Ride through Colorado's Rio Grande National Forest

I've been meaning to get out and really see what my little WR250R could do on the slab as well as the dirt roads with a load on it. This past weekend I had the chance to plan a route through some scenic Colorado forest.

I left Thursday after work, hitting the road about 6pm. Kinda late to get onto the road, but being that its summer, I figured I still had a few hours of daylight and could make some good time with those few hours.

For this trip, I decided to try out some GPS software using the Droid-X.[URL="https://market.android.com/details?id=menion.android.locus.pro&feature=search_result"] Locus Pro[/URL] for the Android is a very nice map utility that really does work well. I'm not trying to sell this app, but rather just letting you know this app works very well. I downloaded my map overlay that I needed, then created the track that I wanted and imported it into the app. [URL="http://www.dualsportmaps.com/?link=100242"]DualSportMaps also has an Android GPS mapping[/URL] software, but I didn't use it on this adventure. Probably next time. Along with the Droid, I plugged in my Garmin Oregon. I found that I actually used the Droid more....much nicer interface and more usable. Oh yeah, the [URL="http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Zj2jdUQqunlC5FOll2ktaYtWsoTFDnkz"]SPOT tracker (click to see some of my route)[/URL] is just a little peace of mind when out in the boonies. It sends updates every 10 minutes and if I desire, I can use the phone to send text messages to my family. Pretty nifty little device.





During the first few hours, I was privy to a scenic Northern NM sunset.


As I continued on, I had to rely on my HID lights, to safely navigate to the first camping site. This was the first time I had to really rely on the Lynx fairing's high-beam light. I noted that when switched on, I couldn't tell it was actually on until about 15 seconds later, after it warmed up. Then, it was like a super spot-light! Very cool to have a nice bright light in a dark forest.

I was able to find a nice place to thrown down the tent and put in for the night. This picture taken the next day shows a pretty nice place.




As I pushed on I got to see more of Colorado's Rio Grande National Forest. This really is a beautiful place to visit. Granted "most" of this route is gravel roads that can sometimes be unnerving. I often felt like I was riding on loose marbles, especially as I went around corners. Fortunately I took it easy and didn't drop the bike.

A view after riding up from Alamosa canyon. I wish I had the HD camera mounted and on, it was a pretty cool ride out of the canyon onto the summit.







My second camp spot, nestled in the Aspen trees. This was a really nice spot:




Showing the colors:




Playing some chops on my Traveler speedster. Great little guitar. I have it plugged into a Boss Micro 4-track recorder and some iPod speakers. Nice light setup for the bike.




Ready to roll again




Getting up into the tree-line now....




Great views out there




Sheep, doing what sheep do.....



Red colored mountains



Overall elevation plot






I've taken some time and created a Dual-Sport map along with tracks, way-points, photos and some mileage.
Click on the below image to see the actual DualSportMap, along with way-points and some pictures. This is also a downloadable GPX file from Dualsportmap.




Of Special note: I found that I was continually flogging the little WR250R at wide open throttle to keep 70mph. Seems I may need to get this bike bored out......

Information about the bike and gear:

2010 WR250R
Lynx Fairing with dual HID lights (I configured the wiring so the low beam will stay ON when the Hi beam is also switched on. This gives more light, than just having the Hi beam by itself, as designed by the factory wiring.
Stock tires
13T front factory sprockets
48T rear sprocket
112Link X-Ring chain
Wolfman tank bad, side bags, luggage racks
Giant Loop (I really like this bag, it hangs on tight through all types of terrain)
Walmart dry-bags for my larger gear...
Jet-Boil, some dried food.
3-liters of water on my back, and two more liters in my side bags
1-liter of extra oil
1-liter of anti-freeze
Tools in the little white carrier attached to the skid plate
Tools in the red Welding-tube attached near the rear tire
1-gal extra fuel in a Rotopax side carrier
3-Gal IMS fuel tank
HDB handlebar top-mount with two BMW style accessory plugs (1 for the Droid and 1 for the Garmin GPS)



enjoy.....

Awesome.

I can not believe you packed an electric guitar.....


If I had access to riding like that I'd for sure have one of the larger IMS gas tanks.

More pics please.

