Wednesday, June 18th - Cortez, Co. to Heber, AZ

Another day of extremely high winds across Southwestern Colorado and Northeastern Arizona as we made our way back towards Phoenix thru 4 Corners. Instead of going through Winslow we decided due to the winds to go thru Holbrook and then down to Heber for the night. This leaves us about 3 & 1/2 hours from home in the morning. It was another very physical and demanding ride with constant winds in the range of 25-30mph with gusts occasionally to 50mph. Visibility was better with less blowing sand/dust and no smoke from fires south of Gallup, NM. The highlight of the day was Breakfast at the Absolute Bakery in Mancoss, CO.  We didn't spend much time on our gas stops other than for gatorade so not many pics for the day to share. Lots of video from our GoPros but that will come later. Pics from breakfast in Mancoss.

Tuesday, June 17th, Aspen to Cortez, Co.

Ok so you may have noticed from our original planned route we made a change. The winds today required us to alter our route for safety. Yes we actually put safety first. The winds are just part of the experience but you also realize what a physical demand it puts on the Tres Amigos.

We left Aspen and went to Carbondale and then turned south and headed to Hotchkis, the home of the world famous Zach's Bbq. Fantastic brisket! We had a great lunch and then headed for Delta and on to Montrose.

At that point the winds were gusting up to 50+ mph so we decided to go ahead to Telluride and over Lizard Head Pass and down through Delores to Cortez for the night.

We didn't stop for many pics as the weather dictated that we keep rolling on down the road. We will decide in the morning what route to take back towards Phoenix when we get up in the morni

ng.

Here a few pics from today ( very few):

Some photos don't require words. Sorry the connectivity issues limited the shots.

Monday June 16th - Glenwood Springs to Aspen

Today was an easy day of riding from Glenwood Springs to Aspen. We took a ride into Snowmass at Aspen and then some backroads to Aspen. We took at break in the aftenoon from the bikes and walked around Aspen. Tomorrow will be a long day from Aspen back to Montrose working our way back towards home. Hopefully we wont get inclement weather, but it is expected to be "windy"!

Here are a few pics from our afternoon in Aspen.

June 15th, (day 3) Montrose, CO to Glen Springs, CO

Tres Amigos (ok the old guys) left Montrose early this morning with temp in the 50's but dry and the wind staying down. We headed for Gunnison traveling along Black Canyon reservior which is a very long lake at a high elevation. Lots of people fishing out of boats and camping. Temperature was in the 40's when we drove along it. From there we went to Buena Vista and then up to Leadville which is a historic mining town.

Leadville is at 10,200 ft and the highest incorporated town in North America.
I have included some pics, but we didn't stay long due to weather. From Leadville we dropped
over the top of a pass I cant recall but the descent was spectacular and they call it the
10Th Mountain division memorial highway. Camp Hale is down this road an that
is where the 10th mountain division trained for WWII. For those of the Gray family
this is where my Father, Grandpa Leo trained before going to the Aleution Islands to fit
the Japanese.

As you can see we are not great at stopping for photo ops.....

June 14 (day 2), Chinle, AZ to Montrose, CO.

The ride started with wind again that intensified as the day progressed. We had wind and blowing sand/dust from Chinle to Cortez. We stopped at Four Corners which is where AZ, UT, CO, and NM
come together to form the 4 corners. I included a few pics from 4 corners even though we had blowing dust/sand which made for short stop.

From Cortez we turned North and headed thru Rico and on over Lizard Head Pass then down to Telluride and continuing on to Montrose. It continued to blow with clouds developing and the temperature dropped down to 52 on top of Lizard Head Pass. Felt like 40 degrees but fortunately we got down before the precipitation started.

Below are some pics for Lizard Head Pass.

June 13th (day 1), Scottsdale to Chinle, Arizona (Canyon De Chelly National Monument)

Early start this morning put us in Chinle, AZ about 1pm. It was quite windy the last 120 miles and we skipped stopping at the Painter Desert but may get it on the way back to Arizona.

We plan to visit Canyon De Chelly National Monument on our way out to Montrose, CO tomorrow. CDC or Canyon De Chelly is the only National Monument contained within a Indian Reservation, the Navaho Nation Reservation.

I urge you to Google Canyon De Chelly National Monument and learn more about it.

The Planned Route.......