Sunday Ride to Tarryall

The Sunday riding group was seven motorcycles and eight riders: Karla, Del and Corrie, Steve, Dorothy, Ziggy, Paul and I met at the usual meet spot. We didn’t have a destination in mind so we threw some ideas around. Steve closed the deal when he suggested Tarryall. No one in the group had ridden it (except for Steve), so we all quickly agreed on the destination and mounted up.

To get to Tarryall required going up Highway 24 to Woodland Park then to Lake George. It’s a favorite ride to do since it’s getting up into the mountains and the drive is not only fun, it’s beautiful! Once we were up past Lake George, we cut off on County Road 77 and then up to Tarryall. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful! Imagine being on the plains with the snow-capped mountains all around!

Scavenger Hunt Item: National Forest Sign

We stopped for a break and while everyone was chatting, Paul stated we passed a dude ranch sign on the road we were on. Dude ranch, you say?? That’s on the scavenger hunt list! We tell the others we are running down for a photo op, crank the motorcycles ride down. What a find!! We all know that Paul has a useful use other than running sweep with his Mohawk helmet!!

Dude Ranch, ya say??

Paul "Sweetcheeks" Mohawk

After getting back to the group, we head out and ride up until we get to Hwy 285. Steve heads south and the rest of the group plans on going north, so we bid him thanks, goodbye, and part ways.

We come out south of Conifer so we decided to stop and take our lunch break at the Plantation Inn. It was a nice lunch and we had a great time visiting and teasing the waitress. Of course, couldn’t resist that humongo chunk of bread pudding that I saw in the dessert cart. Thank goodness those calories don’t count in high altitude!!!

Heading out after lunch, we had additional chances for scavenger hunt items—this time I’m mum on what we found because it’s a toughie on the list…but we also did manage the river and a log cabin. Go hunters!

Scavenger Hunt Item: River

We cut back at Hwy 67 (I think it’s Hwy 67) through Pine and then back to Woodland Park. It was going to be a fun ride—off the side of the mountain and full of twisties!!

We had a bit of trouble when Ziggy laid his motorcycle down in the curves. We weren’t going fast—I was leading and it was an unfamiliar road. We also had a trike in our pack so extra caution was the rule for the moment. I can’t say what happened, but fortunately, the only damage was a bit of road rash on one leg and on the engine guard. Mr. Ziggy was quite dirty since he went down on the dirt rather than pavement. I’m sure he’s quite sore at the moment, but it could have been much worse.

Getting him settled and cleaned up, he made the decision to ride his motorcycle back down. His Beemer fired right up and down we went. I give him a lot of respect for getting back on and riding down. I’m guessing that Ziggy is in his mid 70’s and to get back on after a scary incident and ride down earned this rider’s respect. We rode him down at the pace that he was comfortable with and got him down off the mountain.

Another sad statement was the miles of acreage that was burned from the forest fires. The fire was devastating to the area. If I’m not mistaken the fire was the Hayman Fire in 2002 in which 138,000 acres burned for three weeks. The scarring of the land is evident even today. It was quite sobering to realize that one person was responsible for the damage of this magnitude.

The ride on Sunday was one to enjoy the fellowship my friends but I know I was reminded how fragile we are and how quickly things can change in a blink of an eye.

Keep the Shiny Side Up

~The Rainbow Wahine