DURANGO TO AMADO......

I've been living on my cell phone for about ten days now with no computer access and its been giving my brain a nice rest.I nearly forgot I had a blog,but then as I travelled the roads from Boulder down through Durango to get to my destination of Amado AZ,I was again reminded as I went through some of the most spectacular landscapes why I have a blog,because it's just too beautiful not to share with people.

As I left Durango and headed south for New Mexico the temperatures were in the teens,so all the gear I brought was cold weather gear.Both my tents are Mountain Hardware high altitude single wall tents and my sleeping bag is also a -20 Mountain Hardware bag.So I knew that I was going to have temperature control issues when I got to Amado,as the forecast was calling for temperatures in the 90's.

Meanwhile,back in Colorado things were just perfect,for me that is.
Ole man Winter is my favorite season,as a group of bikers said to me as we met in Arizona,you can dress for the cold but you can't dress for the heat.

These images are all from the Longs Peak area.

There are many more but since attending the Overland Expo,I have now picked up three new sponsors,so the journey now begins to take more of a shape and purpose.
Warn generously gave me some product for the bike,so thanks to the guys at the show.Pics will follow as soon as I get them downloaded.

Wolf Creek Pass sure was fun getting up.Although it really doesn't come across in the pics,the wind near the summit was a whippin.

The Cop in the cruiser suggested that I follow behind the snow plow on the way down,as a 1 mile stretch down below was pretty well packed with snow......so I did.

This is the opposite of Anti Freeze,it's brake freeze.

Durango on the other hand,was gorgeous and toasty.25° in the morning was bliss.

The road to the Hermosa Campground winds up off of Hwy 550 and at the right time of the day,has a view that is hard to better.

My neighbor was interested in the bike,but as soon as I started to fire up the stove he got a little skittish and went off for and disappeared.Musta been a little shy.

One of the best tools in my tool drawer.

Murph

The 2011 Elephant Ride,Grant Colorado.

This years Elephant Run had me up and caffeined by 5:30am and pointing south from Boulder on 93,then I picked up 470 to meet Dom at a gas station in Morrison where we took 285 over to Grant,where the rest of the Winter gang were waiting to attack Co Rd 381,up to Guanella Pass.

Sheetmetal screws and their many uses.

Trakshun was high on the list.

The day could not have been more perfect.Even riding down from Boulder,it was a cosy 33 deg.It got a little cooler when we got to Grant,but by that time the sun was out and the temps were rising.

This is about where things started to slow down a bit,the snow got a little deeper.

This is as far as we made it up.

I'll just gas it up around this......

....after my bike takes a quick little nap.

All the guys who made most or all the way up were on their way back down......

...while we were still struggling to get a third of the way up.

Even though we only made it up to 10k ft,it was still a great time.

Time to head back down the mountain....

I seriously want one of these.

I had a blast on this years Elephant Run.Now I really want to do the Elephant Run in Germany next January.

Murph