Hello Colorado - San Juan Skyway and Great Sand Dunes

We are glad to get a welcome from any state, but does anyone else see the problem with this sign?  It says "COLORFUL" Colorado, but there's not a bit of color in the sign or the landscape around it!

Colorado has not been particularly helpful with our travels so far. To start with, the campground we selected close to Durango/Vallecito did not turn out to be what it advertised, so we left and relocated to another spot in Ignacio (good move by the way and very thankful something else was available on such short notice).  And, ever since we arrived in Colorado, it has been cold and windy and we have had more rain in Colorado than all of the rest of our travels over the past 2 1/2 months combined.  We have had near perfect weather since we left home in early July and we are thankful for that, also for safe travels.  So, we are not complaining but a lot that we had planned for Colorado, so far has not been possible.

One of the reasons we initially chose Durango as a good location was because it is located on the #1 motorcycle ride for the state.  I had a one-day weather window to get that 220-mile ride in, but the wind was 20 to 30 mph, gusting to 40, so Rhonda and I rode it together in the truck.  Since that one-day window, it has been raining and snowing with very cold temps, so much so they even opened their ski slopes at Silverton earlier than usual, and the forecast for the next week was for much of the same.

So let's start with that truck ride on the San Juan Skyway.  Mid-September to mid-October is the best time of the season for the aspens and other fall colors.  Oh baby - it was stunningly beautiful.  We took 192 pictures, and I have never had so much trouble deciding which ones to post.  Here's what I came up with.  Enjoy.

We thought aspens were always yellow in the fall, but they can also be orange and sometimes even red.  (Did not see any reds).

Even the stream put on its fall colors.

One stretch of the roadway is referred to as "The Million Dollar Mile Highway," referring (supposedly) to the cost per mile.  Unfortunately though, for each million of highway costs, it did not come with guardrails.  As you can see below, what were they thinking?

But they added a little treat - a steel platform that hangs in the air above a waterfall. The platform is grated steel, so you can look straight down through the platform. Rhonda's checking it out and appears to be making progress with her fear of heights after this trip! (From Rhonda: My fear is not from heights, but from heights without guardrails!)

The waterfall below, "Bear Creek Falls," and note the clear water in the pool at the bottom.

There are two towns on the route we covered - Silverton and Ouray (pronounced Youray).

Ouray is known for it's quaint and pretty homes.

Ski slopes, Telluride and Purgatory, are also on the route. We only passed by Purgatory.

With the weather forecast to get worse for the next week, we saw no reason to hang around and moved on to Alamosa to tour the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but we had a beautiful view of the mountains from our RV park in Alamosa.

It was rainy, windy, and cold there also, but we were treated to a special double rainbow after a day of rain, probably the most brilliant rainbow colors we have ever seen.

The double rainbow below.

We only had about half of one day with weather good enough to tour Great Sands, but even then it was still windy and cold, and we had to bundle up a bit.  Now if it's windy and cold, you may be wondering why Rhonda is barefoot.  With blue skies and sunshine, the medium-dark sand soaks up the sunshine and the top layer of the sand was pretty warm (so she says).

The down side to that was having to cross Medano Creek to get to the dunes.  Here she goes.  

By the way, the depth of Medano Creek is a seasonal thing - about one foot deep during the spring snow melt, eventually going dry in June. So, while the rainy weather has impacted our plans, without it we would not have been able to see Medano Creek.  Those of us who kept our shoes on were able to selectively plan our crossing and stay dry.  An entire "shoed" family was debating the crossing when I got to the bank and they asked, "Can you cross without getting your feet wet?"  I thought the appropriate answer was "Depends on where you step!" 

So, here's the short version on The Great Sand Dunes.  The predominately SW wind blows across the huge and very sandy San Luis Valley, picks up the sand and deposits the majority of it in a relatively small 41,000-acre area in a mountain basin.  (The total dune area is 149,000 acres.) The 41,000-acre area is 750 feet tall and sits on a large aquifer formed by the snow melt.  The runoff is absorbed by the sand until saturated and the overflow forms the creeks that surround the dunes and run into the valley.  The creeks pick up lots of the sand and carry it back into the valley, only to be picked up again by the SW winds........ you get the idea.  Below -  the valley, the dunes, and the snow-capped mountains.

In the close-up below, you can see Medano Creek on the east side of the dunes.  There's another creek on the west side. And of course, the beautiful aspens below the snow line.

You get a feel below for how far the valley extends in the distance.

Rhonda on the way up the hill with only about a mile and 700 vertical feet to go.  I talked her out of it, and we headed back to the truck where there was heat and no wind.

And we got a nice shot of another snow-capped mountain on the way back to the RV.

