2nd day of spring overnight 800 mile ride

[cool4kats]

So the family is off to Cancun for spring break. I don't have enough vacation and too much to do to take a week off of work. Great weather here in Colorado so called a friend who is also up for an overnight ride.
Gonna go do a loop from Denver to Durango and back. 800 miles round trip.
Kept watching road conditions as a recent storm had two of the mountain passes iced and snowpacked.
Yesterday all roads open so leaving this morning for a spontaneous adventure. I will try to get some pics to share when I get back.

[shpielers]

Ooooo! Jealous! Have a blast!

[ygolohcysp]

Oh oh! Me too! I mean, I'm jealous too! Of the trip, of the nice weather for it. Bring back pics and stories so I can live vicariously through you!

[cool4kats]

Just got back. No pics yet. Good thing for heated gloves. Weather was great but it is still March and I lost count of how many mountain passes we crossed (and even more counties). First day started in Denver and took us over Monarch pass (snowpacked and ice 2 days previously) and was in fantastic shape! And ended the day traveling over the famous Million Dollar Highway into Durango. Again, lots of snow but great road conditions. The highest elevation on day 1 was 11,313 feet and it was in the thirties. We clocked 387.5 miles on day 1.
Day 2 took us through Zuma's neck of the woods (Pagosa springs and South Fork) Wolf creek pass was fun! Stopped to see treasure falls and my buddy on his wee strom joined the Ice Capades. The parking was mostly blocked by the snow left by plows. A small gap was available but in the shade and snow melt that had re frozen solid (and slick). The PR 4's went through it ok but when I parked I looked back and the wee strom was on its side about 10 feet away from the icy gap and pointed the way we came. Not too big a deal but my friend had to re arrange some things to block a hole in his hard cases created by his pirouette. After Wolf creek pass we headed up 149 over a couple more passes the highest of which tops out at 11,536 feet. This road is not used as much and tough cleared, was rough and winter road driving tactics had to be initiated. The last real fun pass was going back over Monarch Pass. Most of the way up has a passing lane and we had seen so many police that we felt it would be clear. It was clear and we got to make some fun turns and make sure any chicken strip on the newer PR4's were removed (at least on the rear). With no weather all weekend, about 100 miles from Denver it looked like storm clouds were going to get us right at the end. Night fell just as we descended into Denver and once again I made it to southwest Colorado without getting wet!
Another 426 miles logged on day two and I have officially put more miles on my Kat in 1 year 7 months than the first owner in 15 years. I think she's happy now!

[FireKit]

nice write up..