I got HIGH today! Exactly 14,114 feet!

[dreinecke]

Took this:


To see this:


Saw this at the top:


And looked like this from the top:




Really nice drive and we had a great time there and at the resevoirs on the Peak:


Even Maximus had a good time...except the kids weren't feeding him french fries nearly fast enough when this was taken as we were leaving the top:

[HomeRacingWorld]

I miss that place.

Great shots.

[dge467]

Man you have all the fun! Great pictures!

[LAMing]

Love your state, Doc. Wife and I are returning for another vacation there in a few weeks. We'll be doing trains as well as some dual sport motorcycling aboard our dual sport bikes (trailering them out).

[dreinecke]

LAMing - that sounds fantastic! I saw lots of dual sport motorcycles on the road today. Are you chasing trains? Any of the UP stuff? 844, 1385, etc?

Wait until you see our fall color run in the next two months...we are going up to Crystal where one of the most photographed structures in Colorado is:


We haven't been there in a few years, so it will be good to be back. It is right by Marble, CO

[Ember]

Gorgeous area David. That last photo. Wow. That'd make a nice building project.

[padirtfan]

Wow! I gotta get out there sometime. Been to California and Washington a couple of times but no where else out west. You folks have some breath taking scenery. The JK's looking nice too David. I guess you're not missing the Cherokee.

[Florida_Slotter]

I love what is going on in this thread.

While our mountains in Florida reach 352 feet above sea level, I have explored them on my "multisurface" motorcycles.

I've also spent a lot of time exploring the roads & trails of Tennessee & North Carolina via motorcycle.

Back in 1981 I spent time in Ecuador. Riobamba was at 9600 feet & until you acclimated yourself, things like running were avoided.

Just outside of Riobamba resides the Chimborazo - a mountain that is 21,500 feet in altitude.

One day we climbed up to the cabin thar was at 5000 meters. Quite anexperience in breathing.

Great photos bring back lots of memories. Thank y'all for sharing.

[ddyke]

I hate you wabbit!
Why c an't I be there???

[LAMing]

Hi again Doc!

The train thing will be the steam powered narrow gauge historical operation in Chama, NM. We both love Chama and it's atmosphere. We have done this at Chama many times over a couple decades.

From there its off to Lake City to and ride the Alpine Loop. From Lake City it's on up to Buena Vista and do some exploring on the bikes on the old roadbeds of the Denver South Park & Pacific narrow gauge. Leaving BV we'll head for Como and ride over Boreas Pass to Breckenridge for lunch, and return.

We're so excited about it that we're about to pee our pants! :lol:

[dreinecke]

I can't take credit for the Crystal Mill picture - it isn't mine, but I have a similar one that I took, just not on the computer.

Jeremy - those look like nice hills ;) Very nice there too...that's why I was looking there as a possible landing spot!

PA - that's Wendy's and it isn't built yet. My back doesn't miss the old XJ, that's for sure.

LA - that is a great trip you've got planned! Make sure to go to St. Elmo and do Tin Cup if you have time!

As for altitude...well, I should probably remind folks that the air is REAL thin here and you HAVE to hydrate with H2O. Saw 5 different people altitude sickness while up on top...probably don't need to describe them. The EMT's were busy.

[MoparGreg]

Nice David, Some amazing landscape there. How far is this from your home? It doesnt look like the recent fire went past there. So why did you leave the Hemi Orange machine at home?

[LAMing]

Tin Cup was on the slate for last year's dual sporting adventures... but a cold front moved in and it was raining and in the 30 degree range. We opted to use our SUV and go to Gunnison and poke around. Had a great time (like the Pioneer Museum), enjoyed some fabulous food, and all sorts of things. However, we did Tin Cup several years ago in our SUV when we spent two weeks in Colorado doing jeep trails/passes. We've jeeped the San Juans and other ranges since the early-mid 90's. (Started with rental Jeeps.) Jeeping Colorado is one of THE reasons we purchased a 4WD Blazer in '2001. We still have it, but its regulated to regional work now. We will be using our new GMC (V6) Terrain to trailer out to Colorado this year.

As for St. Elmo: Yup, done that too, during the Tin Cup deal mentioned above. We went over Tin Cup Pass to access St. Elmo. (That was before the St. Elmo fire that claimed some of the historic buildings.) It was autumn that year also, and the aspen were brilliant with color. So far we've timed it perfect to see full color autumns twice. Hopefully we'll see some more color this year, but it will be a week earlier than last year's trip.

Oh, and yes, we'll be doing St. Elmo again this year! We will be doing roadbed all the way to Hancock. Thought about hiking on up to the Atlantic side of Alpine Tunnel, but being on motorcylces, we won't have a way to secure our belongings we'd need to shed before hiking. (Such things as helmets, gloves, outer layers, etc.)

All fer now!

[Moose]

I am down the road in Canon City CO 4300 feet above my normal altitude and 1828 miles down range on my trip West. The highest I will get is 13.180 on Imogene pass. Wow what a weather change here 96 degrees on one side of Pueblo and 72 degrees on the other. Rain again, that makes rain all five days of my trip so far.

The wandering flatlander, Ken

[Moose]

I am down the road in Canon City 4300 feet above my normal altitude and 1828 miles downrange on my trip.
The weather here is nuts 96 degrees on the East side of Pueblo dust storm and wind then 72 degrees on the West side.
On my way across 50 to the area South of Montrose with a 13,100 foot pass. Looks like rain there too,every day I have been in rain somewhere.

The wandering flatlander, Ken.