DAY THREE -- TELLURIDE AND MESA VERDE
The plan was to spend three nights in Durango, then head to Gunnison for a couple of days and then back to Texas. The first day in Durango we went for a ride to Telluride, with plans to stop at Mesa Verde NP on the way back if time allows. This was supposed to be a "short, easy riding day". But after riding 900 miles in a couple of days, 200 miles in the mountains and with really warm temperatures proved to be a bit of a challenge. Forecast high for Durango was 98F, mid 90's for Telluride.
The ride from Durango to Cortez wasn't quite scenic, except for the Mesa Verde formations. Once we got on Hwy 145 the landscape started getting prettier.
The Dolores river meandered along the road, making for a very pleasant ride.
We rode though Rico, a little cute looking town.
Approaching Telluride, a plane was landing. Unfortunately it was painted a dull shade of gray (probably an Air Force jet?) so it's hard to make it out in the picture.
We arrived in Telluride, a very quaint, touristy town, but which proved to be a bit of a problem to me to get my bike parked in the slanted roads...
Eventually I found a parking spot at street leveled engough to get the sidestand down...
We got to do a bit of dual-sport riding getting in and out of town...they are redoing the main road, which is completely torn and a mixture of dirt and gravel. It wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the ridiculous speed limit (set all over Telluride) of 15MPH, and a bit of congestion to top it off...
Finally, we get out of Telluride, and back on Hwy 180, backtracking our way back to Durango.
Once back on SH 160 and past Cortez, we went by the Mesa Verde National park, to see the cliff dwellings. It's a 20 mile ride from the park entrance to the nearest dwelling, going up from the valley to the top of the mesas, through very twisty roads. Finally, we stopped at one of the Dwellings. They have guided tours to the dwellings, but with all the heat, the elevation and after riding all day long I was more than happy to see them from the lookout.
The picture makes it look lie a miniature, but they were quite large. Makes you wonder how they got to build all these in such a remote area and on a cliff no less.
From there we rode to the highest point in the park. The view was amazing, even though it was really hazy due to all the fires going on in Utah.
We made it back to Durango at almost 8:00pm. We've been on the bikes since 8:00 am.
Total miles for Day 3: 225 miles. But they felt like 500!!!!