Black Canyon & Ouray (9/30/23 Sat)

When we last left our hero, he was camping on route to the Black Canyon. Today we reached Black Canyon, and it was not so black but very much a canyon. I visited the South side, a road winding along various overlooks. Yes I bought the sticker, that I have no idea where I'm finding room on the boxes now. It was a very pretty canyon and I stopped at nearly every view. The photos should be good, but will probably be more interesting once I put the best ones on the map.

Leaving the Canyon I had to stop every few minutes to take pictures of the fall folliage. I might be missing the NH peak, but I hit CO peak perfectly. The trees are amazingly bright yellow. And punctuate the stark mountains and evergreens nicely.

I found more water than I expected to see in the Rockies. The occational river was expected, but the large lakes I just didn't see coming. But had to take photos of them.

Once I started south toward Durango I sent a text to Nate asking if I could take his brother Josh out to dinner. Eventually we worked that out and I stopped at Josh's place in Silverton CO.

I thought the riding was scenic all over Gunnison County. But the stretch of highway from Montrose to Silverton, includes Ridgeway and Ouray and something called the Million Dollar Highway. It was very hard to ride through because I was stopped around every corner to photograph something. I'm sure some of those photos will be great but they always look crappy compared to what you see with the human eye. It rained on parts of the Million Dollar Highway, and it was still amazing to see.

Once in Silverton my last minute suprised host Josh and his wife couldn't have been nicer. We went out to dinner so that I could order Rocky Mountain Osters. Since you asked, they taste just like any other meat sliced up and fried. They're a bit tough, which I guess does actually beat the alternative. We enjoyed our nice meal at Handlebars Food & Saloon, a host spot in town on their last night of the season. Josh and wife know everyone in town so it's more like exiting a party or family get together. Silverton feels a lot like Dawson City. Small town with lots of colorful characters.

Josh and I made plans to do some local riding tomorow. It will be kind of nice to get the cases off the bike and lighten up for a day.

Also getting lots of ideas for where to go from Josh and other poeple I've met along my trip so far.

One wrench in the clockwork is the government strike. Apparently lots of National Parks will be shutdown starting tomorrow. The woman I heard this from said the last time this occurred Utah payed to keep their parks open. I sure hope they do the same so I can see Moab. Kind of unhinges my plans for the next few weeks that revolve around seeing many parks with my get in free pass. Nothing the government ever does is quick, so I doubt this will be resolved before my trip is over. Going to be some creative alternatives conjured up over the next few weeks. Luckly I continue to crowd source most of my ideas, so I don't need to know all the answers. I just need to listen.