LTP and Pinkytiffy's 2013 TAT tour of the USA.
- Thread starter Losttheplot
- Start date
great piccys. great report. keep at it 
Sorry for the delays, had a few technical gremlins to resolve and coupled with a new job, i've been a little short on time 
Still, after Pikes Peak, Alison and Nigel took us back to the Hotel via the "Garden of the Gods", a national Park filled with strange rock formations:
The road through the park looked a cracker to! (if it wasn't wet)
The following day we loaded up and headed south west and back to find the TAT, but not before we stopped of a Canon city.
It had only been around 70 miles from Colorado Springs, down to Canon city, but with the temperature up around 100F in the shade, it really didn't feel like a good day to be on the bike.
We booked into a motel, and made the decision to get some white water rafting in on the Arkansas River.
Dave and i had booked a whole day on the Raft, and because of this we had the boat to ourselves with just the guide for company. Now i'm still not sure what the guide's name actually was, he seemed to get called everything from "E Man" to "Dave". He seemed very knowledgeable about the river, had great taste in hats, but was generally very quiet:
Seeing the world from a boat put a whole new perspective on this stunning country:
Looks like we might be sinking:
During the safety briefing before rafting we were warned about the dangers of submerged objects (this one will get you very drunk)
:
Apparently the best time to go rafting is the Spring time, when all the meltwater is coming down off the mountains. Seeing as we had missed this by a few weeks the river was much quieter, but still had enough flow to get the pulse racing on occasion:
Despite being on a seemingly remote river, this country still proved that there aren't many places they won't indulge in serious engineering works:
Later that evening Dave and I wandered into Canon city looking for food and beer (or beer and food as dave thinks it should be put!). Now Canon City wasn't really much to write home about. It just came across as a regular US town, just like so many others, dead straight streets, miles of "sprawl" and a bloody long walk if you want to get anywhere.
Now Dave "Pinkytiff" has a fantastic ability for sniffing out a good watering hole and this evening was no exception. Walking into "My brothers place", we bumped into "E man" and a few of the other staff from Whitewater Adventure Outfitters. After a few beers our guide had come out of his shell, and along with his friends made for excellent company for the evening
Surprisingly the following morning i didn't have a hangover
Photo's were taken, but can't quite put my finger on them at present
Still, after Pikes Peak, Alison and Nigel took us back to the Hotel via the "Garden of the Gods", a national Park filled with strange rock formations:
The road through the park looked a cracker to! (if it wasn't wet
)
The following day we loaded up and headed south west and back to find the TAT, but not before we stopped of a Canon city.
It had only been around 70 miles from Colorado Springs, down to Canon city, but with the temperature up around 100F in the shade, it really didn't feel like a good day to be on the bike.
We booked into a motel, and made the decision to get some white water rafting in on the Arkansas River.
Dave and i had booked a whole day on the Raft, and because of this we had the boat to ourselves with just the guide for company. Now i'm still not sure what the guide's name actually was, he seemed to get called everything from "E Man" to "Dave". He seemed very knowledgeable about the river, had great taste in hats, but was generally very quiet:
Seeing the world from a boat put a whole new perspective on this stunning country:
Looks like we might be sinking:
During the safety briefing before rafting we were warned about the dangers of submerged objects (this one will get you very drunk)
:
Apparently the best time to go rafting is the Spring time, when all the meltwater is coming down off the mountains. Seeing as we had missed this by a few weeks the river was much quieter, but still had enough flow to get the pulse racing on occasion:
Despite being on a seemingly remote river, this country still proved that there aren't many places they won't indulge in serious engineering works:
Later that evening Dave and I wandered into Canon city looking for food and beer (or beer and food as dave thinks it should be put!). Now Canon City wasn't really much to write home about. It just came across as a regular US town, just like so many others, dead straight streets, miles of "sprawl" and a bloody long walk if you want to get anywhere.