That's about it for Colorado so far, hoping for better weather in Colorado Springs.  We'll give it 5 days and then we need to head back home.  Later.

Back to Utah - the Southern Half, Arches, and a 610-mile Bike Ride

We left Williams, AZ and headed back into Utah.  We visited northern Utah about a month ago at Salt Lake City, then crossed into Nevada after the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Most of the beautiful scenery though is in the southern half of the state with numerous national and state parks - Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonland, Glen Canyon, Escalante/Grand Staircase, Capitol Reef, and Arches.  I guess it's certainly possible to visit all of these, but we just don't have the time on this trip.  So, we'll show you some scenery from Williams, AZ to Blanding, UT, a trip to Arches, and my 610-mile, 2-day motorcycle ride from Blanding to Panguitch which crosses Glen Canyon, Escalante, and Bryce Canyon.  

The variety of terrain still amazes us.  There is literally a new and different photo shot every mile and around every new corner and curve.  

Three stone space aliens.

Remember our first "Devils Tower" in Wyoming?  Utah has towers that are even taller in some places.  

This spot is known as "Mexican Hat."  Note also the beautiful backdrop.

And this is quite an iconic shot in "Monument Valley."  Lots of movies and shows have included this area as a symbol of the American west - Back To The Future III, National Lampoon's Vacation, How The West Was Won, and The Lone Ranger to name a few.  One of the most notable is "Forest Gump" - the location where Forest stopped running.  "I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go home now."

And you see some interesting "other" things along the way.  We have never seen a building on top of several silos before this trip.

This jeep looks to be in a slightly precarious position. Look closely on top of the rock toward the left side!  Not sure if that is a promo for "Hole In The Rock" or an adventurous driver.

And I want to point out a wonderful thing about an RV.  When you are literally in the middle of nowhere, you can pull over and enjoy the conveniences of home.  Well, if you can find a place to pull over of course.

The main focus at "Arches" is uh, the "Arches."  We checked out 4 of them.  This first one is a "double arch."

Others.

And I had one of my best motorcycle rides of the trip - 610 miles.  It is rated as the #1 ride in Utah and is 300 miles long one way.  That's about my limit for one day and calls for an overnight stop to rest.  I rode it pretty much non-stop the first time through, except for fuel and food, just to enjoy the ride.  The route started at Blanding and includes Glen Canyon, Escalante/Grand Staircase, and skirts the edge of Bryce Canyon.  My overnight was at the KOA in Panguitch.  I don't need much after a long day and when you rent one of their cabins you don't get much - a bed, folding metal chair, a light, and a space heater.   I really appreciated the space heater - it was 37 degrees that night and I had frost on my bike the next morning.  You also have to provide your own pillow, linens, and towels. No water or bathroom, but they had recently installed new and private bathrooms and showers only about 50 steps from my place. 

In 300 miles, the scenery changes a lot as we have frequently noted.  Leaving Panquitch, you cross an area called Red Canyon with a couple of arches over the roadway.  You can see the second one just down the road looking through the first one.

Then you go through Bryce Canyon City and catch a little of Bryce Canyon from the highway.

It's a little more spectacular inside the park, but I did not have time for that plus it involes a lot of hiking to see the best in Bryce. (Picture from Yahoo images)

Then you get into the hills and curves of Escalante.

You better be paying attention running the crest of the hills between 2 canyons.  The road is narrow with steep drops on both sides AND NO GUARD RAILS! 

Then you begin the descent into a huge area of "not what you expect to see in southern Utah" - green hills.  You can see them in the distance.

With a few aspens to boot, the elevation at the summit in this area is 9,600 feet.

You make the turn at halfway in the town of Torrey and immediately enter just the opposite - rock and more rock.

Glen Canyon is next with miles and miles of red rock and lots of curves, heading for the Colorado River gorge and the headwaters of Lake Powell.

Lake Powell at Hite, UT.  If you look closely, you can see the concrete Hite boat ramp a long way from the water which is really low right now.

Just upstream from the above shot is the bridge over the Colorado River.

Upstream.

Downstream.

Leaving Glen Canyon, you enter about 75 miles of beautiful ridge and plateau on one side of the road and canyon on the other.

Approaching Blanding on the east end of the ride, there is a huge pass in the hills where they cut the road through. (V on the right side of picture.)

Nice view from inside the cut.

It was a fun ride and one of the most scenic of this trip.  Still behind on the blog.  We left Durango, CO this morning and are currently in Alamosa, CO.  The Colorado weather is starting to close in on us.  25 to 30 mph winds gusting to 40, rain, snow forecast in the higher elevations we just left around Durango, and nighttime temps in the 30s, headed to the 20s.  Hope we make it out in time!