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Colorado passes by 3 couples

Joined
Oct 16, 2008
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Location
Bryan, TX
First Name
Dennie
Last Name
Spears
We decided to go back to Ouray since there were a couple of passes that we missed in the last 2 trips there. There was already another couple going and we really wanted 3 or 4 couples so we placed and ad on TWT for other couples that wanted to travel with us and Chris and Susan answered our ad. I was a little unsure about them since they had been to Alaska recently and had traveled other places extensively. I was afraid they would find our Colorado Rockies to be nothing but foothills. My fears were unfounded since they fit in nicely with our group.

Chris and Susan rode their Goldwing to Ouray while the rest of us rode together and trailered all 3 bikes. I felt they were extremely trusting since they left their bike at a location discussed over the telephone and we picked it up without ever meeting them. All went well and we met them at the grocery store in Durango. The women bought food for the week and we were off.

Now for the pictures.

We used to carry 2 weeks worth of supplies on the bike. This is what happened when we started taking a trailer.
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We stopped at the bank for funds.
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This unidentifiable guy got us a "loan"
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We're cheap so we stopped in Wichita Falls for a picnic lunch.
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Lunch
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Can you tell where the sprinkler stops?
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Some pictures along 550 north of Albuquerque, taken from the window of a moving truck.

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We had never ridden together so I wanted our first ride to be gentle and chose Lime Creek road.

Chris and Susan on their KLR650
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Me and my Honey (We ride a DRZ400SM) sitting on a rock way above the creek.
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Lori and Jeff on a DRZ400S
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Stop along the way.
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Sitting on a rock wall. For some reason the state has built a wall along this relatively easy road while the much harder Imogene pass has none. I hope Imogene never has retaining barriers.
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Three beautiful women in a field of daisies.
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The only man that was manly enough to have his picture taken in a field of flowers.
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One shouldn't ride through Molas Pass without a group shot.
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Back to camp after a nice "get to know you" ride.
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It was a little wet the first 2 days and rained on us a little every day except for 2. This double rainbow greeted us on Monday morning. My camera wouldn't capture all of it in 1 picture.
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The other side
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We decided to tackle Skyline Drive?, Hurricane Pass, and California Pass for our Monday ride.
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Flowers were everywhere
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The state flower of Colorado, the Colorado Columbine
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We had a little mishap but nobody got pictures so it didn't happen 2 time each for 2 of the couples. I'm not naming names but, I didn't fall all week.:giveup:
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The KLR is a heavy bike and I might have misled Chris about how hard the trails are while riding double. He now has an injured leg which will bother him all week.
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Lori made a snow angel while the men wrestled with bikes.
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It was walk up the hill time for Lori and Susan. Susan was injured earlier by a mishap on the Goldwing and walking was not going to be easy for her. She's a trooper.
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The bikes at California Pass.
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Some of the scenery.
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Linda with Lake Como below. The lake is still partially frozen over. This picture was taken on July 18th. Lots more snow than the past few years.
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One of the old mills used to process the ore.
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They used fancy joints
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Look at the size of those nails. Foot intentionally inserted for scale.
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More scenery.
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More Columbines
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I don't know why these are out of order but, they were taken on Tuesday. Anyway, here they are now or I will forget them.

The falls below Clear Lake. Lori
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Me and Linda.
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This guy is from Austin and kept giving me the "Hook 'em Horns" sign. I tried to knock him off that big rock by throwing a slightly smaller rock but, he was too quick and kept ducking just at the last moment.
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It started to rain just as we got into town so we decided to go to the Silverton Museum. It costs $5 and is money well spent. Chris and Susan decided to go back to camp to rest their injuries after we toured the museum. The rest of us went on a short ride up Maggie Gulch but it was wet and slick and after a couple of slides close to the edge, the women got left behind at their request.

