We just returned from our 18 day trip from Tucson up into the southern rockies of Northern New Mexico and Colorado in our 24' Nexus C towing a 10' Utility trailer with my motorcycle. WOW, what a great trip. While Tucson in particular and the southwest in general have been sweltering under record breaking heat we fled to the southern Rockies.
My best friend just completed construction on his dream home up in Angel Fire at 8,800' and he was kind enough to put in a RV pad complete with 30 amps service. Having 3 acres there was plenty of room for us and the local Elk population:
We stayed for 4 days exploring the area, often from the back of my bike.
Rode the ski lift to the top at 10,600' and even played golf at 8,600' (wow that is some thin air up
there).
We headed north and west through Taos, Pagosa Springs and on to Durango for a 3 day visit with some other friends before heading north up highway 550 to Silverton, awesome stretch of road, over the Coalbank pass at 10,600'. Then it was time for the "Million Dollar Highway" (reportedly the cost to build each mile), from Silverton to Ouray.
Driving this road is not to be missed but also not for the faint hearted. No guardrails and very little shoulder but lots of sheer drops. The scenery is so drop dead gorgeous it is hard to focus on the road.... but you better!
We ended the day in a nice RV Park in Olathe and from there drove some of the most scenic roads we've ever encountered up to Aspen. Leaving Aspen to the southeast took us up and over the Independence pass to the Continental divide at 12,095'. This road makes the Silverton - Ouray stretch look like a freeway and vehicles over 35' are prohibited. At one point the road is so narrow that two vehicles cannot pass so you just pull as far over as possible and wait for an opening hoping that everyone else on the road does the same. :E
Camped a night near Minturn and then headed (over the Monarch Pass at 11,300'), and down to Telluride. Do not miss Telluride as it is perhaps the most spectacular town we encountered. Stayed at the Matterhorn CG 10 miles south of town, full hook ups for $21 (ya gotta love that Geezer card). Next stop was Mesa Verde National Park and the RV Park of the same name just half a mile down the road was excellent. We rode the entire park on the bike and as spectacular as the ancient ruins were I think the ride was even better, what a road.
We detoured down to the Four Corners before swinging southeast down through northern New Mexico once again on our old friend Highway 550. Two nights at Jemez Falls CG southwest of Los Alamos was gorgeous at over 8,000' and once again the road in/out was wild.
Elephant Butte SP (W&E for $14), was a great spot for the following night after having tire problems with the trailer. A couple of off the shelf tires and rims from Wally World got us back on the road the next morning.
Highway 152 too us back west over Emory Pass and the Mimbres Mountains. This road is amazing, the equal of anything we saw in Colorado but...don't try it with a large rig. The road is very tight, no guard rails, steep drops and very few pullouts. Most of the switchbacks are posted 15 - 20 mph but we counted 6 that were posted 10.
A quiet night in Silver City after an afternoon of violent Monsoon Thunderstorms found us headed back home to Tucson the next morning. We drove the rig 2,500 miles and put another 300 miles on the bike. Hands down the most spectacular trip we have taken and we cannot wait to go back.
Got the coach cleaned up this morning and we are ready for our next trip in two weeks up to Northern California returning across Nevada on Highway 50 and on into Utah to do all of the Canyon parks and yes we will be seeing them from the back the bike. Can't wait!
:B
My best friend just completed construction on his dream home up in Angel Fire at 8,800' and he was kind enough to put in a RV pad complete with 30 amps service. Having 3 acres there was plenty of room for us and the local Elk population:
We stayed for 4 days exploring the area, often from the back of my bike.
Rode the ski lift to the top at 10,600' and even played golf at 8,600' (wow that is some thin air up
there).
We headed north and west through Taos, Pagosa Springs and on to Durango for a 3 day visit with some other friends before heading north up highway 550 to Silverton, awesome stretch of road, over the Coalbank pass at 10,600'. Then it was time for the "Million Dollar Highway" (reportedly the cost to build each mile), from Silverton to Ouray.
Driving this road is not to be missed but also not for the faint hearted. No guardrails and very little shoulder but lots of sheer drops. The scenery is so drop dead gorgeous it is hard to focus on the road.... but you better!
We ended the day in a nice RV Park in Olathe and from there drove some of the most scenic roads we've ever encountered up to Aspen. Leaving Aspen to the southeast took us up and over the Independence pass to the Continental divide at 12,095'. This road makes the Silverton - Ouray stretch look like a freeway and vehicles over 35' are prohibited. At one point the road is so narrow that two vehicles cannot pass so you just pull as far over as possible and wait for an opening hoping that everyone else on the road does the same. :E
Camped a night near Minturn and then headed (over the Monarch Pass at 11,300'), and down to Telluride. Do not miss Telluride as it is perhaps the most spectacular town we encountered. Stayed at the Matterhorn CG 10 miles south of town, full hook ups for $21 (ya gotta love that Geezer card). Next stop was Mesa Verde National Park and the RV Park of the same name just half a mile down the road was excellent. We rode the entire park on the bike and as spectacular as the ancient ruins were I think the ride was even better, what a road.
We detoured down to the Four Corners before swinging southeast down through northern New Mexico once again on our old friend Highway 550. Two nights at Jemez Falls CG southwest of Los Alamos was gorgeous at over 8,000' and once again the road in/out was wild.
Elephant Butte SP (W&E for $14), was a great spot for the following night after having tire problems with the trailer. A couple of off the shelf tires and rims from Wally World got us back on the road the next morning.
Highway 152 too us back west over Emory Pass and the Mimbres Mountains. This road is amazing, the equal of anything we saw in Colorado but...don't try it with a large rig. The road is very tight, no guard rails, steep drops and very few pullouts. Most of the switchbacks are posted 15 - 20 mph but we counted 6 that were posted 10.
A quiet night in Silver City after an afternoon of violent Monsoon Thunderstorms found us headed back home to Tucson the next morning. We drove the rig 2,500 miles and put another 300 miles on the bike. Hands down the most spectacular trip we have taken and we cannot wait to go back.
Got the coach cleaned up this morning and we are ready for our next trip in two weeks up to Northern California returning across Nevada on Highway 50 and on into Utah to do all of the Canyon parks and yes we will be seeing them from the back the bike. Can't wait!
:B
pnichols wrote:
DC,
I'm curious ... which of those high routes and passes were taken with your Class C ... versus the BMW?
P.S. Great trip report!
All of those passes listed in OP were taken in the C, towing the BMW. The V-10/5 speed Torque Shift trans is an awesome combination. We ran on 85 octane throughout most of Colorado.. Did one ride on the bike north of Angel Fire over a 9,600' pass before you drop down into Red River. The bike did not like the high elevations and was hard to start as it ran very rich but once started it moved right out without complaint.
Here is a shot taken about half way up the Independence Pass at one of the narrower stretches. At least this section had a guard rail, most of it does not. Note the bicyclist with a serious death wish, we encountered dozens of them on this road:
:B