Now Dave "Pinkytiff" has a fantastic ability for sniffing out a good watering hole and this evening was no exception. Walking into "My brothers place", we bumped into "E man" and a few of the other staff from Whitewater Adventure Outfitters. After a few beers our guide had come out of his shell, and along with his friends made for excellent company for the evening
Surprisingly the following morning i didn't have a hangover
Photo's were taken, but can't quite put my finger on them at present
Having ticked "rafting" off the "to do" list, we headed off the following morning in search of the TAT, and our original exit point.
This next part of the route was plucked out of thin air. After a few miles of tarmac we had left Canon city and were back on the dirt, this route took us over mountain ranges and down through valleys:
One thing that seemed a novelty in this country, was finding a road sign that hadn't been used for target practice:
That evening we stayed in Salida, and to break with current tradition we booked into a B+B, hoping for some hospitality and a good breakfast, but disappointment lay ahead :
The rooms were very pleasant, but the hospitality and breakfast kinda killed the experience. Having a back yard with non functioning swimming pool, hot tub, and a load of scrap vehicles gave the impression that "it could be trying harder"
on our evening stroll out for food and beer, we were greeted with this stunning sunset through the low clouds:
An evening meal of fresh pizza and beer brewed in house made for a good end to the day.
This next part of the route was plucked out of thin air. After a few miles of tarmac we had left Canon city and were back on the dirt, this route took us over mountain ranges and down through valleys:
One thing that seemed a novelty in this country, was finding a road sign that hadn't been used for target practice:
That evening we stayed in Salida, and to break with current tradition we booked into a B+B, hoping for some hospitality and a good breakfast, but disappointment lay ahead :
The rooms were very pleasant, but the hospitality and breakfast kinda killed the experience. Having a back yard with non functioning swimming pool, hot tub, and a load of scrap vehicles gave the impression that "it could be trying harder"
on our evening stroll out for food and beer, we were greeted with this stunning sunset through the low clouds:
An evening meal of fresh pizza and beer brewed in house made for a good end to the day.
Onto Silverton...
Up to this point i had found the Trans American trail very "easy" going, and very little to get the heart pumping. In fact the most testing thing about it had been the navigation. But today it was about to go to a whole new level
Leaving Salida we headed up on into the rockies:
We met some more of the local wildlife:
On our way to Marshall Pass, and crossing the "Continental Divide".
Stopped off here for a spot of lunch, and met a couple of guys out on KTM enduro bikes, just out for blast
on towards Silverton:
Note the storm clouds ahead:
Arriving at the bottom of Cinnamon pass we got caught in a hail storm:
riding through it was not an option, it was just to painful.
Little did i know at this point what lay in wait for the next few miles, in fact all the way to Silverton. Challenging, arse-twitching riding had finally arrived!
The hail subsided and we pressed on, keen to get to Silverton before dark, which is just as well when riding on roads like this:
There wasn't much room for error in the daylight
As we rode up Cinnamon pass we encountered a lot of very steep and challenging climbs, and most seemed to be on hairpin bends. Several of these bends had been worn down to the bed rock, and my first thoughts on approaching these bought back fond memories of trying to ride up slick wet welsh slate. To say i wasn't feeling at all confident would have been an understatement, but as luck would have it the rock was really abrasive, and offered plenty of grip. This helped sooth my nerves, but on arriving at the top i still had serious cramp in both my forearms and hands from trying to hang on.
Those parts of the trail that weren't worn to bedrock, seemed to be filled with scree and felt like trying to ride over a building site.
The effort was worth it though, just for the view:
Cinnamon pass brings you down into Animas Forks, which of the site of the first major derelict mining town you encounter on the TAT :
Animas Forks:
Onto California pass:
At this point day light was starting to fade, and with the terrain coming as something of a culture shock (especially after the miles of flat, straight trails of Mississippi and Oklahoma) both dave and myself were keen to crack on. Thankfully California pass wasn't as extreme as Cinnamon, and took us down into Silverton.
Up to this point i had found the Trans American trail very "easy" going, and very little to get the heart pumping. In fact the most testing thing about it had been the navigation. But today it was about to go to a whole new level
Leaving Salida we headed up on into the rockies:
We met some more of the local wildlife:
On our way to Marshall Pass, and crossing the "Continental Divide".
