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I left the Park in a much better frame of mind than I had the day before. I vowed to return again, but I needed to get  started back to Cripple Creek, and the urge to ride was strong. I made the drive to Durango without incident, though it was warm and I was hungry by the time I found a Wendy’s Burger.
While I am riding, I generally look for other bikers, I guess most of us do that.. either to ride along with for a while, or just to see what they are riding or ?????. As luck would have it, I saw a group of bikes pulling out from a gas station near where I was filling up after eating lunch. I must confess, I hurried a bit so I could catch them. As  luck would have it, they were casually cruising along, and didn’t mind the Valk following the tail guy on his Gold Wing. We rode from Durango towards Silverton - Montrose. This is a beautiful ride! In fact, it is probably the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen on a bike. Anyway, the bikers pulled off at Coal Bank Pass to rest for a few minutes, and we had a chance to talk . They admired the aging Valk (99), and I admired their bikes. We then headed on towards Silverton, CO. And as they turned into town, I waved and went on up the road. I knew I had a lot of miles to make to get back to Penrose, CO, which is just outside of Canon City.
As I stated before, this ride was fantastic.  The mountains tower above you, and snow often was visible in the crevices. The Valk performed flawlessly, though I must admit, the altitude did take a some of its punch away, even so, it always had more than enough to spare.
As you near Montrose, the roads actually flatten out a bit and you just ride along. I guess I was too busy doing just that, but I managed to snap a few pictures. And, if you notice the time stamp on a couple of them, it was getting late. I wasn’t against spending the nite somewhere along the way, but, I really wanted to get back to checkout the events in Cripple Creek. It was getting fairly chilly as I crossed Monarch Pass near Gunnsion. I have actually been over this pass in February (in a pickup).. at nite! Did I mention I was pulling a trailer at the time? It was a much more fun this time, and I made it to Salida as it was getting near dusk. My ride from there on to my friends house was uneventful, and in fact, I had come a full circle. I snapped one last picture of the Valk after I wiped her down and backed it in the barn beside his old Harley. Read more.....
 
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