Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 My buddy Dave and his Wife were in town 2 weeks ago and we took a 3 day cruise down to Durango. Railed along Route 149 to Lake City - great road with little or no traffic on it, follows a creek / gorge for a good portion of the way.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Lake City is a fly fishing / tourist town without much else there. Continued on 149 south of town and stopped to look back as 149 climbed the mountains.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Next, we stopped in Creede with hopes of finding some chow. But the tourist season is pretty much over now and most places were closed. Had a coke and sat on a bench on the street for a break... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Creede is an old gold mining town that got it's start in the 1860's. There are lots of abandoned gold mines nearby and we thought it'd be rude not to check some out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 The Bachelor Gulch Mine was a big operation back in it's day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 The ore house here is freakin' huge! You can just imagine what a pain in the ass it was to haul all of that timber up there and then build this thing. Gold ore was loaded out of the House and into trains or horse drawn carts via the huge chutes at the bottom of the house.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 We have miles and miles of roads like this to ride on in Colorado. I never get tired of them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 After Creede, it was getting late and a bit dark, so we hauled ass down 149 to 160 West into Durango for the night.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Ate crappy pizza and got drunk (another typical night for me) and then crashed out at the Marriott for the night. Slept good after a 500 mile day of riding. Next day and we're up and head towards Silverton for some more gold mine exploring.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Didn't have to go far to find some mines... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Had to ride through this past winter's avalanche area to continue onward. Smelled like fresh cut pine as we rode through. Snow was brown from all the dust that has blown onto it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Scenery was hard to beat though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Started to get late again, so we turned around and headed back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Not a lot happening in Silverton when we got back. Typical old mining town. Biggest business in town is the side by side rental place. Got some grub though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Rode up to Ouray and back on Route 550 - just because it's a fun road- and then back to the Marriott for more beers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Last day of the ride and we need to beat feet back towards home. Took a detour to ride along the Black Canyon from Sapinero to Delta... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 After the Black Canyon area, the topography flattens out and the ride gets a bit sucky. We headed over the Grand Mesa and onto I-70 to blast the last 250 miles to home. 3 days, two nights and 1,300 miles. A nice ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon Kaplan Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 this is great, I've never been to Durango, it's on my shortlist for mountain biking / dual sport / rv. trying to get there in Oct once I get a few more things on my rv dialed in, but concerned it will be too cold I have been to Crested Butte (in the summer) and it's one of my fave places on earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike St John Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Looks like a great ride! Thanks for the pics too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted September 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Gideon Kaplan said: this is great, I've never been to Durango, it's on my shortlist for mountain biking / dual sport / rv. trying to get there in Oct once I get a few more things on my rv dialed in, but concerned it will be too cold I have been to Crested Butte (in the summer) and it's one of my fave places on earth October could be too cold but it could be damned near perfect, too. Just have to watch the weather and make a last minute decision. Durango is a nice little town - lots of restaurants in their vibrant downtown area. It's not all bombed out and deserted like many town of the same size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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