Dolores, CO

We have friends who have a home on the Dolores River outside of the town of Dolores so we spent Monday traveling south through the mountains and then westward past Durango to spend a couple of days with them. The drive was really pretty as the aspens are really starting to change. One hillside looked as if a painter had taken his brush of gold paint and slashed it across the green pine hillside. The southern part of Colorado has not seen as much of a change as around Breckenridge, but the signs of change are obvious.

We arrived at our friends' home around 5 PM and had a lovely evening of wine, food and conversations. Tuesday dawned bright, sunny and warm so we climbed in their Jeep and drove up into the mountains. It was so pretty and peaceful. We had lunch at a small cafe in Rico. The afternoon was spent visiting and playing horseshoes, then we had dinner at the local brewery and pizza joint. When we got back to the house, the stars were beaconing to be watched. So we got out the binoculars and star charts and tried to find Orion, the north star and Mars. We were not very successful but enjoyed the endeavor.

Today, after a leisurely breakfast, we started toward our grandsons in Norman. We drove as far as Santa Rosa, New Mexico and pulled into a state park campground for the evening. Pam got real excited about seeing this spider -- is it a tarantula??

Lazy Day and Sunday

I would not let John set the alarm clock so we slept in until 7:30 AM! Late breakfast, washed the Jeep, went shopping at the outlet mall and then had lunch in Frisco. We got the bikes out and rode up to Breckenridge and strolled around town for most of the afternoon.

We invited two other couples to join us for dinner at the Mother Loaded Restaurant in Breckenridge. It was mother's-home-cooking, good beer and great company!

I don't know why, but we are tired after this gloriously relaxing day.

Mad Irishman

We're watching MU get beat by OU! Might as well blog.

Today was an easy day off-roading as there were only 4 Jeeps going out and we are tired and ready for something different to do.

We drove on paved roads to Montezuma (we think this must be a haven for old hippies) then the road to the right to get on Deer Creek which led to Mad Irishman and the tops of Teller Mountain and Glacier Mountain. Pretty easy drive with a few challenges thrown in but it is really neat to be driving on the tops of these mountains. We guess we're at about 12,000 feet elevation. We think we saw an eagle on the ground but it was hard to tell since he didn't have the white head yet. The views on top are so awesome. It's hard to capture the feeling of grandeur and our insignificance.

We were back at the RV by noon so after lunch we joined another couple and rode our bikes into Frisco and part way around Dillon Reservoir. John and I stayed in town to shop and have a coffee before heading back up the hill. It wasn't too bad a ride but I struggled with the hills and had to walk some. We rode about 17 miles.

I got our laundry done while fixing supper and now the disappointing football game. Nice evening!

Mt. Bross

We drove to Alma to start our adventure and found what we thought was the right road but it was closed for repair work. Fortunately our leader knew the name of one of the construction crew and that got us through even though it will be closed all day.

Paris Mill, which the Forest Service is trying to restore,was neat to see but we couldn't go inside due to toxic chemical residue. So as we were walking around the building I looked up on the mountainside that was looming over us and spotted some buildings high up on its seemingly sheer face. This one of the many old mines that fed into this mill. It is amazing how anyone could ever build something that high up or on that steep a slope!

We traveled up Dolly Varden Road and came to a small lake where we stopped to take in the view and walk around some. On up the road, which was getting pretty steep, we came to a good place for lunch under some Bristlecone Pine trees. Some of these trees were over 1000 years old. Those found in California of the same variety are over 4700 years old (before the pyramids were built).

13,850 Feet Above Sea Level

Now comes the exciting part of the day - climbing up Mt. Bross along the shelf road, zig-zagging back and forth, and running over some snow drifts left from last winter or possibly from last week! We were unable to reach the 14,000 ft summit because the snow got too deep and the road was pretty narrow and had very loose rocks. But the view from where we were was fabulous!

Going back down, we realize that we could not exit off the same road we came up on so we had to find another road that crossed over to one we knew was open. We got on one we thought was right and it was confirmed by a motorcyclist that we were on the right road, but then the motorcyclist turned and we didn't! With 7 Jeeps following each other, we got kind of messed up but eventually we found our way and was it lovely. The road was a single lane, tree covered route. It was covered with golden aspen, sometimes green, fragrant pine and sometimes both.

Radical Jeeping

Today started out with the prospect of driving 5 different trails. We were down two Jeeps due to work obligations and water leak in an RV so only 7 Jeeps.