An old adding machine.
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A bed from the women's side of the jail. Note the rope springs. In the olden days, several people would sleep in the same bed and if the ropes were loose, everyone would end up sleeping very close in the middle of the bed, hence the saying, "sleep tight."
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I felt right at home.
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The men's side was somewhat less accomodating than the women's.
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Old wooden snowshoes.
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The original coppier???
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Linda and her friend "Woody".
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These pictures are really mixed up and so am I. I'm going to post them as they are. I may be off on the location of some of them but, If you go where we went then you will see all of these sights.

Linda and Lori below Clear lake.
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A creek coming out of an abandoned mine. One of the reasons some or the water in Colorado is unfit for humans or animals. If fish and plants don't live in it then you shouldn't drink it.
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I believe this is going up to Clear Lake.
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It's rougher than it looks and the next 2 switchbacks are at least 25% harder than the ones that were responsible for falls on Monday. We decide we have gone high enough for today.
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By now you have probably realize that I have mixed in Tuesday's ride with Monday's ride. Oh well, at my age all the days will be mixed up in a couple of years.

Tuesday nights dinner. Monday's was chili but no pictures so I guess we went to bed hungry.
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Some more pictures from around California and Hurricane.
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My trusting wife.
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Her handsome husband!!:trust:
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Another of Lake Como and Linda
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Lake Como partiall iced over.
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Chris riding up to california. Poor crippled Susan is walking behind.
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Jeff riding up california. I don't remember Lori walking but I'm pretty sure she's not on the bike.
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My trusty steed with Lori and Susan in the background. It's time for a rest.
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Somewhere downhill.
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A snow bank. My bike was born and raised in Texas and was scared of the deep snow. We let others lead the way.
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Lori and Jeff
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Chris and Susan
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The KLR in a managable switchback.
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I think we ate lunch here. Who could ask for a better table!!!!!!:eat::rider:
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Same spot, different angle.
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Loading up.
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Beauty abounds. Not you, Chris. The woman and the mountain.
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Looking back the other way.
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More flowers.
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A deer.
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I think I may have already posted this one of Susan and Chris. Oh well, if I have, it's still pretty.
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From our campsite.
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Another from our campsite. Did I mention that our campsite was much prettier than anything in town and was also FREE.
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Picture from the museum??????? An early 1900s graduation picture for Silverton High school. Linda says that this is an 8th grade graduation picture.
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More to come when I get time. I have a race this weekend.

Any other participants are welcome to chime in with their comments and pictures. Chris, Susan, Jeff, Lori. Any comments or pictures. You all know that I'm going to start telling lies if I feel like I'm not being watched.:-P
 
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Jeffro93, do you know Chris and susan? They live in North Richlands Hills.
 
Great trip to one of our favorite places on the planet! Thanks for sharing :sun:
 

I am pretty sure my current avatar picture was taken on the center right side of this image and looking back down the valley to the peaks on the left of the image. We had just come down the upper road at that intersection. Here's my shot:

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and here is what the lake looked like when we were there at the end of August last year.

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There wasn't much snow compared to years before when I had been in the area. I don't recall the exact route, but we came from US 550 via Corkscrew Gulch and eventually ended up at California Pass. I think we hit Cinnamon next, then lunch in Lake City, and then back over Engineers Pass to US 550 and back to Ouray. It was quite a day of riding and there is NO WAY I would want to do it two up!! You guys are nuts riding two up :lol2:
 
