***Dustin's Official 2013 Trip Report Thread***

Thanks for all the photos Dustin! You must be having a great time out there. It's amazing just how beautiful the western states really are. I have to get out there before I kick off! I was stunned when I landed in Vegas to visit my Mother a few years ago at the beauty of the desert. I've been wanting to go back ever since.
 
Watching the local news right now and there's heavy fire near Blanding and Moab. I'll be staying in Blanding tomorrow. Should be interesting
 
Left Torrey this morning and headed south-east towards Blanding. The plan was to head through Capital Reef National Park and take the ferry across Lake Powell. It turns out the ferry was out of service until further notice. Bummer. I took highway 95 around and it turned out to be a great road with lots of things to keep your interest. I passed through Natural Bridges and on to Blanding. There's thunderstorms in the forecast and I saw some pretty cool clouds along the way. Tomorrow, I pass through Moab on my way to Grand Junction, Colorado.

I'll post photos when I get a better connection
 
I've changed my route for tomorrow. Rather than just trundle along Utah to Grand Junction, I'm going to cross over to Colorado via 491 and take 141 north. I'll stay the night in Montrose. That road looks killer and I don't care much about Moab so this should be even better.

From there, I'm not sure where I'll head. I can either take 550 to Durango and onwards or just head to Colorado Springs. That will depend on my lovely hosts, of course

Photos
 
And a panorama of the storm

Oh and I've disabled my cell service until I'm out of the sticks. No sense paying for a service I can't get. I can be reached via internets :)
 
Last edited:
Dustin said:
I've changed my route for tomorrow. Rather than just trundle along Utah to Grand Junction, I'm going to cross over to Colorado via 491 and take 141 north. I'll stay the night in Montrose. That road looks killer and I don't care much about Moab so this should be even better.

From there, I'm not sure where I'll head. I can either take 550 to Durango and onwards or just head to Colorado Springs. That will depend on my lovely hosts, of course

Photos
Click to expand...

Since tomorrow is Father's Day, our daughter has invited us over there for a BBQ....so Dustin, you should definetly ride The Million Dollar Highway (550) out of Montrose. That road is our crown jewel ;) but try not to look at the scenery too much, there are limited guardrails :eek:
 
Ok! I'll go to Montrose Sunday and Monday morning head south to Durango and up to Gunnison via 160 & 149. That puts me into Colorado Springs on Tuesday :)
 
I left my hotel early this morning and made a break for Colorado. I changed my route completely, deciding to skip Moab and stay in Montrose, Colorado instead. I cut eat from Monticello, Utah and took highway 149 north. It was a lovely route through a canyon, twisting along the San Juan river (I think). Although it wasn't nearly as nice as Google Maps made it look, it was lovely. Traffic was much lighter than I would have thought for a Sunday, it might have had something to do with the gnarly thunderstorm that had been following me since Utah.

It rained on me along the way but not enough for me to enjoy & definitely not enough to clean my bike or gear. Boo. When I exited the canyon and made my way along the highway parallel, I got a nice view of lightning!

My fuel light had been on for a while at this point and I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I plugged along slowly, sure I was going to have to push. The bike died as I pulled into the gas station. Phew
 
And my five gallon fill of a five gallon tank :)

By the way, I'm curious what effect elevation has on the minimum octane you can use. I've noticed Utah and Colorado have 85 octane minimum rather than the 87 at home. I've been using 87 because I wasn't sure. What's the deal?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top