Day 26 Gunnison CO

Today we mostly took a break from riding motorcycles.  Instead, we rented a side by side UTV. We couldn’t get the one we really wanted but the slow poke we had got the job done and we had a great day. We took it into the mountains ourselves and were just in awe of the beauty in Colorado. We are already planning a trip to bring our side by side’s out here. There are so many trails and in about two weeks the snow will be gone enough you could ride from Gunnison to Aspen through the mountains. 

We had to cross several streams and on one trail the stream was the trail for a ways. 

After we finished riding the UTV we did take the motorcycles to the car wash because they were filthy and had a nice Mexican dinner in Gunnison. We like the town the Gunnison. 

Day 25 Fruita CO to Gunnison CO

I am a happy camper today because it will be a much cooler day. 

It was an amazing ride to get to this point. We had to go through two tunnels. I can’t imagine they built the road in 1931 without all the technology we have today. 

We really enjoyed this National Park. The ride on US 50 to Black Canyon was a great ride as well. It was in the low 80’s and overcast. 

Then we headed toward Gunnison. 

The Blue Mesa Reservoir is massive. No way can you get pictures to show the size of it. 

We had a nice dinner in Gunnison and admired this car. 

It’s a tent night. The temperatures should get to high 40’s overnight. Perfect tent weather😊

Day 24 Fillmore UT to Fruita Colorado

We left Fillmore Utah this morning and headed north to Holden to get on US 50. The route to Salina UT was really pretty. 

We stopped at a Denny’s in Salina for brunch and they had their tables that were closed for social distancing decorated. 

US 50 and I70 were the same route from Salina Utah to Fruita Colorado. I don’t like driving on the interstate but this scenery was awesome until we reached Green River UT. Then it was really hot and not very scenic. The temperatures reached 96 degrees. 

Day 23 Eureka NV to Fillmore UT

We really enjoyed our stay at Eureka Gold Country Inn last night. They had the nicest bath towels, great coffee and the first hotel to provide a really nice breakfast. Eureka was settled in 1864 by silver prospectors. Mining has been economic mainstay until this day. In their heyday, they had 50 mines that produced lead, silver, gold and zinc processing more than 700 tons of ore a day. 

We didn’t leave until around 8 am to allow the sun to get a little higher in the sky. Since we are heading East now we have the morning sun. 

We pretty much traveled 320 miles in the Nevada and Utah desert today other than a side trip to the Great Basin National Park. Thankfully this morning was cool and I enjoyed that before the heat in the afternoon. 

We are riding on the route of the Pony Express. 

Picture stop. 

Hard to image the temperature change from the heat in the desert in the valley to snow in the mountains. 

The desert floor was very windy as you can see a great location for windmills. 

We have had to fight a lot of wind on this trip, especially through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico. But also some really strong gusts in California and Nevada. Several times on this trip the wind has been so strong you have to lean your bike into the wind like going around a turn. 

We were looking forward to this National Park because you climb to over 10,000 feet and it contains Wheeler Peak Glacier. This glacier is the southernmost glacier in the Northern Hemisphere.The park also is known for it’s bristlecone pine tree. A cool fact is that the oldest nonclonal organism ever discovered was a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree at least 5,000 years old. It was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and US Forest Service personnel for research purposes. 

There are not a lot of guardrails on the climb up the mountain so you had to be very careful on the motorcycle and were limited where you could stop and take pictures but the views were amazing. 

Looking from 10,000 feet down into desert floor.

Shortly after leaving the park, we crossed into Utah. This was a cool mountain.  Most of this section of Utah was not very scenic but this mountain range was nice. 

This almost looked like the salt flats. We have driven on the salt flats in 2016 and it is further north in Utah but I think this must also be salt.