other trike.
I’m not sure what the final count was but I counted over thirty when I took these pictures.
I’ve been pretty faithful as to following my diet on this trip, but tonight I did sin a little.
Jim and his wife Nancy
A big thanks to 1096 dad and his wife for putting on Rockies Gold 2023
Big Cat…purrrrrrring
Johnny has done a great job of holding the tent up all evening
The BBQed Pulled Pork was excellent as well as all of the other fixings.
A great evening and all went home HAPPY!
Saturday is a ride day but before everyone takes off they want a group pictures of the bikes and riders. This is Wheels hopping onto his trike!
He backed that baby into position on the first try
Too many bikes, I couldn’t fit them all into the same picture
Everyone with a camera climbed the stairs trying for the perfect shot.
My best attempt
Some of the scenery along Hwy 92 going east from Delta
Kodi, Heather and I had a nice spirited ride all the way to Creede
Along the way we caught up with Larry and his son Scott
Being as they were just enjoying the scenery, we passed them.
A little wait time for construction near the Blue Mesa Reservoir
We tried to stop for some grub in Lake City, but nothing was open
We found this place in Creede and it was pretty good.
After lunch Kodi and Heather had to get back to the motel for the Ohio football game. I decided to smell the roses.
Creede was a mining town near the headwaters of the Rio Grande river.
Going to explore but the sign suggested four wheel drives only
Fortunately my car tire makes this like a four wheel drive.
The fire dept is underground
I thought this rally was called Rockies Gold because of the mining history in the area. Now I think this is the reason.
Who in the world comes up with some of these names?
The exhaust from the turbines at Blue Mesa Dam
THAT’S ALL FOLKS