Stopped off here for a spot of lunch, and met a couple of guys out on KTM enduro bikes, just out for blast
on towards Silverton:
Note the storm clouds ahead:
Arriving at the bottom of Cinnamon pass we got caught in a hail storm:
riding through it was not an option, it was just to painful.
Little did i know at this point what lay in wait for the next few miles, in fact all the way to Silverton. Challenging, arse-twitching riding had finally arrived!
The hail subsided and we pressed on, keen to get to Silverton before dark, which is just as well when riding on roads like this:
There wasn't much room for error in the daylight
As we rode up Cinnamon pass we encountered a lot of very steep and challenging climbs, and most seemed to be on hairpin bends. Several of these bends had been worn down to the bed rock, and my first thoughts on approaching these bought back fond memories of trying to ride up slick wet welsh slate. To say i wasn't feeling at all confident would have been an understatement, but as luck would have it the rock was really abrasive, and offered plenty of grip. This helped sooth my nerves, but on arriving at the top i still had serious cramp in both my forearms and hands from trying to hang on.
Those parts of the trail that weren't worn to bedrock, seemed to be filled with scree and felt like trying to ride over a building site.
The effort was worth it though, just for the view:
Cinnamon pass brings you down into Animas Forks, which of the site of the first major derelict mining town you encounter on the TAT :
Animas Forks:
Onto California pass:
At this point day light was starting to fade, and with the terrain coming as something of a culture shock (especially after the miles of flat, straight trails of Mississippi and Oklahoma) both dave and myself were keen to crack on. Thankfully California pass wasn't as extreme as Cinnamon, and took us down into Silverton.
We arrived in Silverton, and found accommodation in one of the motels there. Camping could have been an option here, but it was raining, it was late and the need for beer and food out weighed the small amount we would have saved my getting the tents out .
The following day was spent having a wander around Silverton, it's an old mining town with a lot of character:
Breakfast that morning was spent in a local diner on main street. As we were leaving we noticed an F800 and 1200 GS parked up outside, and would have been prime targets for more of Dave's sticker bombing, apart from the fact that Dave had left the stickers back at the room.
While giving the bikes a quick look over, the owners came out, to fine gentlemen from Texas, by the names of Dave and Doug. We spent around half an hour talking bikes and trails, these guys had driven up from Texas for a week or so to ride some of the trails around Silverton and we were comparing notes so far.
With Silverton to explore we bid our farewells and went for an explore around Silverton.
Apart from the main street, most of the roads here and still dirt tracks
Dave found a watering hole
Silverton has an array of old cars and trucks parked up. Where they just parked up? dumped? who knows
:
The local rail system looks a little dated here:
.
The following day was spent having a wander around Silverton, it's an old mining town with a lot of character:
Breakfast that morning was spent in a local diner on main street. As we were leaving we noticed an F800 and 1200 GS parked up outside, and would have been prime targets for more of Dave's sticker bombing, apart from the fact that Dave had left the stickers back at the room
. While giving the bikes a quick look over, the owners came out, to fine gentlemen from Texas, by the names of Dave and Doug. We spent around half an hour talking bikes and trails, these guys had driven up from Texas for a week or so to ride some of the trails around Silverton and we were comparing notes so far.
With Silverton to explore we bid our farewells and went for an explore around Silverton.
Apart from the main street, most of the roads here and still dirt tracks
Dave found a watering hole
Silverton has an array of old cars and trucks parked up. Where they just parked up? dumped? who knows
:
The local rail system looks a little dated here:
Dave's Earworm...
Since New Mexico Dave (Pinkytiff) had gotten this song into his head,
and would be singing this at any opportunity. Not really an issue you might think, unless you have both crash helmets fitted with Scala G9's, and the intercom permanently on
So Dave's earworm became my earworm. regardless of wether i wanted it or not.
