Tommy Neumann's Most Worthy Universe: The Ouray III Experience Tour Part 3, Clouds and Armstrong Wannabes

Clouds:

From Wikipedia:
“A cloud is a visible mass of droplets or frozen crystals floating in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body. A cloud is also a visible mass attracted by gravity (clouds can also occur as masses of material in interstellar space, where they are called interstellar clouds and nebulae.)”

Ok so that meaning isn't what I see when I look up and see clouds. I see shapes, mythical creatures, condo's for Angels, and even sometimes the weather. In my mind the greatest clouds anywhere are in New Mexico. Second to NM is Southern Colorado. I am not talking about the feathery kind, but the cotton ball pasted on a blue sky that takes your breath kind. Nothing like seeing a summer storm come together in the San Juan Mountains.

Today we still have the jeeps and are planning on taking them out the other direction up to Yankee Basin and maybe even Telluride if we have the time. It is Sunday and the traffic is light but there is a rumor that we will see about 1600 bicycle riders in the part later today.

We will see some weather today. The story is in the clouds. They seem to just need some Bach, or maybe Guns and Roses piped in to make the mood seem even more dramatic. Unfortunately Monty the Tyrannical Jeep Driver refuses to allow music in his Jeep. In the name of team unity I don't turn the Ipod on. I do start humming as a form of protest though he doesn't seem to notice.

The peaks to the East are clear for the moment

This area looks like it is straight out of a Coors Commercial.

From the Rockies to your Fridge....Code Blue. I marvel as I look about as to how effective Marketing can be on the consumer. I mean I should be thinking of Ansel Adams, John Muir, even Heidi Klum(hey, its my blog), but instead I am thinking of that old dude named Coors.

Nothing is more annoying to a 4x4 Driver then to think you have managed to man handle your vehicle in places where no sane man has gone before. Worse we are all off road motorcyclists who just stare when we come upon this guy at the END of the trail. At least it wasn't a Prius or I would know it is the work of the Devil

You know if I didn't know better I would tell you that the clouds coming in from the other side of the valley look a lot like snow. It is June though so I know that it is just probably some rain.

I should have paid more attention in Meteorology class.

No fear, we are in a Jeep!!

This is why I am an Armed Socialist. You never know when you will come upon yokels who only see things in Black and White, riding around in Yellow Jeeps. Using diminutive linguistic communication techniques, I convince him that I am harmless and not a threat to his world. He moves along none the wiser. They really are quite harmless if you keep a safe separation distance and never get in between them and an AM radio.

This ladder on the wall caught my eye. Amazing the extremes that people go to in the name of prospecting.

There is so much beauty in Colorado. The views around every corner holds wonderful sights. I have to spend more time here next summer exploring the area. Monty speaks of a winter expedition to the region. This may be a great place to explore around Christmas.

Wow a glacier!

The smallest things have beauty as well

This seems to capture the cycle of life to me. The forest never stops.

Ok this road has some interesting topography to get through. Monty does a wondrous job getting us back down with only minimul loss of life

We do have the occasional guest on the road to look out for as we get closer into town.

We get to the main road and have to wait as about 30 bicyclists come down the hill having just ridden from Durango.

They took over the local park with their tents.

Now I am a big guy. I can get along with almost anyone but for some reason bike riders always have this peleton mentality and refuse to converse with those who are not part of the race. I have noticed this several times but as we go to the restaurant they are not the most friendliest people. Oh well their loss.

It was right about here that I became convinced that Bullet fit in with our merry band of Loonies

The next morning comes to quickly and as usual I am the first one up and make a dash out of Ouray before first light. I get to Telluride as the sun is rising over the hills. I take a few pictures including this one of a herd of Elk near Mt Wilson. It is cold, I get snowed on, and yet as I pull into Cortez an hour later it is already 75 degrees. Before I pull into the garage at home this afternoon, I will see 114 degrees making this the biggest temperature change I will experience on the motorcycle to date.