I had a long weekend free of commitments over Labor Day so I went for a little ride.  I'd read about the San Juan Skyway and have driven parts of it before but have never ridden it on a bike before.  I figured I'd add in a trip through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison as well.  I got a late start on Friday, not getting out of town until about noon. 

I headed south from Steamboat and took my usual route down CO 131 and took the Colorado River Road cut-off just north of McCoy.  I've ridden the River Road many times before but never bothered to stop to take any photos.  So here are a few shots from the road.

The River Road follows the Colorado River all the way to Dotsero, near the east side of the Glenwood Canyon.  The road is at times only feet from the river and right beside the railroad tracks.  The northern end of the road has lots of red earth and pinion trees and after crossing over the river opens into a broad valley.  After about 17 miles the road turns from dirt to pavement and continues paved to Dotsero.  The dirt portion is really well maintained and I average about 50 mph on it.  The paved section has some great twisties and is rarely patrolled by our friendly State Troopers.

I did a short stint on I-70 through Glenwood Canyon and exited at Glenwood Springs.  I turned south toward Aspen and took the right to McClure Pass then up and over through Paonia to Hotchkiss.  I turned left out of Hotchkiss and headed down to the Black Canyon.  This is less traveled way down to Gunnison.  The road down the east side of the canyon is just stunning.  It is also very challenging with many multiple-apex and decreasing radius turns with huge penalty points to keep your attention.  I did not take many photos along this section because there were very few pull-outs and I really didn't want to ride this road one-handed.

After exiting the canyon, I headed east to Gunnision simply because I'd never been there.  It was an OK town, nothing spectacular though.  So, I turned back west and made for Montrose.  I found a nice RV/campground just outside Cimeron that was right by a creek and was small and cozy.  Since it was already 7pm, I felt it was time to call it a day.

I ended up camping in an RV spot since all the tent spaces were taken.  I definitely had the smallest RV there.

I got an early, but chilly, start the next morning and headed into Montrose for breakfast.  After a hearty breakfast of spanish omelet, I was ready to head for the big mountains.  Out of Montrose and south through Ridgeway bypassing the Telluride turnoff.  As I approached Ouray, known as "Little Switzerland", Mt. Sneffels comes into view.  Sneffels is a "fourteener", as a peak over 14,000' high is commonly called, and it is a sign of things to come and really lets you know you're in the mountains.

Ouray is a neat little town with loads of character.  It has an ice park that hosts world class ice climbing events during the winter and is the northern gateway to Red Mountain Pass.

The beginning of Red Mountain Pass leaving Ouray.

Huge exposure is the theme of Red Mountain Pass, as well as mining.

Red Mountain Pass is known as "The Million Dollar Highway" and I've heard numerous explanations for the name.  The most credible account that I read somewhere was that the native material used to build the road contained a million dollars worth of ore that was lost to mining.

The pass has upwards of 40 avalanche chutes that have been named.  It's anyone's guess just how many avalanche paths actually exist.  Precautions have been taken to reduce the danger to motorists during winter driving.

Once up the north section of the pass, it flattens out nicely and becomes much more mellow... for a bit.

There is still some mining reclamation going on at the summit.

Then it over the top and down towards Silverton, another cool little town.

Silverton is nestled in the heart of the San Juans and can only be reached by crossing a high pass.  I continued south over Molas and Coal Mount passes and headed to Durango and the 4-corners.

After a quick stop in Durango for an iced latte, I got back on the road and turned west towards Cortez and by Mesa Verde National Park.

There was a big Harley Davidson rally going on in Ignacio New Mexico, which is nearby, so there was lots of bikes and people.  I decided against going to the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde because of the crowds.  I headed back north and on the San Juan Skyway loop.  So it was up to Delores, then north over Lizard Head Pass towards Telluride.  The weather turned on me and I rode in intermittent rain showers for the remainder of the day.

Below is a shot of the view approaching the pass.  Sorry not too many photos of Lizard Head because of the rain.

Looking back towards the town of Ophir, it sits back near the vee between the two peaks in the photo.