Since New Mexico Dave (Pinkytiff) had gotten this song into his head,
and would be singing this at any opportunity. Not really an issue you might think, unless you have both crash helmets fitted with Scala G9's, and the intercom permanently on
So Dave's earworm became my earworm. regardless of wether i wanted it or not.
Superb, PT and LTP...................my kind of trip ride a day or 2 and then park up and see the towns you're stopping in
Superb, PT and LTP...................my kind of trip ride a day or 2 and then park up and see the towns you're stopping in
Especially when that town's Silverton, we stayed a couple of days last time as the previous visit there had been all too brief
The next day we loaded up and headed for breakfast
A quick bite to eat and we headed off to the petrol station to fill the bikes. here we bumped into Texan Dave on his F800gs, the same guy we had met the previous morning.
Turns out Texan Dave And and his sidekick Doug, had a disastrous experience on the Last Dollar Highway the previous afternoon. Both their bikes were fitted with road tyres, and this would have been fine if the Last Dollar highway had been dry, but they got caught in a heavy shower, and this turned the dust into grease, resulting in them having to walk their bikes back to the road
.
We offered texan Dave our condolences and headed off to pick up Corkscrew pass, passing many derelict mines on the way:
Note the warning on the roll map, just as we past the peak!
Why you need good brakes, steep, straight descents separated with tight hairpin bends:
Once into the tree line the trail becomes more of a roller coaster:
Corkscrew pass brings you out onto the Million dollar highway, a road constructed originally to get the gold away from the mines. From here we dropped off the TAT, and headed south towards Durango, in search of a replacement waterproof jacket. My faithful Klim valdez parker had been leaking like a sieve since day 1 of the trip
, and i'd finally had enough of getting soaked. Good old google suggested there was a Klim dealer in Durango, so onto the black top and away we went.
A quick bite to eat and we headed off to the petrol station to fill the bikes. here we bumped into Texan Dave on his F800gs, the same guy we had met the previous morning.
Turns out Texan Dave And and his sidekick Doug, had a disastrous experience on the Last Dollar Highway the previous afternoon. Both their bikes were fitted with road tyres, and this would have been fine if the Last Dollar highway had been dry, but they got caught in a heavy shower, and this turned the dust into grease, resulting in them having to walk their bikes back to the road
.We offered texan Dave our condolences and headed off to pick up Corkscrew pass, passing many derelict mines on the way:
Note the warning on the roll map, just as we past the peak!
Why you need good brakes, steep, straight descents separated with tight hairpin bends:
Once into the tree line the trail becomes more of a roller coaster:
Corkscrew pass brings you out onto the Million dollar highway, a road constructed originally to get the gold away from the mines. From here we dropped off the TAT, and headed south towards Durango, in search of a replacement waterproof jacket. My faithful Klim valdez parker had been leaking like a sieve since day 1 of the trip
, and i'd finally had enough of getting soaked. Good old google suggested there was a Klim dealer in Durango, so onto the black top and away we went.
Excellento! I would so love to do that trip one day.
It's easy:
(spotted in Silverton
)Durango..
As i followed Dave into Durango (it was his turn to navigate for once), i was witness to dave almost getting wiped as a blue pickup cut straight in front of him.
The occupants of the truck had the windows down and where waving wildly at us, and turned off into a side street. We followed to see what all the fuss was about. At this point various thoughts were going through my mind. Was this road rage? had we cut someone up? was this a jealous husband looking for satisfaction from a possible attempt at improving anglo-american relations?
No.
It was our 2 friends from Texas, Doug and Dave, who had been driving into Durango, discussing the previous day's peril on the Last dollar highway, and had spotted our bikes, decided they looked much more manageable than the lardy GS's they had used and also realised the "tags" were from out of town, put 2 and 2 together and then promptly tried to run Pinkytiff over
We had a brief chat by the side of the road, which turned into a lunch invite to the Steamboat brew pub in Durango. At this point our immediate plans went as far as replacing my leaking jacket and that was it. Over lunch and some of the local brew, Doug and Dave invited the both of us to stay with them at a friends hunting lodge in Purgatory (about half way between Silverton and Durango), to join them for some local riding.