Some more pics from the Silverton museum
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Lots of pistols. No pics. Some rifles, some pics.
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Old cash register.
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Metal lathe with flat wooden pulleys.
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Pulley system.
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I like this chain saw.
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I'm glad I don't operate this end.
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Nice camera
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Early vacuum cleaner?
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I remember my aunt having one of these years before we got our first phone.
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rocking horse
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wheel chair. I think there may have been many of these in use in the mining communities.
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Metal cast and other medical instruments
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wooden snow skis
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Movie projector
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What would be a room heater today. Then it heated the whole house.
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the first disk brakes
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Nicely preserved grinder:trust::trust:
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Not so nicely preserved grinder.
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Hammer wrenches. Similar ones are still used today.
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Potty car for the mines. Believe it or not, taking care of this was a highly prized job in a gold mine. It seems that mine workers would swallow pieces of the highest grade ores thinking they would "mine" their fecal matter. Some couldn't wait until getting off shift and the "lucky" pot car pusher could make more from the potty car than he did in wages.
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Marmots in love.
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Along Imogene Pass
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Lori and Linda resting their behinds. It's rough sitting back there on a DRZ.
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More mountains coming. No more museum pictures, I promise.
 
Hmm... that wheelchair reminds me of the one Hubzilla used to have. Except it looks a little more comfortable and lightweight :lol2:

Nothing wrong with museum photos! Your camera does really well :-)
 
As I said earlier, Jeff and I rode up Maggie Gulch after ditching the wives by doing fake slides close to the edge of the cliff. Actually, they weren't fake. It had been raining and the road was muddy. My tires are 10% off road and 90% on road and Jeff's aren't much better. I had been up Maggie last year but Jeff had not. If you think you have seen some of these pictures before, just move on. I'll eventually get to some more that I haven't posted as facimiles.

Some kind of pulley/gear above a rock crusher.
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the back side of the crusher
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Side of the crusher.
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Drive pulleys
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Boiler for the steam engine-judging by the size of the boiler, the engine must have been small.
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Close up of one of the drive pulleys
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Front view of the crusher
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Left half
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Hammers
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The cam mechanism that raises and drops the hammers, taken from the back side
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One of the rock hoppers on the back side of the hammers. The cam system is still visible.
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All together with Jeff thrown in as a bonus
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Judging by the size of the stream running by the mine, they may not have had much water later in the summer so the size of the steam generator may not have been the limiting factor in how much ore they could process.
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Not sure what this large hunk of steel was used for but, I'm glad I'm not the mule that had to carry it to the mine.
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Lots of flowers along Maggie, but the women await our return so not many pictures.
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Headed back down.
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More when I get time!
 
Mr. Humanrace - I don't know Chris and Susan, or i dont think i do. Curious why you asked...

Again, fantastic pictures. I really would love it if my wife would go on a trip like that.
 
"There wasn't much snow compared to years before when I had been in the area. I don't recall the exact route, but we came from US 550 via Corkscrew Gulch and eventually ended up at California Pass. I think we hit Cinnamon next, then lunch in Lake City, and then back over Engineers Pass to US 550 and back to Ouray. It was quite a day of riding and there is NO WAY I would want to do it two up!! You guys are nuts riding two up "
__________________
Scott Friday

Scott, Linda and I did that exact route in '95 riding on my DR650. The last part from Animas Fork on was done in the dark. The road was smooth but lots of deer. If I remember right, the next day was spent "shopping" while butts became less numb.
 
Hey guys - we were in Silverton from the 18th thru the 25th riding our quads and I'm certain we saw ya'll at the gas station there one late afternoon.

I said to my wife, wow that guy has a super moto DR and I specifically remember the fuzzy taco sign on the klr. We would've come and intro'd ourselves but were eager to get some food in us after a long day. I did end up meeting a LOT of dualsport riders from all over the country. Really cool.

We had a great time ourselves; I took my own klr but only rode a couple of days - Eureka and Maggie Gulches and some of Kendall mtn - all pretty rough for the klr, but truly lots of fun.

Hope you guys had the same. TEXANS EVERYWHERE!:clap:
 

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No doubt it was us. Wish you had come over and introduced yourselves. I did to everyone that i saw that had a Texas tag. We hav enjoyed going there for 31 years. It sure is getting crowded. Next year, we're going to thin it out a little by going elsewhere, but will be back.
 
Mr. Humanrace - I don't know Chris and Susan, or i dont think i do. Curious why you asked...

Again, fantastic pictures. I really would love it if my wife would go on a trip like that.

