Day 12 (Better than yesterday)

I looked at the weather apps last night and it called for strong thunderstorms and flash floods after 1 PM for today, so I got up and decided to get as much as I could in this morning.  I started off with a Harley ride along a rode that started close to my cabin and ran along the Animas river into Durango (about 15 miles one way).  It was so beautiful, that I turned around and went back to my cabin on that same road. About 1/4 mile from my cabin on this road, is a gorgeous gorge where they filmed Robert Redford and Paul Newman jumping off of a cliff in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  This was there "jumping off" place.  Once they got the shot of them jumping off, then two stuntmen were filmed falling from a much higher and different cliff.
After the ride, I had lunch at a wonderful organic farm, The James Ranch, where they raise everything they cook right on site. I had one of the best hamburgers I have ever had and the setting was beautiful.
I then decided to drop by the glider place and see if they were flying even though the weather was beginning to look bad.  They said they thought there was a "small window of opportunity" right then, but it was up to me!  I responded that I had never done this before, but if they were leaving it up to me, then let's go.  What a thrill the glider was.  We ran into some rain, and we couldn't really get the thermal lifts that my pilot expected because the rain was taking the energy out of the heat, BUT I still thought it was a wonderful experience.  I got back to my cabin around 1 PM and the storm hit.  It has been raining very hard, and unfortunately I don't know where my neighbors are. They left this morning on the motorcycles to go to Silverton for a jeep tour and they aren't back.  Hopefully, they are holed up somewhere letting the rain pass.
This will be my last post for this trip as I head home tomorrow.  It has been a great trip, that exceeded my expectations, but it would have been even better to have been able to share these experiences directly with Jan instead of through his blog, so looking forward to being home soon.

Moring Harley ride

Gorgeous gorge

Butch and Sundance's jumping off place

They jumped off left of the tree

Grill at James Ranch

James Rance "Market Place"

Strap me in and let's go!

Lift off

Here comes the rain

Beautiful view of the valley

More valley

Still gaining altitude

Cut loose from the tow plane

Valley again

Me and my pilot back safely on the ground

Harley loaded and ready for home

Day 11 (Rainy)

Today was a slow, frustrating, rainy day.  I was supposed to have a glider flight today at 11, but they called and cancelled because of weather. My neighbors took off this morning to go to Silverton and Ouray, but they only made it to Silverton before they hit thunderstorms and had to turn back.  I'm sure disappointing to them, but certainly a smart decision given the nature of the road.  In the mean time, I went to town and had a nice lunch and then drove up to Vallecito Reservoir.  The drive up was very nice with the typical beautiful scenery that seems to be the "norm" up here.  After I got back to my cabin, I decided to spend some time in the river working on my fly-fishing-tecnique-improvement.  What a frustrating session.  I got my fly hung up in bush on one of my back-casts and had to tear part of the bush apart to get it loose.  Then three casts later, that damn bush grabbed my fly again, but his time the bush won and I'm down another fly and still have not had a nibble.  Back at the cabin, my neighbors had returned and wanted to know how the fishing had gone.  I told them about as good as their bike ride. Ken was feeling sorry for me so he gave me a fly to try out.  Later in the afternoon and went back for another session which turned out to be very good as far as technique improvement, but still no nibble.  Another fly fisherman came by and ask me if my feet were cold (I'm just wearing water shoes and shorts, no waders), and I told him "no" because I couldn't feel them!!  So much for Day 11 (they can't all be perfect).

My neighbors off to Silverton

Vallecito Reservoir

Interesting tree trunk carving

Day 10

Today I hit the road at 8:30, and what a road it was.  I rode to Silverton which was a beautiful and winding road.  I rode and walked around Silverton for a bit and then took off for Ouray, and that was a whole different level of "road".  This road is called the "Million Dollar Highway", I think, because it cost a million dollars per mile to construct and when you ride it you can tell why.  The road sometimes literally sits on the edge of the cliff. There were places where there was no shoulder at all, and the asphalt just hung over the edge. I don't think I have ever hugged the yellow center line more than I did on this road. There was absolutely NO room for error.  The terrain was gorgeous, and even though the road was a little frightening at times, it was a  lot of fun to ride. I think I was very lucky in that there was very little traffic.  I had heard that the weekends are crowded and this is not a road that you want to be on with people trying to be in a hurry.  On the way back from Ouray, I stopped back in Silverton and had lunch at a great restaurant called the Pickle Barrel.  After I finished lunch I noticed that the Durango to Silverton steam locomotive had just arrived in town, so I went to check it out, and then headed back to Durango.  The weather was perfect and the ride was a real highlight.

Silverton, Colorado

Silverton Courthouse

Silverton street scene

Road to Silverton

More Tunnels

Twisty Road

Ouray, Colorado

Street Scene, Ouray, Colorado

Durango to Silverton Steam Locomotive

On the way back to Durango

Day 8 (BEARS???)