Looking back now i think this invitation was one of the highlights of the trip. Not only was it a really welcome break from night after night of soulless motels, but also great to find some like minded individuals that "got" what the trip was about.
The hunting lodge was also something else as well, secluded off the beaten track and surrounded by Aspen trees:
And the car port was a fantastic piece of engineering:
Inside the hunting theme continued, a chandelier made from Deer antlers:
(probably should have turned the lights on to get the full effect before taking the photo)
And this chair was made from deer skin and antlers to:
I absolutely adored the ingenuity that had gone into this house, the materials chosen and the way everything had been put together.
But this is a ride report, not grand designs
The following day, Doug arranged for us to all ride with a local friend of his call Tom, exploring some of the great roads and trails in the area.
A brief snap taken on the first trail:
L-R, Doug, Tommy and myself (For some reason i can't find a photo of Tommy without his crash helmet on)
Talking a little more to Tommy, it turns out he has a lot to do with PAPA:
http://papatelluride.org/
PAPA is the local equivalent of the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) in the UK, and Tommy seems to know just about every trail for hundreds of miles around!
But this day was easy trails and fantastic tarmac, as we headed up US 550, AKA The Million Dollar highway:
Somewhere in the above photo is Dave-Pinkytiff
Stopped off for a breather:
trying to loose the chicken strips
Lunch stop in Ouray, also where a well known film was shot apparently, can you guess what it is?:
Having had "sufficient" as Doug would put it, the riding continued, but as it was dry Tommy decided to take us along the Last Dollar Highway, which drops down south into Telluride.
Last Dollar highway is crammed full of amazing views, and the riding is also entertaining as well
Doug looking a little happier with the dry conditions
To be continued...
As i followed Dave into Durango (it was his turn to navigate for once
), i was witness to dave almost getting wiped as a blue pickup cut straight in front of him.The occupants of the truck had the windows down and where waving wildly at us, and turned off into a side street. We followed to see what all the fuss was about. At this point various thoughts were going through my mind. Was this road rage? had we cut someone up? was this a jealous husband looking for satisfaction from a possible attempt at improving anglo-american relations?
No.
It was our 2 friends from Texas, Doug and Dave, who had been driving into Durango, discussing the previous day's peril on the Last dollar highway, and had spotted our bikes, decided they looked much more manageable than the lardy GS's they had used and also realised the "tags" were from out of town, put 2 and 2 together and then promptly tried to run Pinkytiff over
We had a brief chat by the side of the road, which turned into a lunch invite to the Steamboat brew pub in Durango. At this point our immediate plans went as far as replacing my leaking jacket and that was it. Over lunch and some of the local brew, Doug and Dave invited the both of us to stay with them at a friends hunting lodge in Purgatory (about half way between Silverton and Durango), to join them for some local riding.
Looking back now i think this invitation was one of the highlights of the trip. Not only was it a really welcome break from night after night of soulless motels, but also great to find some like minded individuals that "got" what the trip was about.
The hunting lodge was also something else as well, secluded off the beaten track and surrounded by Aspen trees:
And the car port was a fantastic piece of engineering:
Inside the hunting theme continued, a chandelier made from Deer antlers:
(probably should have turned the lights on to get the full effect before taking the photo)
And this chair was made from deer skin and antlers to:
I absolutely adored the ingenuity that had gone into this house, the materials chosen and the way everything had been put together.
But this is a ride report, not grand designs
The following day, Doug arranged for us to all ride with a local friend of his call Tom, exploring some of the great roads and trails in the area.
A brief snap taken on the first trail:
L-R, Doug, Tommy and myself (For some reason i can't find a photo of Tommy without his crash helmet on)
Talking a little more to Tommy, it turns out he has a lot to do with PAPA:
http://papatelluride.org/
PAPA is the local equivalent of the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) in the UK, and Tommy seems to know just about every trail for hundreds of miles around!