I asked because you live so close, both have the same interest, etc. Keller/North Richland Hills
 
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I don't remember the day, but we rode back up to Clear Lake on one of the days that Chris and Susan rested their injured legs. Linda and Lori were willing to walk a little.

Jeff and Lori at Clear lake.
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Me and my babe
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Lunch for the day.
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Our "table"
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Dainty flowers
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More flowers around Clear Lake
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Waterfall along South mineral creek road
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Small rock overhanging the road going to Imogene Pass
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A couple of Jeeps added for scale
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I'm getting a little bushy around the chin area
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This Jeep full of old people got stuck and wouldn't start.
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Good samaritans came along in a Jeep truck
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Happy he's finally moving. Pay attention dude.
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Our lunch spot. The road up is along the cliff to the left.
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Jeff's lunch.
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View looking out the window of our dining room.
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Nice waterfall
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Linda's leg being used as toilet paper by a friendly unknown dog.
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Them
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Us
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Jeff and Lori up the road and Linda getting ready.
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My nieces. I thought I would see if you are paying attention.:-P
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Getting closer to Imogene.
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Still a little washed out road to contend with.
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Looking the opposite direction from the snow banked road. Lori and Linda conquered their fears and stood on the edge of death.
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View west from the summit. Note the ski tracks.
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Another.
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She put her hood down for this picture. It's windy and cold.
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I didn't have a hood.
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They left their riding gear on.
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Little bit of snow left. This was taken on July 21, I believe.
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Bridal Veil falls in the background.
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Our dinner. Explanation of why it was in a restaurant will follow.
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We ate in a restaurant because the road to our camp was closed due to a wreck. It was a head on collision with a Jeep and a pick-up. Helicopter was used for extraction. One vehicle was cut open to remove the passengers. 4 people injured. If you do the million dollar highway, pay attention at all times. That is not a place to make a mistake. Stop before looking at scenery or to take pictures. Chris and Susan were stuck at camp and had left over chili with beans. I'm sure it tasted better than our stacked enchiladas.


On a lighter note, Bishops castle is coming. Be sure you come back later to see the pictures. Mr Bishop started the castle in the late '60s and has been working on it ever since, nearly always alone. It is very impressive. I recommend a ride to Colorado just to see the Castle. If you like our government or if you don't believe in the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob in the old testament or in the God of Jesus in the new testament, then I suggest you remain silent with your political and religious views while talking to Mr. Bishop. He is a very nice and likeable man but he has very strong views on politics and religion. In his view, we have nazi republicans and communist democrats and most of the sheeple (spelled his way) of the US belong to one of these 2 parties. In any case, a visit to his castle will be an eye opener.
 
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I believe this is going up to Ophir pass headed west.
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Another. As a matter of fact, Ophir pass was our last ride so all of the pictures from here on are of Ophir unless noted or obvious.
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The summit.
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We met a girl riding this Honda and suggested that she ride Imogene also but she declined, saying that she was afraid of heights. I don't know how she got down from Ophir.
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Me and Lori on the snow field at the summit.
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The shelf road down. Loose, wet, slick, steep.
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Looking further down.
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Dense aspen stands lined the road at lower elevations.
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Ophir city limits?
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Ophir post office. This is the smallest full service, 8 hour a day post office in the US, according to the postal clerk.
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What happens when a really large rock breaks off that mountain behind the house. the saying is "geology happens NOW"
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We mailed letters.
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Looking toward the pass and over the town. We turned around and went back over Ophir. It was the closest way and we wanted to get back to camp in time to load up early for our departure in the morning.
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We'll stop at the castle tomorrow afternoon. Don't miss it.
 
I asked because you live so close, both have the same interest, etc. Keller/North Richland Hills

Gotcha. I'm sure I'd loving knowing them. Speaking of where I/you live, I spent a few more years in Bryan than my dad bargained for. Gig'em!
 
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