Sooner State Valkyrie Riders

Highway 149N, The Silver Thread
By Gary Milburn

(Editors note. Gary, once a resident of Oklahoma is now residing in Colorado where he continues to antagonize us with his wonderful pics of beautiful southern Colorado)

Today’s ride was originally intended to be a Fall Colors ride. As you will see from the shots taken, I missed it.

My take off time was delayed since I had not yet made the adjustments to my handle bars to accommodate the new IS tank. Even with some pulling back, the wire clips still hit the tank on extreme turns. Yet I digress…

I took out about 9:30 with the temperature running in the upper 50’s. I had already donned some thermals in preparation for the anticipated colder temps as I climbed in elevation.

The new Creative Nomad MuVo Mp3 player was kickin as I headed west on highway 160 bound for South Fork.

All this time I was looking forward to a nice breakfast at the Blue Creek Café, about 8 miles north of South Fork on highway 149, in or around the Creede area. As I break thru the door about 10:45 the waitress tries to pull the old McDonalds one on me. She apologizes and tells me that they have just switched over to lunch. Ultimately, she could tell by the look in my eye’s that breakfast was required, so she managed to persuade the cook to do “one more". This is definitely a good place to stop, good food, decent service, and it overlooks the Rio Grande.

After a full stomach, I continue to head N in search of “the colors". Now I had taken this same route a couple months back and I didn’t seem to remember the scenic surroundings taking so long to break thru. The lack of colors didn’t completely register at that time; either that or I just wasn’t quite ready to accept the facts.

The scenic overlook spot that had caught my breath last trip had a whole different look to it. The distant mountains were now snow capped and the rolling green pastures and hillsides were now showing the fall tones.

The higher I climbed the more snow began to show along the western roadside. I came across North Clear Creek Falls, something I missed last run. I made a quick stop to get in a few shots and then continued north.

Eventually I came upon the Scenic Overlook for Lake San Cristobal. I took several shots there, a great place to stop although the ground and the decline was not the most secure for standing in many of the areas I used to take pictures. It wasn’t easy to leave, a very nice spot to take a break.

After winding down from the scenic overlook it brings you out at Lake City. There’s a nice little spot I found last time, just as you break into the city that makes for another good stop off for a few more shots. Looks like a good area to hike around a bit if you’re so inclined. One of these days I’ll remember to bring my collapsible fishing gear. The Rio Grande follows you for most of the trip to Lake City, switching from side to side, running beneath you whenever you’re not watching.

At Lake City I stopped at the visitor center, picked up a map of the area and took a water break. The Alpine Loop is supposed to be a nice run but as I was informed that it was on a non-paved road, I decided not to do that to Black Beauty today. Now had I been on Scott’s bike… that would have been another story.

Well, I had hit my destination point, topped off the tank and began the return trip home. I think I was at about 125 miles on my first new IS tank-full. Ordinarily I would probably have already hit reserve by this point, but with the new tank, I might have had at least another 15 or 20 miles to go… yep, sad but true.

For the return trip I decided to take a run along the lakeside of San Cristobal before heading back. Got in a few more shots. Very quiet and serene.

The trip back had a bit of wind kick in along the open ranges and wider spread valley areas but nothing bad enough to mess with the trip.

The music was thumpin and the twisties were holding up to their name. You did have to watch the road conditions since they included things such as surprise rocks, fallen from the mountain sides, gravel, and other debris which just made the trip that much more challenging.

The Silver Thread, the Highway 149 version, a recommended ride if you’re ever in the area, bringing you the scenic offerings of the Rio Grande, Gunnison and Rio Grande National Forests, and some good old fashioned twisties.

Photographs can be found here:

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