I did some scouting this weekend

[azkaisr]

Hello All:

 

A few buddies and I decided to get out of the heat for a few days and motor North out of Phoenix.

 

We spent the first night in Bluff Utah and the following morning decided to head to Telluride/Redstone for the night rather then head up to Torrey. A few things to be aware of

 

The weather was warm for the most part but snow was still out in patches around the passes.

 

Gas averaged about $3.25 per gallon for Premium

 

The road from Durango to Ridgeway (highway 550) is being paved and there are some major delays going each direction.

 

Highway 92 from the Dam to Hotchkiss is in great shape but we ran into a lot of livestock on/near the road. Some of the bulls were HUGE

 

DEER and ELK are all over the place. Had 2 of them run with us along the road to Redstone but mostly they were grazing near the road.

 

There is a Dolores Cafe in Cortez that has great breakfast food cheap! It is on the North side of the main road as you head East to get to the road that takes you to Dolores.

 

In Bluff Utah, there is a really cool Coffee house called Comb Ridge Coffee. It is the only coffee house in Bluff so you should be fine. Don't eat at the Twin Rocks Cafe...it is horrible.

 

It was a hard 4 days of riding. A few things to remember is to drink a lot of water...then drink some more. You will need the fluids at that altitude.

 

I will try and post a few pictures, once I get them uploaded to a web page.

 

Kaisr

 

[azkaisr]

 

This is 550 just South of Ouray. Once past this there were 4 other flag stations before you get to Durango. Figure an extra hour at least for travel times.

 

Kaisr

[Dances_With_Wiener_Dogs]

I want to know where this photo was taken:

[DouglasR]

Thanks for the "heads up"!

 

I had to drive to Jackson today from Lander over Togwotee Pass (Hwy 287/26), it was a gorgeous day! There is construction on the Pass on the East side, they've got about 12 miles pretty well torn up. They stopped traffic for about 20 minutes in the AM, then a pilot car took us through, added about 40 minutes to the trip. On the way back about 7:00 PM they had stopped work, so it was quicker through the work zone. They've rotomilled off the pavement for at least twelve miles, and in part of it they've taken it clear down to gravel but it's still passable and not even too dusty. Even with construction that's a very nice drive.

 

I know the East Entrance to Yellowstone (from the East Gate to the top of Sylvan Pass) is under construction too, but they're in their second year and should have traffic pretty well sorted by now. That's a short stretch anyway, and the road from Cody to East Entrance is brand new and GORGEOUS, and from Sylvan Pass to Yellowstone Lake is all new too. There aren't too many crappy roads left in Jellystone, they've done a lot of rebuilding there in the last few years and they've done a nice job.

 

Tourist traffic is picking up in Jackson and Grand Teton Park, too, but it's not real heavy yet. No construction at all in GTNP or Hwy 89 between Moran and Jackson. It was stunningly gorgeous today, I took my road bicycle and after work rode about 25 miles through GTNP, really nice (kinda warm, maybe 84 or so).

 

On my way home over Togwotee Pass I spotted two grizzly bears about 100 yards off the road and got to watch them for about 20 minutes, very cool! They haven't been out of their dens very long so they were still kinda skinny!

 

I'll see if I got any decent photos and post them tomorrow.

 

If anyone is coming through Wyoming and wants a road report, give me a PM!

 

Thanks again for the heads up around Gunnison. I'm getting pretty excited! Now if I could only get my damned fork seals on the GS to quit leaking.....

 

Doug

[GelStra]

Sorry, but having worked in Jackson, "stunningly gorgeous" and "Jackson" are inseparable.

[azkaisr]

I want to know where this photo was taken:

 

I took this shot just outside of Telluride up towards the mine.

 

I still can't figure out how to post a picture in here.

 

Kaisr

[DouglasR]

Sorry, but having worked in Jackson, "stunningly gorgeous" and "Jackson" are inseparable.

 

I'm a lucky man. I live 160 miles from here in a town where I can actually afford to have a life, but GTNP and Yellowstone are just over the "hill" AND I have to work there routinely!

 

The Tetons:

 

 

Yours Truly enjoying the Tetons:

 

 

Togwotee Pass is worth the ride even if it's under construction:

 

 

Crappy photos of two grizzlies on Togwotee last evening (tiny little Nikon digicam.... zooming is not it's forte). The second one is in the willows below the visible one:

 

 

Both bears in lower right-center of photo near little patch of snow. They looked better through my binoculars!

 

[DouglasR]

Hey I forgot to add: if travelling through Yellowstone or GTNP, gas up before you enter! Premium UL in the Parks was $3.399/gallon yesterday, 30 to 40 cents/gallon cheaper outside the Parks.

 

I had to drive a truck to Jackson yesterday, it cost about $60 to go 350 miles round trip . Sure glad the bikes get better mileage than that!

 

Doug

[Yeeha! Stephen]

"Highway 92 from the Dam to Hotchkiss is in great shape..."

 

Has anyone re-opened/taken over Joe Cocker's old restaurant? Sure was a great place to stop for a break.

[Joel]

I want to know where this photo was taken:

 

I hope it is still that green in 2 weeks. To compound our lack of precipitation recently, temps have been 10 or more degrees above average -- 97 locally today -- which has made a premature dent in the snowpack (and our water supply). Good riding weather in the high country, but not the best news when we've been hoping our drought was behind us.

[DouglasR]

I hope it is still that green in 2 weeks. To compound our lack of precipitation recently, temps have been 10 or more degrees above average -- 97 locally today -- which has made a premature dent in the snowpack (and our water supply). Good riding weather in the high country, but not the best news when we've been hoping our drought was behind us.

 

+1

 

As shown in my photos above, Togwotee Pass and the Tetons are so green it's amazing, tons of snow still up on the high country, Jackson Lake is full for the first time in many years and the rivers are RAGING with runoff on the west side of the Continental Divide. Jackson Lake was so low the last few years there was a huge beach around it, now the water is right up to the tree line. It's a HUGE lake and it was rising 6" per day, a stunning amount of inflow.

 

Totally different story on this side of the mountains. It's so dry in some places the grass never even turned green this Spring. There's already a big fire raging up on Union Pass. It is so wierd how the precipitation can be so different in places that are only a few miles apart.

 

I guess I'd better go check this phenomenon out for myself. Hmmmmm.... maybe I'll take a big long ride down through the Colorado Mountains and see what's happening down there! Yeah, great idea!

 

 

I'm getting excited....