We woke up early and grabbed some breakfast in Ouray. We then set our sight on Imogene pass. The second highest drivable road in the lower 48 was definitely on the bucket list. The ride to the beginning of the trail was nice and tame.
The trail starts behind a small active mine and the terrain changed dramatically. The first 20 yards up the pass, my right side pannier hit a tree and flung me off the bike. Wreck #4. It was at a terrible angle and had to drop the clutch to get up out of the middle of the trail. About 200 yards later my dad laid his bike down.
It was also at a very awkward angle so I had to walk down the mountain to help get the bike back up. It was pretty much like that for the next 4 hours. It was brutal. We could barely get traction, the altitude was cutting the power of our bikes in half, we were loaded down and the trail was just about vertical. We were the only two (heavy) bikes on that trail.
We were almost to the top and I got stung in the face by a bee. It was pretty hard to try and stay positive. The last leg of the trail to the top was insane. We had to take a breather and soak in the views. 
We were one more attempt away from having to turn back. We finally made it and it was surreal.
A thunderstorm had rolled on and was right on top of us. We started the decent and it was as vertical as the ascent. About a mile down, my rear brake fluid got so hot it boiled over and I lost my rear brakes. Hands down one of the scariest moments of my life. I managed to get the bike to a stop on a switch back and had to basically ride down in first gear and feather my front brake. We were both beaten, scared and emotionally drained. It was the toughest day I’ve ever experienced. We made it into telluride and everything seemed like a blur. It took us 6 hours to get over the pass and countless tumbles. I think there was an obvious reason why we were the only two on bikes. We got a bite to eat and had to split our separate ways. I had to keep going on the trail and my dad had to head back to Denver. It was pretty emotional departure after what we went through and I genuinely don’t think I could’ve done it without him. I rolled into Dove Creek at 7pm and scored a hotel room. I head to Moab in the morning.
Side Note: I’m writing this in Utah and WiFi has become scarce. All the editing I do is done with my iPhone so I’m sorry for the delay. Hopefully I’ll get caught up here soon, along with all my videos.
Walker Benz ADV 