Day 38. Salida, Colorado.
Another off-road adventure. After a quick stop at McDonald's for breakfast (the first of the trip), we headed down the scenic Route 68 to Cripple Creek. We then had a choice. Either 18 miles back the way we came or carry on down a dotted road on the map. Unfortunately we didn't have the key so didn't know what the dots meant. However, we decided to give it a go anyway.

Turns out the dots indicate a gravel track. The track went on for 25 miles, dropping 4,000 ft through the Phantom Canyon. At a maximum speed of 15mph, it took over 2 hrs to complete. But, the scenery was spectacular. Could have been straight out of a Western. We were expecting a cowboy on a horse to come around the corner any minute, chased by some Red Indians!

Nevertheless it was a relief when we finally hit tarmac again.

We could see lightning in the distance so quickly found somewhere to stop for lunch and re-oil the bike chains (which were now covered in dust).

After lunch we made a quick detour to Royal Gorge to see the suspension bridge, then continued along Route 50 to Salida. Another great motorcycle road through the mountains.

We only did 145 miles today, but it took all day.

We've now done over 4,500 miles (slightly more than in our schedule!), which makes this our longest trip ever.