The Enchanted Circle really carries its name well. At every turn, we say “wow, wow’’. Unfortunately, the weather was not as nice as what we would have liked. We got some heavy rain on the way, but prepared as we are, we got our raingear suits on, just in the nick of time… We did want to check out the city of Taos in the evening, but it was pretty quiet. We quickly stopped at the Rio Grande Bridge (pictures on Picassa). Rio Grande is the third longest river of the United States.
Last night, we camped in Bloomfield, NM. The campground (negotiated to $ 18.00 a night) was great and clean with free firewood. As it was dark and started to be chilly, we were very happy to start a large bonfire. What a night we had ! This morning, after a restless night because of the cold and the noise in the surroundings, we did not get up in a very good mood. We were ready for the cold night, though !
The temperature dropped below zero degrees Celsius (I believe around 40 fahrenheit), there was ice on the seats of our motorcycles. We decided that no matter what, considering the altitude of the day, we would find at least a cabin for the next night. Here it is. We found it!
After all, we are not eskimos !
This is a long week-end again and we don’t want to visit Mesa Verde Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, we decided to take the direction of Durango and from Durango, started 550 North to ride the 236 miles loop back to Durango, which is supposed to be a scenic drive. It is called the San Juan Skyway. What a view ! And the sky is blue again, a little bit chilly, but we are dressed appropriately. It was just spectacular and today, we sincerely regretted not to have a camera mounted directly on the motorcycles. The curves were insane, at times, going straight down while turning. As I was riding, I had to tell myself that I had to look far ahead of where I wanted to go, as when you ride a motorcycle, you go where you look ! This is me on this video. We rode up to 10900 feet (around 3300-3500 Meters)
On his side, Alain was thrilled and quite a few times, he flew in front of me to speed away and have some fun. I was absolutely fine with this, as I did not want the pressure to go too quickly and turn. In the end, we both had a lot of fun at our own pace. Tonight, the mood is much better as we have found a cabin in Ouray. The day would not be complete, as I have forgotten to mention Silverton, one old mining village, which is maintaining its charm : the streets are not paved, the sidewalks are made of wood, the railway road connects between Silverton and Durango with an old steam locomotive.
This road today was our ‘’third coup de coeur’’…. And we are only halfway through it!
October 10, 2010 : This was the end of the San Juan skyway today. A little bit less impressive but still gorgeous.
The weather was again great and the colours of autumn are really making our rides enjoyable, not as red as in Quebec, but still yellows and gold colours. Wow! Alain and I are already talking about coming back and hike around here other times.
In Dolores today, we met one young French guy and another one from Quebec, who hitchhiking across the United States. We have stopped in Cortes tonight, again in a cabin, as the forecast is for chilling temperatures again. We have negotiated a rate of $ 44.00 for the night (last night was around $ 42.00, but we get the heat and a mattress and laundry and hot showers for this price !). You would not believe that after 12 days of sleeping on a 1.5 inches Thermarest mattress, how good it feels to have a real one ! We are also right by the Mesa Verde National Park, that we are eager to visit tomorrow.
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