Day two revealed that we had a cool night. We awoke to a little ice on the bikes.
As I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee, the sun rose over the eastern ridge revealing a spectacular sight of steam coming off the pond with the rock formations in the background.
After riding away from camp, we found "The Gravel Pit", as it is called by the locals. It was a blast riding the bikes around the pit.
After riding for about an hour, on the loop that Duke had suggested, we arrived at the top of Aspen Ridge.
And here is where the trip got interesting. After resting and spending about 20 minutes on Aspen Ridge, I asked the boys to hike off the ridge with me to the West, about 100 yards to a group of rocks where we could sit and take in the Collegiate Range. After about 15 minutes, I caught a glimpse of a black object moving through the aspen trees, down and to our right. At first, I thought it was a big bull elk, but as it emerged...... it was obviously a very large Black Bear. Due to a tree concealing us, I sent the boys running up the hill to get Terry and Matt.
Terry's pic shows my proximity to the bear. I was only about 50 yards away.
The green line is the obscure, rough road that we traveled. The GPS spot is the location of our bikes. The red dot is the location where I was sitting. The yellow line is the traveling route of the bear. And the red line is my attempt to sneak up on the bear for a great photo. Unfortunately, once he entered the aspens, I didn't get a good photo.
Once we got back to camp, we packed up the bikes for the trip home. Notice how heavily loaded we are. My Suzuki VStrom got a new knick-name..... "Little Pepe", my pack mule!!!
Being low on gas and hungry, we rode in to Salida for fuel and a Hamburger.
On the ride home, I caught the boys on photo, giving each other a "fist bump"..... I suspect, in celebration for another successful Adventure Ride!
As I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee, the sun rose over the eastern ridge revealing a spectacular sight of steam coming off the pond with the rock formations in the background.
After riding away from camp, we found "The Gravel Pit", as it is called by the locals. It was a blast riding the bikes around the pit.
After riding for about an hour, on the loop that Duke had suggested, we arrived at the top of Aspen Ridge.
Being low on gas and hungry, we rode in to Salida for fuel and a Hamburger.
On the ride home, I caught the boys on photo, giving each other a "fist bump"..... I suspect, in celebration for another successful Adventure Ride!
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