Fun Dual Sport Ride

On August 12, we did almost nothing. Actually we went for a nice walk along the lake, but it was a pretty chill day. Saturday morning, August 27, I decided to unload the DR 650 and take a ride around the area.

It has been cool in the mornings with lows temps in the high 30's. It quickly warms up with the high altitude sun. Kim felt like just staying at the rig and doing some reading, so I headed out alone.

After riding down to Granby to get gas, I headed out to check out some of the local camping spots to see if we may want to move there. I found a couple that are not too bad, but we are fine where we are for now. I rode around the southern end of lake Granby and enjoyed the awesome views of the lake on this beautiful day.

I rode all the way up to Monarch lake. I think we will go back there and paddle and hike. It is really a pretty spot. I am sure we will take pictures of it when we are up there. I returned along the lake and went into Antelope Bay Campground. The water was calm and it was just gorgeous.

I then decided to ride up into the Stillwater Pass area. This is a designated ORV area and has many free camp spots along the road. There were a bunch of folks out riding, but for a perfect Saturday in the summer, I saw much fewer folks than I expected. There were many campsites available and the road was not too difficult getting up there.

As I got closer to the pass, the road got more rocky and steep. That is where the fun began for me.

For those that know me, you will know that I love to ride fast flowing single track. The trails here look really fun. I am not a big fan of two rack because it just does not flow for a motorcycle. They have some designated, gated motorcycle only trail here. Yeah! I was really wising I had a real dirt bike with me. The DR would be a handful in that stuff. And certainly not something I am going to do when riding by myself.

I came along this beautiful mountain meadow and just had to stop to take a few snaps.

Can you take a flower picture in a motorcycle ride post? I just did!

The wildflowers are still out and make the area colorful.

A rode on down the backside of the pass and then it happened. I couldn't take it any longer. I just had to hit a trail. I decided to ride up this innocent looking two track until it got tough. I hit the gas and was having way too much fun and ten hit a steep uphill. I rode to the top without incident, but at that point it went down a steep downhill and I decided that was enough for the big 650. Here was the view from the stopping point:

I made it back to the road without incident and now had an even bigger smile on my face. I then rode on to hit Hwy 125 and then rode pavement all the way back to the campground. I did stop along the way and checked out Denver Creek Campground. It is a USFS FCFS campground and is not bad. It is along a creek, but also along the road. It is $16 per night with no hook ups, but they do have water centrally. There is no cell signal on Verizon. I put all of this information in my posts to help others and my future self if I come back to the area.

The clouds were building for an afternoon shower, so I headed back to camp with just about 100 miles on the odometer. It was a really fun day and it makes hauling that 300 pound motorcycle around make sense. I am sure I will do a bunch more riding while I am here in the Grand Lake area.

Now on to Rocky Mountain National Park. Sunday was the day to start that experience. Come back to hear all about our visit to the most visited park in the National Park system.