Ditto on the electric guitar comment. I'm impressed. Of course, I don't know how different it is when I load up with flyrod cases, waders, boots, etc.

Interesting you're using your GL with the bags as well. I also like my GL, but I've been thinking about some wolfman side bags and the rest in a dry bag in the back. Never thought about both together.

Speaking of your use of the Droid device, you might want to check out Crafty's latest project for that over at ADV. Worth a look.

So without downloading your track, you were gone for about three days and a bit?

Thanks for the report and the pics! Next time you've got her all loaded up for heading out, walk around and take lots of pics before you spark her up and head out.

Glad you all like the route.

I'll dig up some more pics. The Electric guitar is really a great little guitar that is solid and packable.

I do have more pics of the bike before I left for the trip; I'll get em posted up.

Indeed, I do have the DualSportMaps Android app. I paid the $20 for the app, but didn't actually use it on this trip. During the RMAR event next weekend, I'll use the DualSportMaps on the Droid and see how it works out.

I was actually gone 2.5 days. I had "planned" to be gone Thursday night through Sunday. But, since it rained a lot on Saturday, I decided to just push it and ride home. I ended up putting down 210 miles on Saturday to get home to a more comfortable bed.

I've taken quite a few notes on what works and what doesn't. So, I'll be compiling a list of what I think should be taken and what I really didn't use; at least for my own personal use......

SteveO wrote:

I've been meaning to get out and really see what my little WR250R could do on the slab as well as the dirt roads with a load on it. This past weekend I had the chance to plan a route through some scenic Colorado forest.

I left Thursday after work, hitting the road about 6pm. Kinda late to get onto the road, but being that its summer, I figured I still had a few hours of daylight and could make some good time with those few hours.

For this trip, I decided to try out some GPS software using the Droid-X.[URL="https://market.android.com/details?id=menion.android.locus.pro&feature=search_result"] Locus Pro[/URL] for the Android is a very nice map utility that really does work well. I'm not trying to sell this app, but rather just letting you know this app works very well. I downloaded my map overlay that I needed, then created the track that I wanted and imported it into the app. [URL="http://www.dualsportmaps.com/?link=100242"]DualSportMaps also has an Android GPS mapping[/URL] software, but I didn't use it on this adventure. Probably next time. Along with the Droid, I plugged in my Garmin Oregon. I found that I actually used the Droid more....much nicer interface and more usable. Oh yeah, the [URL="http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Zj2jdUQqunlC5FOll2ktaYtWsoTFDnkz"]SPOT tracker (click to see some of my route)[/URL] is just a little peace of mind when out in the boonies. It sends updates every 10 minutes and if I desire, I can use the phone to send text messages to my family. Pretty nifty little device.





During the first few hours, I was privy to a scenic Northern NM sunset.


As I continued on, I had to rely on my HID lights, to safely navigate to the first camping site. This was the first time I had to really rely on the Lynx fairing's high-beam light. I noted that when switched on, I couldn't tell it was actually on until about 15 seconds later, after it warmed up. Then, it was like a super spot-light! Very cool to have a nice bright light in a dark forest.

I was able to find a nice place to thrown down the tent and put in for the night. This picture taken the next day shows a pretty nice place.




As I pushed on I got to see more of Colorado's Rio Grande National Forest. This really is a beautiful place to visit. Granted "most" of this route is gravel roads that can sometimes be unnerving. I often felt like I was riding on loose marbles, especially as I went around corners. Fortunately I took it easy and didn't drop the bike.

A view after riding up from Alamosa canyon. I wish I had the HD camera mounted and on, it was a pretty cool ride out of the canyon onto the summit.







My second camp spot, nestled in the Aspen trees. This was a really nice spot:




Showing the colors:




Playing some chops on my Traveler speedster. Great little guitar. I have it plugged into a Boss Micro 4-track recorder and some iPod speakers. Nice light setup for the bike.




Ready to roll again




Getting up into the tree-line now....




Great views out there




Sheep, doing what sheep do.....



Red colored mountains



Overall elevation plot






I've taken some time and created a Dual-Sport map along with tracks, way-points, photos and some mileage.
Click on the below image to see the actual DualSportMap, along with way-points and some pictures. This is also a downloadable GPX file from Dualsportmap.




