K.I.S.S. Adventure

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K.I.S.S. Adventure - Part 8

Tuesday, 01 July 2008 00:00

How to find a roadhouse

We've been lucky to find some cool places to stay on the road. A lot of times you start to run late into the evening and you end up grabbing the first Super 8 you can find.

Nothing wrong with that but after a couple of times it feels very generic.

So we usually cruise once through a town and then go a block off of the main drag.

In Frisco we hit pay dirt with The Woods Inn. What a great place.

Lots of little touches. The rooms have character that a Motel 6 could never touch.

Very friendly staff.

Les helps run the Woods Inn. He's a vet from the first Gulf War. We were laughing over the fact that the Beemer has GPS on it. He was in charge of one of only three GPS units in the war. Now everyone has one.

Plus the blueberry pancakes the next morning were to die for.

Another day another pass

We head south of Frisco to take Independence Pass over to Aspen.

What a gorgeous day. Blue skies with just a smattering of clouds.

RNR and Ohno stopped here last year so RNR could have the highest altitude swim. This year the water was much higher but it was still just as cold. Sas couldn't believe that RNR ever stuck more than his toes in the river.

The views from the pull offs on the way up are amazing.

We finally hit the top. Of course you have to take a photo with you and the sign. Not every day you get to 12,000 feet.

Thin air has it's dangers. While switching lens Sas bobbles one of Ohno's prized lens for a couple of seconds. She eventually grabs it tight. Then says, "That was scarier than any of the cliffs we have been on."

Nothing like having a mountain as a backdrop.

If you are wondering what a hairpin looks like here ya go.

Mountain flowers we out but the locals tell us that they are not in full bloom yet.

Snow curl on top of the mountain.

We stopped in Aspen for a quick bite at Hotel Jerome.

Both of us couldn't wait to get out of town and back on the road. We debated between heading straight for Ouray or doing the Black Canyon loop.

So we ended up going to ....

Off to the black hole of Colorado

Of course we decided to see it all and head for the Black Canyon.

RNR and Ohno did the same road last year but blasted past the Hays Falls Creek waterfall on Highway 133.

The torrent of water flows of off the mountain. The mist makes stepping next to the falls a cool spot from the heat.

Exposed roots from the surrounding cliffs make for good climbing.

And across the road is a cool bend of the Crystal River.

Ohno takes in the view.

Aspens atop the ridge, Ohno on the road, river down below, waayyy below.

We found a great viewing spot on the north side of the canyon called Pioneer Point. It overlooks the Curecanti Needle. Sas looks straight down. The drop is over 1,000 feet.

Sas's cliff therapy seems to be working. Although Ohno thinks she just likes to scare him. She is sitting directly over a 1,000 foot drop.

Very hard to show the scope and size of the canyon. Here is a wide angle shot. Just below center is a section of rapids. Can you spot the kayaker?

Here let us give you a little bit of help.

Rock formations vary from one side of the canyon to the next.

Vultures would pop out of the canyon right in front of us riding the thermals. They were an eerie reminder of what might happen if you got too close to the edge.

But there was no way that Ohno or Sas were going to get that close to the edge.

The sun was getting low in the sky. Ouray was over 70 miles away. Montrose was closer but there was no way Ohno was going to stay in Montrose again.

Where oh where will they end up?

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