Story: 21 Days in June
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Via US 550, Million $ Highway, US 62, US 145
| Terrain: Curves, mountain, high elevation changes, scenic Date: June 2014 Roads: Paved highway, Interstate, very curvy, country roads Technical: Easy, to intermediate Elevation: 6,129 ft. to 11,093 ft  |
Here is a map on Spotwalla to see the the map overview of this segment. Click Here
Well the day finally arrives. So far the situation is better than expected. We wake early, the weather couldn’t be better, visibility is better than 90% (my visibility meter hasn’t been calibrated, but is determined to be accurate), my good friend is with us…
We start the day grinning from ear to ear anticipating today’s ride. I can’t keep a secret… we were not disappointed!
Today is the day that we head up Hwy 550 (and the Million Dollar Highway to the sky)! We’ll traverse a wide variety of scenery, temperature, elevation, twisties, basically everything is thrown in. Everything seems just a little more than usual. The bonus is intended to make people gasp in joy, grin from ear to ear, cringe a little extra at the steep drop-offs, and to entice you to stop at every chance for the view and create lifelong memories.
Durango, Colorado sits at 6,512 ft and is at the base of Highway 550 and is the beginning of the San Juan Scenic Byway. Hwy 550 includes the Million Dollar Highway which goes between Silverton (9,320 ft) and Ouray (7,792 ft and is considered the Swiss Alps of the United States) . We can see by the elevation that this is going to be fun! There are many hotels and restaurants to choose from in Durango. Red Mountain Pass goes as high as 11,000 ft. and the peaks are 13 and even 14 thousand feet high! The total length of this trip should come out to 225 miles.
We top off our tanks in the morning. My fuel capacity is 6 gals so gas shouldn’t be a worry for me. At the station, there are many MANY bikes, trikes, bike trailers, Harleys, BMWs, KTMs, Kawasakis, Hondas passing by. You name it and there are at least a couple of those on the road on this day. We say hello to a couple guys with far away license plates. In fact, if your license plate is a Colorado plate, you are not trying hard enough. Most motorcycle plates here are from out of state, ours are from Oregon and New Mexico and we are riding in Colorado. Ah, the symphony of MotoForever riding. Leave the state and things start to get interesting. J
Heading up 550, we pass a couple groups of bikers that are going slower. Of course, we try to go as slow as we can to see the sights, and experience the ride to its fullest. We stop occasionally for more pics that the GoPro cannot provide. Linda is getting a handle on the GoPro pics…
Hwy 550 is a ride that must be experienced. I especially like the variety of things to see and do. The curves and challenge change constantly. One minute you are riding a casual mountain road and the next you are hitting decreasing radius turns with steep ledges (cliffs?) and vast valley views. The air immediately gets cooler and the city dust is gone in no time flat. We start out seeing farms and ranches, but this is gold country and mining is the reason that this highway was built encouraging the gold rush in these parts. The clouds at one point looked very much like rain. We were spared, but we were happy that we all had changed to medium gloves and heavier clothing for the day. We did pack some heavy clothes, but never needed them. It was perfect all day long! Not too hot and not too cold.
We take the entire path road, then head back via Telluride, through Dolores and back to stay in Cortez, CO. There was some wind, less than the forecasted 29 mph winds, tomorrow is supposed to be worse then get back to normal. Its been windy and gusty for us ever since hitting AZ, NM and CO. So we are going to slow down, stay in Cortez an extra day before heading back west bound.
Bye Bye Durango, CO. Durango is a fun city and has a trolley system for hopping around town.
As we head up the valley toward the Million Dollar Highway, we see LOTS of bikes. Nobody is in a hurry
The first change is the huge amount of trees. There are so many Aspen here that Autumn would be amazing
We climb to the highest passes and see lots of permanent snow. There is snow next to the road and it is middle of June.
Isn’t this a pretty sight? It wasn’t all motorcycles, but it sure seemed like it at times.
The highest Harley Store in the World! … another obligatory Harley T
Silverton was a fun town to visit for sure. The museum there was really good and portrayed everything about mining life from its rough and tumble beginnings through the 1900s and into more modern times.
Grumpy’s was the perfect spot for food and fun. Live piano music, old fashioned bar and excellent food.
The bar at Grumpy’s
What time is it? A friendly reminder that It’s time to move on
Leaving Silverton are reminders that we are at high altitude. They sometimes mined the ore above the tree lines
The weather was always threatening. Threatening to change if nothing else.
Heading down from Silverton was on the Million Dollar Highway. Lots of steep drop offs and tight curves. You need to keep your wits up and eyes on the road.
Ouray looked fun, but we didn’t stop…. Next time… we enjoyed Silverton so much and parking bikes was very easy there.
Turn left on 62 then onto Hwy 145 to Cortez. This part is before Telluride, the curves are faster and fun
We did the Telluride option. It is only a couple miles off the road and has gas. Telluride likes to look rustic, but we know the truth.
OK, there was road construction on the 145 toward Dolores, tar and gravel.. Bad words for sure, but it wasn’t that bad this time. Cortez really welcomes bikes. Each hotel seemed to have lots of bikes parked in front.
We stopped to eat at Main Street Brewery and Restaurant. Perfect choice. It is now our favorite! They make beer here, but their food was fantastic. You can’t go wrong with anything here, but pasta, burgers, trout, are all very good, very high quality fare. BUT if you order anything that remotely goes with green chili cheese fries…
Tomorrow we don’t ride much, but stop awhile and visit Mesa Verde NP.