newbie 2 day camping trip/canyon ride

[denver_whitest185]

edit: The trip dates are tuesday the 19th and wednesday the 20th.

me and nerves are planning a two day trip down to the black canyon of the gunnison, and camping there over night. i normally just do backcountry camping instead of finding a campsite area, so its a low-cost trip. since me and nerves are both new to riding, this will kinda be a newbie trip, but it will be paced fast enough to let experienced riders have fun too. there will be plenty
of rest stops along the way if someone wants to go faster or decided to take their time.

the trip looks like it'll be around 6 hours or so of riding each day, but thats because its almost all "back country" highways and only a few miles of interstate.

the trip date hasn't been set yet, but it will be sometime during the week of the 18th. i figured id see if anyone else in was interested in going with us, or if anyone who doesn't want to start out with us from fort collins could meet us in glenwood springs (where we are planning on having lunch the first day). additionally, we will be stopping in siverthorn the next day and people who don't want to continue north to Loveland could head back home.

if anyone has any suggestions on which two days during the week of the 18th we should take the trip, i'm all ears. i have that whole week off, so anytime works.

[denver_whitest185]

right now the tenitive date is looking to be august 19th and 20th which is a tuesday and a wendnesday.

comeon, who's up for lots of canyons, camping, hotsprings, and smores :yumyum:

[Nerves]

So ya, it is on for the 19th and 20th. And there is no "broke bike mountain" goin on here so dont ask.

[denver_whitest185]

So ya, it is on for the 19th and 20th. And there is no "broke bike mountain" goin on here so dont ask.


thstop it:slappers:


seriously, anyone else interested. it should be really fun, and hw 92 that we're going to be camping on is suppose to be one of the funnest road to cruise on a motorcycle.

plus minimal tourists since its on weekdays...

[denver_whitest185]

bump, one week to go. if anyone is interested, let me know and i'll send you a trip plan...

[denver_whitest185]

if anyone decides last minute, feel free to call my cell to see where we are. its 720-284-9669

the route will be fort collins to steamboat, then to glenwood, then to crested butte and finally the black canyon area. wednesday we'll be heading up through carbondale, aspen, leadville, silverthorne, hot sulfur springs, and ending with a ride though RMNP and spliting in loveland...

[Brat]

that looks like a helluva fun trip. enjoy. :)

[denver_whitest185]

it was a hellava LONG trip. my odometer shows ive done 948 miles in the last two days...

[Nerves]

So, photo time.

We started off in Fort Collins. After a quick bite and a stop off at Jax (pic) we where on the road at about 915.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture001.jpg



We made our way up the Pudre Canyon till it was pic time at Cameron Pass Summit.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture003.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture007.jpg

After we hit Steamboat Springs at about 1100 that morning we then headed south on 131. I beleave this pic is near Oak Creek.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture009.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture012.jpg

We contenued down 131 till we hit I-70 which we hitched west to Glenwood Springs. We fought the traffic and road construction as we went south again on 131, but the wait was worth it. Just south of Carbondale we had to stop to let the lil' 250 switch to the reserve tank and it made for a good pic opertunity.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture017.jpg

Please ignore Mr. Lovehandles in the for ground.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture018.jpg

A little further south we made a pit stop in a tiny little town called Red Stone. At $4.50 a gallon for gas at the only "gas station" in town, only one gallon was bought. I however had the privalage of making an ass of myself in front of many a tourest by droping my bike while coming to a stop in a gravel parking lot (the only pavement in the whole town was the main road runing through the town. The drop was quickly forgoten as we wound up a mountain a few miles south and came apon this....
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture019-1.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture022.jpg

[Brat]

good bugs.... ride through a bug or two thousand....lol :D

[Nerves]

Another half hour or so and we hit out next turn off and what ended up being one of the highlights of the trip. Just north of Somerset we decided to take the "path less traviled by" and headed for Crested Butte via CR 12 over Kebler Pass. I think the correct word to discribe this 31 mile road is "treacherous". And this was the nice part of the road.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture025.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture026.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture030.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture032.jpg

However the view was fantasticly worth it.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture027.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture028.jpg


http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture034.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture036.jpg

Wish I had a better cammera for this one, those fields where three miles off at least and dotted in free range cattle.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture043.jpg

[Nerves]

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture047.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture053.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture051.jpg

Just a little further on we started into some really nice aspen forestes with many a cow blocking out path.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture059.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture063.jpg

Once to the top....
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture066.jpg

From that sign turn around and...
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture068.jpg

[Nerves]

Once off the dirt road we hit Created Butte. From there 135 into Gunnison and 50 to our makeshift campsight on the Blue Mesa Reservoir near Sapinero. The ride along and over Blue Mesa Reservoir was so incredibly gorgeous and I highly recomend it.

Dusk after camp was set.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture071.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture072.jpg

I awoke at 630 the next morning and the first thing I did was grab my camera and you will see why.

Before I even got out of my tent.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture074.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture076.jpg

Out of the tent. http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture077.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture084.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture089.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture094.jpg

[Nerves]

From the top of this hill you can see where we camped.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture096.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture097.jpg

Here, a little closser.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture098.jpg

Turn 180 degres and you see the road and where we parked.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture099.jpg

Again, a little closser.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture100.jpg

Random pics of the lake.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture103.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture113.jpg

Again, the camp site from afar.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture105.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture112.jpg

[Nerves]

Don't have much from the second day. But here is what I got.

We headed north up 133. The first stop of the first day. Here we saw quite a few crewsers role past and a couple Honda trikes.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture119.jpg

A look over the edge.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture116.jpg


http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture118.jpg

Needs cropping, but what the hell, I'll put it up. Damn rock takes a terrible pic.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture122.jpg

This stop was not even worth photographing because it just won't capture it. However a nice gentelmen from texes, riding a sweet Yahama was kind enough to take this one for us.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh274/nerves82/trip/Picture123.jpg

That is the last picture from the trip. We made our way back north and through Aspen and into Silverthorn where we made a HUGE mistake and decided to do peak to peak instead of Trail Ridge Road. not a mile up we hit bumper to bumper, stop and go, all three lanes.....TRAFIC!! :down: (on I-70...? ya don't say) We wasted a little over an hour following a harley rider, doing not so leagle things you can only do on a bike. :angel: We neared the tunnel where we could turn around and we hauled ass back to Silverthorn and went north on 9 to kremling then east on 40 to north 125 where we took this dirt road short cut between Rand and Gould which cut a good hour out of the ride. It was great because we did it right at dusk and it was almost dark. Fun ass road. Anyway, we finished up by riding the Poudre Canyon in the cold dark. Took all the fun out of it. We rounded the bend back into Fort Collins at maybe 10:00 with a sore ass a need for a hot shower and a throtle hand that hurt more then......this one time, at band camp :jerkoff:........

[mtnairlover]

Now that's a trip. Nice pics guys.

[denver_whitest185]

where's the cow salesman photo?

i wish i had seen that sunrise. i guess thats what i get for sleeping till 7

[Jason ON]

Glad to see those saddle bags worked for you.

[Brat]

nice pics eh

[chad23]

looks like a trip of a life time. Great pics

[denver_whitest185]

Glad to see those saddle bags worked for you.

they worked great. thanks again :)

[SamuraiX]

I love riding, i love camping. How could you go wrong by combining the two?
Nice sunrise shots!

[Sean]

Looks like a great trip! Nothing better than riding through the mtns and camping!