Dallas to Jasper and British Columbia Part 1

Special thanks to all the good advise I got before setting out to the Northwest in mid July. Especially Rinty and Montana who gave great route advice for Montana, Alberta, and BC. Also special thanks for the member in Cody, WY for riding that area. Can't recall his user name, but remember him riding his Ducati on those roads.

Day one was Dallas to Taos, NM. My first morning in Taos I head for my favorite breakfast spot there called The Bean. Great breakfast and excellent coffee and espresso I spot this KLR sitting outside and end up talking to the guy about what a big fan I am of those thumpers. Turns out he's in real estate there and invites me to tag along to show me the hot spots in town. My first morning, I end up following a real estate agent on a KLR down all the dirt roads to learn about where to live in Taos. A real estate agent on a KLR. Go figure.




Finally bid farewell to the guy and headed for Durango by way of Chama and Pogosa Springs, CO.
Along the way on Highway 64 and into Colorado:






I try to make reservations in Durango and all the basic hotels are in the $200 range or sold out. I decide to ride another 45 miles west to Cortez. Never been there so what the heck. My plan was to ride Hwy 550 in the morning aka " The Million Dollar Highway".
Cortez turned out to be a nice place on the western slope of the Rockies and the view from my hotel was great. Shots taken from my hotel:



The guy at the front desk tells me he has a great suggestion not only for breakfast, but a great road to take to Grand Junction instead of heading back to Durango to ride Hwy 550. He's pretty convincing so I decide to take his advice. He tells me to head for Moab, UT and pick up a highway 128 heading up to I-70 just west of Grand Junction.
First some breakfast in downtown Cortez:



Heading for Moab:

Strange stuff along the way.




Finally just north of Moab I come to this Highway 128. Turns out the guy was right on both breakfast and this road. This road was absolutely amazing and not much traffic. A beautiful river follows it pretty much the whole way. Plenty of turns, but no sense trying to set a speed record through here. I wanted to ride it easy and savor everything around me.
















Tomorrow I'll post the ride from Grand Junction to Red Lodge by way of Yellowstone and Cody,WY. Chief Joseph Highway and The Beartooth Pass have to be a top three road anywhere in the US. Thanks for coming along.

Dallas to Jasper and British Columbia continued

Some additional shots of highway 128 from Moab.










Finally made it to Grand Junction.


The following day I was to meet a friend of mine from Aspen along with his friend flying up from the Houston area on Saturday after lunch. They wanted me to lead them to Yellowstone since neither of them had ever really traveled on a bike. Both were rather green riders and both were renting a couple of Heritage Softails from the local Harley dealership in Grand Junction. Had the guy in Aspen not been such a good friend I would have never paired up to ride for a couple of days leading around a couple of Cruisers.

We left Grand Junction heading to Vernal, UT with both guys doing about 60 mph behind me on I-70 where the day before I was rolling closer to 90 with the radar detector on high alert. All this and the thought I would have to be stopping every 150 miles to let them get more gas for their smaller tanks. This was to be a total clash of cultures for the next few days, but it all went better than expected. Great weather and both guys seemed to improve their riding skills over time getting used to their bikes and all the twisted turns.



I was able to take photos of these guys by pointing the camera back over my shoulder.





On the way to Vernal.








Continued:

Dallas to Jasper and British Columbia continued

The following day we rode from Rock Springs to Cody, WY by way of Yellowstone.



Heading to Yellowstone from Jackson.




This looks interesting, but it stunk to high heaven of sulphur.


Gary with his mouth full of peanuts and a grin of having a great ride.


This buffalo was going berserk here though you can't tell by the photos. Gary's bike have spooked the guy and he was in this rant running back and forth across the road.




Just outside of Cody. Beautiful lake on the west side. Who knew.


Our motel for the night in Cody: Didn't realize Cody was such a live stock and rodeo town. There is a rodeo going on there every night for about three months during the summer.

Cody, WY to Red Lodge, MT

I would have to say this road from Cody to Red Lodge has to be the best riding road anywhere and to boot, we had super weather that day. Just amazing!!!
We started out on the Chief Joseph highway and then picked up High 212 to ride The Bear Tooth Pass.











Part or the route looked like one big noodle bowl. You should have seen the GPS screen.




Not even at the Bear Tooth Pass yet.









Just beautiful and even a river along the road. I believe the point up ahead is what is actually the "Bear Tooth".


The beginning climb over Bear Tooth.


Up ahead are some of the switchbacks. What you may not be able to see are the cars and bikes riding up there. What you see are all these vehicles going back and forth in front of you. Just wild!




Here's what it looks like once you're on the switchbacks looking back down.








When we got to the top at about 12,000 feet, I gave the camera to gentleman at this rest stop and asked to get a shot of me and my friend Charles. We felt like we were on top of the world especially from the wild ride that morning getting us this far.



To be continued: