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On Saturday morning I hiked back up to the bikes to check on them and grab more water. Here's a sunrise shot of where we parked.
After hiking back down and grabbing a bite for breakfast, we got the poles out and caught a couple of smallmouth bass and northern pike. Fishing became pointless because of boat traffic and kids swimming with their dogs near that spot, so we reeled in the lines and went back to camp. As more ATV and watercraft operators came to life the lake and shoreline were buzzing with activity. It wasn't long before we got the map out to look down the road.
Loading up the tents and cleaning up the camp site didn't take long, but the hike back up the hill was another story. By now it was after noon and getting pretty hot out there so hiking up the rocky path was exhausting. He had his backpack, but I was carrying the expanded tank bag in one hand and a saddle bag liner in the other. To our delight, one of the side by sides came crawling up the hill and offered a ride to the top. This happened to be the owner of the dog that swam by us earlier ending the fishing in that spot. We gladly accepted his offer and it turned a dreaded hot hike into a quick (but bumpy) ride!
Still waffling about heading up to Durango, Colorado or going to another lake, we decided to head to nearby Dulce, NM and eat. Here are a couple of shots from Dulce.
Not much to this town. In fact, it seemed like something from a Steven King story. Maybe a virus wiped out the population and we were the only living souls in the place. Oh wait, that probably actually happened...
After gas and lunch, I grabbed a quick photo for the weely pic game and we headed toward Chama. We both agreed that riding was way more fun than camping, fishing, hiking or watching jet skis fly by on the lake.
Passing through Chama it was actually quite chilly. The scenery is gorgeuos along hwy 64 and hwy 85 in that area. We thoruoghly enjoyed riding through there. Our plan was to head to a privately owned campground near El Vado lake and spend the night. Saturday we'd fish the lake and nearby Chama river for rainbow trout. Well, another gravel road, this worse than the last. Getting to the campground was tricky, but we did it ok. Unfortunately the place was full, crowded in fact. Ugh! Back on the bikes to find a spot before dark.
As we rode in the dwindling sunlight we stopped in Tierra Amarilla to look at the map and agreed that heading home sounded like the best option. Albuquerque was about 2.5 hours away so we headed toward home. Still, really enjoying the ride and the fact that we can share the experience together.
HWY 85 follows along the Chama River (Rio Chama). Here's a shot of one of our stops along that road.
The light faded pretty quickly on us and the last stretch was in the dark. He followed me since the FJR has such a good headlight compared to the flashlight on the GS. Night riding didn't make him uncomfortable at all. We pulled into the garage a little after 10pm and were glad to be home.
Here's the route we took.
Labor Day ride 2020 by Roger, on Flickr
We won't soon forget this one.
After hiking back down and grabbing a bite for breakfast, we got the poles out and caught a couple of smallmouth bass and northern pike. Fishing became pointless because of boat traffic and kids swimming with their dogs near that spot, so we reeled in the lines and went back to camp. As more ATV and watercraft operators came to life the lake and shoreline were buzzing with activity. It wasn't long before we got the map out to look down the road.
Loading up the tents and cleaning up the camp site didn't take long, but the hike back up the hill was another story. By now it was after noon and getting pretty hot out there so hiking up the rocky path was exhausting. He had his backpack, but I was carrying the expanded tank bag in one hand and a saddle bag liner in the other. To our delight, one of the side by sides came crawling up the hill and offered a ride to the top. This happened to be the owner of the dog that swam by us earlier ending the fishing in that spot. We gladly accepted his offer and it turned a dreaded hot hike into a quick (but bumpy) ride!
Still waffling about heading up to Durango, Colorado or going to another lake, we decided to head to nearby Dulce, NM and eat. Here are a couple of shots from Dulce.
Not much to this town. In fact, it seemed like something from a Steven King story. Maybe a virus wiped out the population and we were the only living souls in the place. Oh wait, that probably actually happened...
After gas and lunch, I grabbed a quick photo for the weely pic game and we headed toward Chama. We both agreed that riding was way more fun than camping, fishing, hiking or watching jet skis fly by on the lake.
Passing through Chama it was actually quite chilly. The scenery is gorgeuos along hwy 64 and hwy 85 in that area. We thoruoghly enjoyed riding through there. Our plan was to head to a privately owned campground near El Vado lake and spend the night. Saturday we'd fish the lake and nearby Chama river for rainbow trout. Well, another gravel road, this worse than the last. Getting to the campground was tricky, but we did it ok. Unfortunately the place was full, crowded in fact. Ugh! Back on the bikes to find a spot before dark.
As we rode in the dwindling sunlight we stopped in Tierra Amarilla to look at the map and agreed that heading home sounded like the best option. Albuquerque was about 2.5 hours away so we headed toward home. Still, really enjoying the ride and the fact that we can share the experience together.
HWY 85 follows along the Chama River (Rio Chama). Here's a shot of one of our stops along that road.
The light faded pretty quickly on us and the last stretch was in the dark. He followed me since the FJR has such a good headlight compared to the flashlight on the GS. Night riding didn't make him uncomfortable at all. We pulled into the garage a little after 10pm and were glad to be home.
Here's the route we took.
Labor Day ride 2020 by Roger, on FlickrWe won't soon forget this one.
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