Angel Fire NM
This was a one man ride over to Taos NM & back taking about seven days. Went over the Sierras via Sonora pass and spent the nite at Tonaph, NV. Then up to the Loneliest Road in America Highway 50 and across to Beaver Utah. Then scenic roads thru Capital Reef & Glen Canyon to Blanding, UT. By the Four Corner area over to Taos, NM. From there visited the Vietnam Vet memorial in Angel Fire, NM & headed back Northwest to Montrose, CO. Then north thru Grand Junction, Rangely & back into Utah via Vernal to Fairview, UT. Then back over to Austin, NV and home via the Sonora pass again.
* Mono Lake after crossing thru the Sonora Pass.
* Vets Memorial on Main Street Tonapah, NV
* One of the wonderful passes on Hiway 50 in Nevada.
* Capital Reef, UT.
* Spectacular scenery in Capial Reef
* It went on & on.
* As the sign says "The Fluted Wall"
* And more red rocks.
* Little old 1800's school house which didn't look too safe as some of the boulders behind it were almost as big as it. I guess they didn't worry about that kind of stuff back then.
* Even the rivers were red.
* Not sure what you would call this formation but it sure knocked my socks off.
* Now in Glen Canyon nearing the Colorada River, after having ridden over Hell's Backbone. I kid you not, it was virtually shear drops off both sides of the road. I had been cooking right along till I hit that stretch of road & got a look over the sides. From then on, I was riding the centerline & taking it real careful.
* Same spot Colorado River
* More Glen Canyon, Colorado River.
* Jacob's chair, not sure who he was but given its Utah, likely to be biblical.
* Looks like rain, first little bit I hit, didn't really get wet but it was cold up in the mountains. I just hit the back side of a large thunder storm so I kept my rain jacket as a wind breaker.
* Out of the rain now.
* Running just ahead of the storms up in the NM mountains
* Coming down out of the Mountains heading towards Taos.
* Rio Grande Gorge, just outside of Taos.
* Bridge over the Gorge, should have walked out on the bridge & took some shots but it was late & I was tired so just headed into Taos.
* Sagebrush Inn Motel room in Taos. Neat old place from I'd guess about the 50's or so.
* For some reason the flash went offf from this side but not the other.
* Angel Fire Vets Memorial entrance.
* Huey on display there.
* Writing a letter home.
* Looking out across the town of Angel Fire from the Memorial
* Angel Fire Chapel
* South Central Colorado heading towards the Great Sands.
* Blanca Pk, Colo.
* Great Sand Dunes National Monument, CO. Miles & miles of sand dunes.
* Road work in Gunnison National Forest
* Another view from the road work stop
* Running from a storm along the Gunnison River, CO.
* Looks clear ahead if I can stay ahead of the storm. Almost made it but got drenched just about 10 mins outside on Montrose where I spent the nite. Some idiot in an SUV just couldn't stand slowing down in the down pour & had to pass me while we were running along with about an inch of water on the road. I was so wet at this point that the additional drenching I got as he passed was really a moot point. Never-the-less, I had a lengthy self-discussion concerning my opinions about his origin and ancestery. Oh well, goes with the territory I guess.
* Heading North thru western Colorado looks like more rain.
* Maybe not??
* Oh Ya, "here comes the rain again" (not exactly the Eurythmics huh).
* Dichotomy of man & nature - Heres, a power plant that the marker touts as one of Utahs great achievements.
* At the same spot there's this from Mother nature.
* And this.
* And even this.
* And again, I'll take nature any time, altho I guess we do need the energy which they claimed was relatively "clean".
* Electric Lake, Utah
* Another pretty lake from the last pass before dropping down into the western deserts of Utah. What a difference.
* Siever Dry Lake bed, UT, windy & dry.
* Antler art in Nevada on the 50 again.
* Captured 49mm Japanese Anti-tank gun. Couldn't resist it when I saw it from the hiway out in the middle of nowhere Nevada.
I had planned on spending a couple of hundred miles in the dirt on my last day in Nevada. But as I was pulling into the gas station to fuel up on that last morning I heard my rear brake pads begin to grind. I had forgotten to check them in my pre-trip maintenance & checkout. Big mistake which I will never repeat as I will always carry along a spare set in the future. I decided to stick to the pavement & the shortest route home as it was Labor day & there was no way I was going to find a set of pads on the way home. I rolled in home about 5pm despite the typical Labor day road jam ups in the Sierras. I have gotten quite familar with the roads up there & was able work my way around the jams at the cost of about an extra hours ride. Better that than setting in a jamups sweltering away. Already wishing I didn't have to wait till next summer for another ride.
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