But this day was easy trails and fantastic tarmac, as we headed up US 550, AKA The Million Dollar highway:
Somewhere in the above photo is Dave-Pinkytiff
Stopped off for a breather:
trying to loose the chicken strips
Lunch stop in Ouray, also where a well known film was shot apparently, can you guess what it is?:
Having had "sufficient" as Doug would put it, the riding continued, but as it was dry Tommy decided to take us along the Last Dollar Highway, which drops down south into Telluride.
Last Dollar highway is crammed full of amazing views, and the riding is also entertaining as well
Doug looking a little happier with the dry conditions
To be continued...
Arriving in Telluride, we said our goodbyes to Tommy, and we took Ophir pass back to Purgatory:
Doug did a sterling job of wrestling his 1200gs up this pass, but a few heavy off's ment he was broken by the time we got back to Purgatory
During our time with Tommy, he suggested a few passes that we should ride while in the area, Immogene and Black bear pass. Neither of these are on the TAT, but Tommy was of the opinion that they represented some of the best riding in the world.
The following day Dave-Pinkytiff and myself left the hunting lodge in search of these fabled passes. Leaving the luggage off the bikes made them a lot more manageable.
The start of Black Bear Pass:
This looks pretty un-assuming, but Tommy was telling us that in all the time he had lived in Telluride, he knew of at least 15 fatalities on this pass. This route is also one way only!.
The climb up over the mountain
Having a breather on the way up, yes that is snow- in July!
The first test of the day
Not impossible, but the altitude ment oxygen is in very short supply. Even walking was a serious effort
Once out of the way, the next few miles of trail are an absolute delight, whoopy, jumps, drop offs, it's one cracking roller coaster ride across the top of the mountain
Black Bear Pass dropping down to Telluride:
Here it starts to get steep:
Doug did a sterling job of wrestling his 1200gs up this pass, but a few heavy off's ment he was broken by the time we got back to Purgatory
During our time with Tommy, he suggested a few passes that we should ride while in the area, Immogene and Black bear pass. Neither of these are on the TAT, but Tommy was of the opinion that they represented some of the best riding in the world.
The following day Dave-Pinkytiff and myself left the hunting lodge in search of these fabled passes. Leaving the luggage off the bikes made them a lot more manageable.
The start of Black Bear Pass:
This looks pretty un-assuming, but Tommy was telling us that in all the time he had lived in Telluride, he knew of at least 15 fatalities on this pass. This route is also one way only!.
The climb up over the mountain
Having a breather on the way up, yes that is snow- in July!
The first test of the day
Not impossible, but the altitude ment oxygen is in very short supply. Even walking was a serious effort
Once out of the way, the next few miles of trail are an absolute delight, whoopy, jumps, drop offs, it's one cracking roller coaster ride across the top of the mountain
Black Bear Pass dropping down to Telluride:
Here it starts to get steep:
Black Bear Pass
We managed a good chunk of Black Bear pass without much drama, just plenty of air time and huge grins, but at the back of my mind was Tommy's warning of the 15 or so fatalities that had occurred on this trail, and while riding along, i was struggling to see where they could have occurred.
Until we got to a particularly narrow rocky descent, with a massive drop off the edge, and on a blind corner to.
[video=facebook;399706460135260]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=399706460135260[/video]
I make no excuses for pushing the bike down.
We managed a good chunk of Black Bear pass without much drama, just plenty of air time and huge grins
, but at the back of my mind was Tommy's warning of the 15 or so fatalities that had occurred on this trail, and while riding along, i was struggling to see where they could have occurred.Until we got to a particularly narrow rocky descent, with a massive drop off the edge, and on a blind corner to.
[video=facebook;399706460135260]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=399706460135260[/video]
I make no excuses for pushing the bike down.
We managed a good chunk of Black Bear pass without much drama, just plenty of air time and huge grins
Until we got to a particularly narrow rocky descent, with a massive drop off the edge, and on a blind corner to.
I make no excuses for pushing the bike down.
Hopefully that's fixed it this time
Superb guys loving this.
Where's the rest?
It'll be along soon, now the clocks have gone back and work has (hopefully) slowed, i should have some spare time to finish this up!
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