The highlight of today occurred almost before the day began.  I got up, made my coffee, finished that, then made my morning fruit smoothie. I was sitting out on my porch reading when I looked up and across the river and saw a bear. I jumped up and started to take a picture with my iPhone, but realized that would never work. I went inside got my Canon, changed the lenses, went back out and he was still meandering down the bank on the farside (picture below). I talked to the lady at the front desk and she said that they had not seen any bears this year, so I felt privileged to see this one. Needless to say a bunch of folks are going to be up in the morning to see if he comes back.  We have a lot of kids here and they all want to see the bear.
Today was a rainy day so I didn't do much in the morning, but decided that I would go into town and have a good lunch since I'm eating light at dinner.  When I got into town I found that the Tour de France riders (they are here for 3 days) were starting todays race from downtown.  Darn, what a mess.  I left and headed back out of town.  I got bored in the afternoon and decided to go for a Harley ride.  I got about 20 miles up the road toward Silverton and hit a big thunderstorm.  I turned around and just beat it back to my cabin.  Later that afternoon, my neighbors arrived.  We bonded quickly (see picture below).  Two of the guys are physicians and one of them is making his first ride with his son. He said it has been one of those "Life moments". I would imagine they will remember this event for a long time. Great guys. For you golfers, there is a picture of a guy's front yard that has 4 flags for pitching & chipping.

Yep, there are bears here

4 flags for pitching and chipping!

New Neighbors

Phase II-Durange, Colorado

Today was moving day and I packed up and left Pagosa Springs for Durango.  The drive was beautiful and uneventful (the best kind when you are pulling a trailer!).  I checked into my "Tent Cabin" which has no kitchen, no bathroom, 15 Amp electricity, and that's about it, BUT the setting is more than my expectations.  I can deal with the challenge of not having the things I'm used to as long as there is a tradeoff and the setting is the tradeoff.  I absolutely love it and I've only been here a few hours (of course that time does include a High Altitude Happy Hour which may be influeancing my feelings.  Check back tomorrow and let's see how I feel.  Anyway, the pictures for today are focused on the Cabin since that was the order of the day.

My Cabin is named "Spud", I guess  meaning small potato

Porch and inside

Double bed to the left, bunk to the right.  That's it.

My Kitchen!

Porch Swing

View from Porch Swing

Down at the Animas River

View of Cabin (Spud) from Animas River

High Altitude Happy Hour

Day 7

Today was hiking day up into the San Juan National Forest. I drove about 30 miles up mostly dirt road to Williams Reservoir, and drove on more dirt road over to,  Piedra Water Falls.  I had to hike about 2 miles, but it was very pleasant. The falls were not very tall, only about 60 feet, but the hike and the area around the falls was very nice.  On the drive up there I came upon a group of 4 horses grazing next to the road (this was open range area), and made the mistake of stopping.  One of the horses (see below) walked out and stood in front of my car. I  eased forward to try and get him to move, but he wouldn't budge. I got out of the car and shooed him away. When I got back in the car, he was in front of the car again.  I did this three times, and each time he came back and stood right in front of my car. That was one weird horse, or something about the front of my car that he liked.
I got back about noon, and after lunch, decided to have another fly-fishing-technique-improvement session.  This session was really going well until I noticed a thunderstorm moving in, so I decided to make 5 more casts. On my last cast, a gust of wind came up and pushed my fly into a tree.  I struggled for a while, but did manage to get it lose. All in all, a very good session. I have now declared myself ready for the streams where the real fish are.

Williams Reservoir

Road to the Falls

Piedra Falls

Weird Horse

Day 6: (Movie Star?-NOT)
I got up this morning and took the Harley to Creede, CO where Johnny Depp is making a movie.  I wanted to see if they wanted me in the movie.  They didn't.  I rode back.  But what a great ride it was. About 120 miles round trip, wonderful weather, and great scenery.
After I got back and had lunch, I had my afternoon fly-fishing-technique-improvement session.  What an improvement, no snapped off flys.  That's what I'm talking about!!  Besides, I found a new fly on the ground on the way back to my cabin, so now I'm only down net 1 fly!!
After my strenuous work out with my fly-fishing-technique-improvement session, I went to the Pagosa Springs (I had no idea they really had springs, imagine that).  Actually, they call it, " The Great Pagosah-the Largest, Hottest Spring in the World".  Sounds like a "self-proclaimed title", kinda like the "Live Music Capital of the World"!! Since the water is very sulfuric in smell (and corrosive), there is a controversy over the actual translation of Pagosa.  Some historians say that it is a Ute Indian (American Indians) word meaning "stinking water", but the local Pogasosans prefer the translation meaning "Healing Waters".  I think "stinking waters" is the more accurate translation, BUT it is an incredible place.  There are 3 places to experience the hot springs, and I chose The Springs Spa because they have the most pools.  They have 18 pools that range in temperature from 85 degrees to 112 degrees. The water comes out of the springs at 144 degrees, and then they modulate them to a more bearable temperature.  They also have a VIP section for $5 more that is made up of 5 additional pools that requires a code to get into. I chose that as an option to the basic rate because what the VIP meant was NO KIDS!!!

Creede, Colorado

I don't think so!

You have got to be kidding!

Nothing like the sound of a Harley in a mountain tunnel

Wolf Creek Ski Area-Most annual snow in US

Spring Spa-spring water cascades down thru pools

18 hot spring pools

A couple of the pools

Spring water chemical deposits