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Greetings.

The route today is:
Utah hwy 191 south to Utah hwy 46 east into Colorado. Colorado hwy 90 to hwy 145 south to Telluride. Then it's hwy 145 to Cortez and 160 east to hwy 10 and Mesa Verde.

The day started out innocent enough. Some of the group went back to Arches for more sightseeing and others stayed at the hotel to catch up on chores. We left Moab around 10:30 under clear skies and thundered our way into Colorado. The roads were fun and it was interesting to go from high desert to forest land. Even though the desert is indeed green this time of year, the lushness of the forests was refreshing.

There's lots of water (ie...snow melt)) in the rivers along the roadways. Along the way we saw some elk crossing one of these rivers. Can't imagine how cold that must be. Glad I'm not an elk.

On the way up to Telluride it started to rain a bit. And get cold again. By the time we got to own there was plenty of snow on the ground. Telluride is at 8,000 feet or so so it wasn't exactly a surprise. We had been hoping to avoid the rain, however.

Lunch was fun at the Last Dollar Saloon. There was the usual kazoo distribution and training class. It's amazing how many people do not know how to play a kazoo. I also received a message from the duck, given to me verbally by the server at lunch. Apparently, the duck is cold. That's all she said.

After lunch it got really interesting. The plan was to head to Mesa Verde via the Lizard Head pass outside of Telluride. As we were gassing up in
Telluride the weather turned from not so good to bad. Rain and fog started to roll in quickly. We decided it best to get going and beat the worst of it across the pass. The pass, by the way, is above 10,000 feet.

The rain was intermittent as we started out. Then it stopped and we thought maybe we were home free. Several miles after we cleared the pass (and still up around 9,000 feet) the rain came back again. Then it turned to snow. Then sleet. Then hail. Let me repeat that. First it was rain. Then snow, sleet and hail. This weather was not in the brochure. The hail was small; less than 1/4 in diameter, but painful nonetheless. And it was cold. But we kept going. The hail stopped shortly after it started and we were faced with rain off and on for the next 50 miles until we got to Cortez.

As a side note, if the weather had gotten a little worse, we would have turned around and gone back to Telluride. Or parked the bikes and had the van to ferry us back. We may be silly sometimes but we're not crazy. Riding in the rain isn't all that bad as long as you take it easy, which we did. It's more uncomfortable than anything else. Did I mention it was cold? It was in the upper 30's - low 40's, depending on our elevation. The road would have been good fun on a bike, except for that rain thing. So we took it easy.

Once we made Cortez it cleared up and we rode over to Mesa Verde. Our lodge is about 15 miles inside the park from the front gate. I do not have any pictures of this road or the scenery as I was giving all of my attention to the road. I don't know exactly how high the mesa is but it appears to be at least 1,500 feet or more. The narrow road (one lane each way) up to the top is, to say the very least, nerve wracking. Many, many switchbacks and hairpin turns. No guardrails. If you go over the edge you will be falling till next week. Needless to say, I was paying close attention. After a while you develop a rhythm with the road and can anticipate the next curve. But you cannot get overconfident as the road changes the rhythm on occasion.

We all made it to the top, shivering in the cold but in one piece. Dinner at the lodge was excellent (I had elk) and the manager gave us a 10% discount.

Last but not least, I received a photo of the duck and what I believe to be are his captors. The photo appears to have been taken at Ruby's Inn back at Bryce Canyon. It doesn't matter hwoever as I've made my decision. In an effort to protect all future stuffed duck I've decided not to negotiate with these criminals. To negotiate would only send a signal to ever misfit in the world that it was OK to ducknap stuffed ducks and exact a ransom from
their owners. It would be chaos. And pretty soon it would not just be stuffed ducks but all stuffed animals. From there it would a short leap to team mascots. We wouldn't know where it would end. So, if I must sacrifice my duck in order to save the world, so be it. I hate to see my duck go and I still hold out hope that the ducknappers will come to their senses, but it ends here. I will not negotiate with terrorists.

The plan for tomorrow is to explore Mesa Verde and the Anasazi ruins for a few hours and then hit the road. We'll be going through Monument Valley,
which I am very much looking forward to. I've been there before but you can never see these impressive monoliths too often.

Be well
Bill

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