Greetings!
On June 6th, 2017, I embarked on another cross-country summer tour to Colorado. This year’s tour was also much less ambitious than my previous tours have been. The primary destination was the Motorcycle Sport Touring Association’s national rally called STAR2017 at the Hotel Eleganté in Colorado Springs, Colorado between June 11th and 15th.
Once again I rode my 2015 BMW R1200GS-Adventure motorcycle on this tour. During the tour my Spot Messenger device sent location updates to the Spotwalla web service to track my path and show my current location during my journey. This next graphic shows my completed track.
Complete track of my Summer Tour in 2017
Alternatively, you can click on the following link to display the full-sized tracking map on Spotwalla.com for various display options to more closely examine areas of interest:
https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/11c9-5d5b6-a7d9/view
On June 9th, I arrived in Colorado Springs in the early afternoon. Except for the very first day of my journey in occasionally moderately heavy rain, the weather was excellent on Wednesday onward. The forecast for this area of Colorado promises very good riding weather over the coming week, and perhaps beyond.
Update 6/24/2017:
The MSTA rally was a good success with nearly 290 attendees and excellent weather during the entire week. On Friday (6/16/2017) following the rally, Van, the Florida MSTA state director, and I rode to the top of Mount Evans, which was his first time to visit that area. After stopping for lunch at a restaurant next to Echo Lake at the entrance to the Mount Evans access road, we continued on US-6 across Loveland Pass to Silverthorne, where we had reserved a room in the home of an AirBNB host.
On Saturday (6/17/2017) we rode through the Rocky Mountain National Park over Trail Ridge Road, which Van had been wanting to experience for several years. Although it was quite windy above tree line, we had no trouble safely riding the ridge. After reaching Estes Park, we rode south along the “Peak-to-Peak” highway (CO-7 & CO-72) to Nederland and then east through Boulder Canyon to Boulder, where we stopped for a nice lunch at a restaurant on the Pearl Street pedestrian zone. Following that, Van rode solo to Denver to return the rented BMW R1200RT motorcycle before flying home to Florida. I rode the short distance to my friend KC’s home in northeast Boulder, where I stayed without riding for the rest of the week.
On Friday, 6/23/2017, I resumed my tour, heading west along I-70 towards Glenwood Springs, turning north at Rifle to Meeker and Dinosaur, crossing the border into Utah, through Vernal and along UT-35 to Kamas, where I arrived at my step-niece’s and her husband’s home overlooking the Kamas Valley. From their balcony, there is a nice view of Mt. Timpanogas, approximately 30 miles to the southwest, as can be seen in this photo taken this morning.
Mount Timpanogos
Update 6/25/2017:
Until recently, I had considered riding from Utah to California. Due to the very hot weather in the southwestern US, I have revised my plans and will not visit California this year. On Monday (6/26/2017), I will depart Kamas and ride to Moab, Utah for two nights and visit the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in the area. On Wednesday (6/28/2017), I will travel into Colorado and stay for two nights in an AirBnB room in Montrose, while I visit the town of Ouray and explore some of the backcountry in that area.
Update for 8/19/2017:
On July 4th I arrived home in Florida after a quick trip from Gunnison, CO, through Amarillo, TX, Shreveport, LA, and DeFuniak Springs, FL. Upon arriving home, I discovered that the 14 year old air-conditioning compressor in my condo had failed. Fortunately the a/c maintenance company was able to arrange for prompt replacement. Since that time, I have been intending to post more travelogue articles and photos, but have been quite busy with various other projects.
That’s all I have at this time. Stay Tuned!