210 Miles
Jim dumps his bike again. (video coming soon)
After a nice night sleep in my hammock, we get up and begin our day. We proceed to HWY 285 and gas up first. Then down to HWY 50 and approach Monarch Pass. It's a nice paved path. In Sargents, we take a left onto Marshall Pass Rd. This path is a well-maintained dirt road. It's really easy to ride. In no time, we arrive at the top.
(video to come soon)
The sky looked ominous. I was afraid that we will get wet. So we moved onto next stop Bonanza. Instead of taking the back road, I decided to take HWY285, due to the uncertainty of the weather. We stopped in Villa Grove to see if there were any place to get some grubs, no luck. So we move onto Bonanza. The road to Bonanza is paved part of the way. Once it becomes unpaved, it was like a washboard. I lost two windshield screws and almost lost the windshield. I had to take it off from the bike and carry it with my luggage. It wasn't too bad not having a shield.
Once we go into the town of Bonanza, we saw a guy on ATV. John asked the direction to the abandoned mine. The last 100 yard or so of the path to the mine was difficult for NanC. John's gs with higher clearance didn't have much problem. But NanC had bottomed out and I lost control of her. NanC went down, I hopped off. I'm glad I jumped off since there was nothing but sharp rocks between NanC and where my right leg would have been.
After this fiasco and John getting to visit the mine, we go back to where we came from and hit the town of Saguache. We found a nice restaurant, The Oasis Restaurant, and I taste the 2nd best food of the trip, Green Chile Burger.
We arrive in Gunnison and we stayed at the Wanderlust Hostel. A nice cozy place to stay for two nights and price was good too. And when I arrived, my replacement credit card was there. The hostel was full both nights. I reserved two private rooms, one for John and one for me, about 6 months before our stay. They had two other rooms with 6 bunks full of guests.
After a hot shower and a bit of rest, we head to town for dinner. Found a nice pizza place, Mario's. We loved that place so much, we went there two nights and had exactly the same thing twice.
After dinner, we come back to the hostel and met a few interesting folks. I love this kind of atmosphere, just hang out and find out what people are up to. I guess this is why I have worked in higher ed environment all my life.
Jim dumps his bike again. (video coming soon)
After a nice night sleep in my hammock, we get up and begin our day. We proceed to HWY 285 and gas up first. Then down to HWY 50 and approach Monarch Pass. It's a nice paved path. In Sargents, we take a left onto Marshall Pass Rd. This path is a well-maintained dirt road. It's really easy to ride. In no time, we arrive at the top.
(video to come soon)
Descending
We continue on down Rd 200. First, there was a group of ATVs. One guy was putting air in one of his tires. We stopped and asked if we can assist, but there was nothing we can do. So we moved on. Then we passed a large group of BMW R1200GSs, Triumph Explorers, etc. Soon after that, we saw a nice lake down below, O'Haver Lake. We decided to drive there, talk to a few folks and rested a bit. There was a family on the dock catching a bunch of trout. They had one stringer full and they were on their second stringer. I need to come back here and spend a few nights.
Once we go into the town of Bonanza, we saw a guy on ATV. John asked the direction to the abandoned mine. The last 100 yard or so of the path to the mine was difficult for NanC. John's gs with higher clearance didn't have much problem. But NanC had bottomed out and I lost control of her. NanC went down, I hopped off. I'm glad I jumped off since there was nothing but sharp rocks between NanC and where my right leg would have been.
After this fiasco and John getting to visit the mine, we go back to where we came from and hit the town of Saguache. We found a nice restaurant, The Oasis Restaurant, and I taste the 2nd best food of the trip, Green Chile Burger.
Next to the restaurant was a gas station/hardware store. There I found some nuts and bolts and fixed my windshield. A nice lady at the store gave me a piece of cardboard so that I can make a pair of soft washers. This worked great. I rode like this until I got home in Houston.
We gassed up and took Hwy 114 toward Gunnison. The last stretch, right before HWY 50, was GREAT. Speed limit 30, lots of twisties, and great rock formation to look at. (If I have video, I'll upload here later.)
We arrive in Gunnison and we stayed at the Wanderlust Hostel. A nice cozy place to stay for two nights and price was good too. And when I arrived, my replacement credit card was there. The hostel was full both nights. I reserved two private rooms, one for John and one for me, about 6 months before our stay. They had two other rooms with 6 bunks full of guests.
After a hot shower and a bit of rest, we head to town for dinner. Found a nice pizza place, Mario's. We loved that place so much, we went there two nights and had exactly the same thing twice.
After dinner, we come back to the hostel and met a few interesting folks. I love this kind of atmosphere, just hang out and find out what people are up to. I guess this is why I have worked in higher ed environment all my life.
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