Of Special note: I found that I was continually flogging the little WR250R at wide open throttle to keep 70mph. Seems I may need to get this bike bored out......

Information about the bike and gear:

2010 WR250R
Lynx Fairing with dual HID lights (I configured the wiring so the low beam will stay ON when the Hi beam is also switched on. This gives more light, than just having the Hi beam by itself, as designed by the factory wiring.
Stock tires
13T front factory sprockets
48T rear sprocket
112Link X-Ring chain
Wolfman tank bad, side bags, luggage racks
Giant Loop (I really like this bag, it hangs on tight through all types of terrain)
Walmart dry-bags for my larger gear...
Jet-Boil, some dried food.
3-liters of water on my back, and two more liters in my side bags
1-liter of extra oil
1-liter of anti-freeze
Tools in the little white carrier attached to the skid plate
Tools in the red Welding-tube attached near the rear tire
1-gal extra fuel in a Rotopax side carrier
3-Gal IMS fuel tank
HDB handlebar top-mount with two BMW style accessory plugs (1 for the Droid and 1 for the Garmin GPS)



enjoy.....

Very cool, you were in my back yard next time look me up I can show you around. But you will have to lose some of your gear for a day we would shake it off on the trails. I have grown up in those MtNs.

slvdirtrider wrote:

Very cool, you were in my back yard next time look me up I can show you around. But you will have to lose some of your gear for a day we would shake it off on the trails. I have grown up in those MtNs.

Great ! You're hired ! We need a guide for a TBD date trip maybe next year.

Our 40 acres is just N of St. Johns, AZ so we want to do a psuedo 4-corners, loop to include some of Moab and down into NM.

Great RR SteveO. Reminds me of a mtn bike trip I took with a guitar.

X Racer. If you're down that way you should drop thru Jacob Lake to the North Rim. The ride from four corners to Jacob Lake is brilliant and the ride from Jacob Lake to the canyon is brilliant too. All slab of course.

gatorfan: Do you have a map ? ...or a county road number ? I don't mind riding the slab. Especially if I can ride it at 35 MPH and enjoy the scenery.

We bought a SxS (Rhino) for the ranch out there by the 40 acres and we're going on a little SxS adventure with a bunch of folks on a SxS forum to a place called the Az Strip. It's also a popular Adv Rider place at the Bar 10 Ranch. The ride starts out of Mesquite and we are staying at the ranch for a week. Should be fun. It's something different anyways... ~ shrug ~ http://www.Bar10.com is the ranch's site.

Here's the thread. http://www.utvunderground.com/f7/grand-canyon-arizona-strip-2012-a-6941.html

SteveO: Bitchen instrument panel. Curious as to the tie-wrapped gizmo on the left side. Auto-pilot CPU ? Ha...

Do you have your GPS for your trip ? Can we get it ?

X-Racer wrote:

Curious as to the tie-wrapped gizmo on the left side. Auto-pilot CPU ? Ha...

Looks like a SPOT Connect.

X-Racer: Any good road map of Utah and Arizona will do. There is only one road straight South from Jacob Lake to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon - it's hwy 67. (There is actually a side road as you approach the the North Rim - all twisties, it even has a warning sign - but it brings you to the same destination which is the welcome center).

You have to come back out hwy 67 to Jacob Lake unless you plan to jump the Grand Canyon like Evil Knievel (God rest his soul).

From Jacob Lake due east is the spell binding hwy 89ALT thru the Vermillian Cliffs and Marble Canyon. Grab 89 towards Page and Lake Powell.

98 East to 160 East is beautiful and very remote. At Kayenta you MUST go North on 163 (get gas and water in Kayenta) thru Monument Valley and make sure the batteries in your camera are working. Gorgeous!!

Some guys don't like the desert landscape which is the bulk of this ride. I think it's beautiful. hwy 67 is actually tree lined as it moves thru the Kaibab forest. Unique and beautiful.

If you go thru Jacob Lake hit the bakery in that little rest stop. Famous, and for good reason.

If you're going thru Moab than of course you have to hit the world class Arches National Park. Bryce Canyon is world class too - especially the ampitheater. But Bryce way West towards Zion which is Gods country.

Check the distances here if you're serious about this area. Gas and comfort will be factors for the WR.

Hollar if I can help.