Day Two - Rocks, Ophir Pass, Ouray, HAIL

Well, we started out with big ambitions today. We were to depart our campsite in Telluride by 8am to tackle the high mountain passes of Colorado. However, due to TWO front fork issues (two different bikes) we ended up being about 9am starting. The ride started out great, hitting scenic dirt roads early on. There was a beautiful Rocky Mtn stream flowing out of a beautiful green valley that was like riding in a dream. Then we went through the cute little town of Ophir which was a really cool community located high in the Rockies behind Telluride. From there, things got real.
Ophir Pass - correctly pronounced O-fur - but we dubbed it O'Fear Pass... is an 11,786' high pass that is nothing but a HUGE rock garden. Pretty sure that's why they call it the Rockies. That rocky pass tested our riding skills with loaded down adventure touring bikes.  But, we all successfully cleaned the pass without any issues whatsoever. The backside of Ophir, roughly headed down toward the Silverton area, was pretty smooth sailing with very scenic views.
Once down we hit Hwy 550 known as the Million Dollar hwy and enjoyed a smoothed paved ride, but only briefly until we soon turned onto dirt again.  This short piece of dirt road took us through some old abandoned mine areas that were cool to explore.
Once back on the pavement we decided to ride into the cool mountain town of Ouray that was only 8 miles away. Several of us needed gas anyway. On the way in to town we noticed a bunch of storm clouds forming high above us near the next set of passes we were to tackle today. The storms out here in the big mountains can form quickly and can be very dangerous. It's recommended when crossing over/through these high passes that you do it early in the day to avoid the storms. Well, it was already after 11am as we headed into town and the decision was made that we call it quits for the day and hang out in town and check out some of the local goods and try again early tomorrow morning. Being in Ouray has us right at the foot of Corkscrew Pass, California Pass and Cinnamon Pass...three of the highest passes we will encounter (up to 13,000' actually).  This sets us up well for an early attempt on these passes tomorrow morning, weather allowing.  Wish us well and stay tuned for "the rest of the story" at a later date.