Elephant Ride, from Grant, Colorado, to the top of Guenella Pass.  First or second weekend in February, 2006.

This report was originated on KLR650.net, and is imported here with minor editing for structure (due to the import process).  Typos, etc., have mostly been left as they are, fixed only for clarity in some cases.  The authors have been identified by their user names on that website.  Martin is the report writer.

Also, the photos hosted on the original site have been lost, so I edited the report to remove references to them.  Yeah, the report loses a lot, but it couldn't be avoided.

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The turnout wasn't as large as last year. The campground wasn't as crowded, but was still mostly full. A group of Rokon riders showed up (I had never seen the 2-wheel drive bikes before) and did a lot of riding on the frozen lake, but night photos weren't coming out well. When madmen arrived on a suspicious (stolen??--just kidding) 3-wheel ice cream truck, it was a hoot.

Jud wasn't there, so we told many lies about him. There were so many Jud lies, that some of them may have been accidentally true!

Both restaurants in Grant were closed, so we were on our own. Fortunately, all was well, and food was provided. Breakfast, too. The hashish pancakes really hit the spot. Ok, kidding again (I think...).

The evening was cold, and the wind was bitter. The campfire helped, as did the camaraderie, the alcohol, and the dirty jokes.

The morning was not as organized as last year, and there was a very long time of no one heading up. Buzzard, Bob, and I started up and were among the first few to do so.

The lower road was just as last year; well traveled, mostly dry, but with patches of hard pack snow and ice.

After the meadows crossing, the climb began in earnest. Surprise! No huge ice patch where it had been lurking last year. For whatever reason, the road was mostly dry clear. That was nice, but in all honesty, I had hoped to encounter the ice patch again to see if I could manage it better this time (It got me twice last year).

The upper road was also heavily traveled, and the snow drifts had been plowed through, so no pushing was required. I did have two falls. The first was due to being an idiot, and the second was purely due to inattention (I was on the icy spot before I saw it and got caught shifting... *wham* ) Broke a mirror, but I had already salvaged and repaired that one last year, so it was no real loss.

There was more pavement than last year, and it is evident that more will be done. It will all be paved soon.

At the top, the road was clear. There were only a few bikes in the parking lot, and a couple of bikes that passes us must have continued on into Georgetown. We hung out for a couple of hours while more and more riders arrived. Eventually, there was quite a group, including several Ural sidecar rigs, a few other usual sidecar bikes, and at least a dozen KLRs.

The wind was very uncomfortable. We headed back down and made it without mishap. We passed the Rokons still grunting their way up.

Buzzard's bike was sporting his modified tire chain, which limited his speed on the pavement. I'll leave it to him to post his experiences about the bike's handling in snow.

Off the top of the pass--out of the wind--the day was gorgeous. Back at the campground for packing up, it was warm and sunny.

Most bikes made it tp the parking lot at the top.  There was phptp evidence at one time, but it's lost now.

See you all there next year!