Road Trip #5 - Day 6 Riding Wolf Creek Pass and The Silver Thread

August 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

We enjoyed our stay at the Tomahawk Motel in Cortez, CO. Riding the Mesa and the San Juan Skyway was a blast, but today it was time to ride on. More and heavier rains are due into the southwest corner of the state and a huge bicycle race is rolling north. The cyclists left Gunnison yesterday so we decided to head that way today.

First stop was for breakfast at the Denny's Classic Diner. The diner had great decor inside and out and our breakfast was good. Plus, we needed coffee!

We chose to ride Hwy 160 east to Pagosa Springs, back-tracking on part of the route we rode a few days ago, staying well south of the huge bicycle race. Clouds were already building over the entire horizon to the north and the south. We rolled into Pagosa Springs and gassed up as usual at the Shell station on the west end of town. I purchased a large coffee to fill the thermos. We always meet someone here.

Today, we met a couple of Harley fly-and-ride guys from North Carolina and Florida. They were on rides supplied by High Country Harley-Davidson, a dealership in our neck of the woods. They pulled out a map and we shared some of our thoughts on roads to ride and since they were headed mostly in the same direction as we were, we told them about the pass ahead and recommended the ride north on Hwy 149 (The Silver Thread). We also told them not to miss North Clear Creek Falls along the way and suggested Southern Vittles as a great place to eat in Lake City.

They rolled out before us. We lingered over a cup of coffee. Our route would take us over Wolf Creek Pass for the second time this week. Darn it! Just kidding, traveling over the pass again was not a problem or a lack of planning. As a matter of fact, it has happened before. Ha! From the look of the skies, we were going to get wet up on the pass. That prediction came true near the summit (elevation 10,857) where we had thunder as we pulled on jackets and moisture a short time later, about the time we rolled through the tunnel not too far from the summit.

The next part of the day's ride would be along scenic Hwy 149 out of South Fork. This road is known as The Silver Thread and was named for the rich mining history of the area. The Silver Thread travels through historic Creede, CO, past the head waters of the Rio Grande and North Clear Creek Falls.

Just past Creede, we ran into rain that required a stop to pull on rain gear. Riding on, we met up with Dave and Rick again at North Clear Creek Falls. We were glad to see they stopped as the Falls (with about a 100 foot drop) is quite spectacular despite the look of the surrounding terrain which is mostly pastureland.

Conversation turned to what lay ahead on Hwy 149 and food. Rick and Dave suggested we ride to eat at Southern Vittles in Lake City. We followed them (so as not to inhibit their view) as Hwy 149 wound its way over the Continental Divide, Spring Creek Pass CO (10,901 elevation) and Slumgullion Pass (11,350 elevation) skirting the La Garita Wilderness before arriving in lovely little Lake City.

Southern Vittles did not disappoint. Tim and I had our customary catfish and okra and shared a slice of apple pie. Rick and Dave had chicken fried steak. We had a great time visiting with them and sharing ride stories. We especially liked hearing their stories as they have been riding for a long time and much farther than we have yet. We want to say thank you guys for treating us to lunch just in case they check in with us here on the blog (I will have the video of your ride put together soon.). A local florist stopped in the middle of the road to take a photo of the four of us. I promised to check in with her the next time we ride through. We swapped emails and left them to check in with work and family as we rode on. They had plans to head west to Montrose at the junction of Hwy 149 and Hwy 50 for the night. Our plan was to head east toward Gunnsion.

The road dried out between Lake City and Gunnison, but the air stayed cool and the skies remained troubled. We checked into the ABC Motel in Gunnison (old and dated, perhaps somewhat over-priced, but clean and quiet). After settling our belongings, we took a short stroll to find beer a couple of doors down, which we iced down immediately and took another stroll to find snacks at a grocery store a couple of blocks away.

Despite the weather, it was a great ride, we made a couple of new friends and enjoyed revisiting a couple of our favorite roads.

Slide show of today's ride (90 photos):

Today's mileage = 293 miles