Day 11; CDT 8: Salida, CO to Chama, NM

We started the day trying to figure out how we would fix Ed;s bike knowing that the local Yamaha shop was closed. We found a local Machine Shop who's shop manager was willing to drop what he was doing and make a nut for us. He said he could make it within an hour, but admitted that cutting metric threads on a lathe is tricky and the finished nut may not work. While he was working on the nut, Dennis and I went to several hardware and auto parts stores in search of a suitable nut. In the mean time, Lance and Bill stopped at a motorcycle repair shop and found a replacement nut on a scrap engine at the shop.

We went back to the Machine Shop, gave the manager $30 for his time, and installed the used nut in their parking lot. We left Salida at 10 AM and followed the Great Divide Trail south with hopes of meeting Dennis in Chama, NM later that afternoon.

The ride out of Salida was nice, with lots of dirt road, 60 degree weather, and little bits of sprinkles here and there. We crossed two mountain passes above 10,000 feet in the morning and three in the afternoon. Weather near the passes was cool and wet. At each of the passes, we were either in a storm or hitting the trailing edge of a storm that had just passsed.

After 150 miles, we had a quick lunch in Del Norte, CO at Subway and filled up with fuel. From there we headed to our third mountain pass crossing of the day. For the next 50 miles, we rode though steady rain in 50 degree weather as we navigated past the next two mountain pass crossings. My rain gear worked pretty well and only my feet and hands were wet, but not particularly cold. Lance and Bill had a tough time as they were both wet and cold for the remainder of the day.

Between Del Norte and Chama, the terrain reminded me of Northern CO where pine trees and Aspen border lush green meadows and large clear river run swift and full.

As we came near to Chama, we saw the narrow gauge train tracks that Chama is famous for. They run several coal fired steam engine driven trains on narrow gauge track that snakes though the region. http://cumbrestoltec.com/

We rode 250 miles, hit a peak elevation of nearly 11,000 feet, and arrived in camp at 6:30 PM.

Here are some pictures from the day.