Our first trail was up the Middle Fork of Swan River which is considered a moderate trail but was pretty steep and very rocky. Some of the rocks came from dredges found in this area. The trail led up to the former site of Swandyke, a mining community of around 200 people. The unique thing about the mining in this area was that the ore was near the top of the ground so they did not have to dig deep. This was a get-rick-quick mine. One of the Jeeps developed a gas leak, we thought and shortly after that he got a flat tire.

We continued up to an elevation of about 12,800 feet, over some pretty difficult road. At one point we had the option of going straight up or going around on an easier climb. Of course, John chose the challenge. This was a climb that if for any reason you stopped, you would have to back down and that would be almost as difficult as going up. Woo Hoo!! We made it! A short distance later, at the top of the ridge we reached Radical Hill.

But before we descended we got to interact with a small herd of mountain goats. They were very curious and came quite close to the Jeeps. Later, one followed us down the mountain to beg from our lunches.

Radical Hill lived up to its name of being a radical drive. It was a steep descent on a very narrow shelf road, with tight switchbacks and some very large rocks to go over. By the time we got about half way down, it was time for lunch and then the real fun began. We have some very experienced drivers in this group so when they start bottoming out, you know its bad! In one spot the men had to pile up some rocks to lift up the Jeeps so they wouldn't hit bottom. Another area required a spotter to guide us over the boulders. Then the next curve held another surprise and then another surprise of large rocks, deep ravines or narrow road. The bottom of the trail took us through a quiet pine forest sprinkled with Aspen and along a small river. This was a needed respite from the rough ride.

We decided enough was enough for today and headed back home around 4 PM. We had a fun and laughter filled group dinner going over the days events.

Waldorf, CO

You won't find this city on any map of Colorado because it no long exists. All that is left are some mines and rotting wood. But from the spot where the city used to be are two roads to the top. Argentine Pass at about 13,285 and McClellan Mountain at about 13,132 feet elevation.

We left at 8:30 but some delays caused us to reach Georgetown, CO at about 10 AM. We drove on newly paved road for about 3 miles and then turned off onto gravel. The first mile was pretty steep with some tight switchbacks before straightening out for an easy climb. One section of the road went thru an Aspen forest. The trees are starting to change to their yellow, gold fall colors and with the sun shining thru them, the air was a glorious golden color. And then, just like that, we were out of Aspen and into pine forest and then above the tree line.

We divided the group in half and one went up Argentine and the other up to McClellan then after lunch we switched sides. Argentine had some technically challenging rocks to climb but at the top the view was pretty awesome. We could see mountains all around us and valleys on both sides of the pass.

The drive up McClellan was quite different. We had several tight switchbacks and traversed the side of a rocky mountain side. But, again, the view from the top was awesome. And so was the wind! It must have been blowing 40 - 50 mph!

The trip back down seemed to take forever and by the time we got to Georgetown it was pretty much closed up for the night. Oh, well, we were tired and ready to relax.

Colorado Caravan on Mosquito Pass

The caravan of 8 Jeeps and a Toyota 4 Runner took off at 8:30 AM and headed south to Alma and then west toward Mosquito Pass. In the 1870's, this was the shortest and quickest way to the Leadville mines. Eventually travel moved from the high pass route to a lower but longer low pass route which we returned on to Alma. But before we even reached our turnoff to the pass, one of the Jeeps came up lame and had to be abandoned until we could return later in the day to get it repaired. The driver and his wife shared rides with others in the caravan.

Mosquito Pass is rated as a moderate route but it had some interesting areas where we had to tackle the rocks and narrow road with some finesse. The views from the top of the pass at 13,185 feet altitude were so awesome. John and I really like the mountains. We are separated from the noise of civilization and surrounded by peace, sunshine, wind and friends. I try to imagine, quite unsuccessfully, how anyone could ride up these roads in a stagecoach pulled by horses and not get shaken to death. I also can't imagine how long a trip like this would take. It took us two hours to travel eight miles in a Jeep. How long pulled by horses??

Leadville was famous for silver mining and by the 1890's it was the 2nd largest city in Colorado. At the summit was a headstone commemorating Father Dyer, the "Snowshoe Itinerant." He was a Methodist minister who started out by ministering to the miners in the area and eventually started carrying mail and gold across the pass, sometimes making the trip twice a day.

We had a picnic lunch on the shores of Turquoise Lake before returning to Leadville for an ice cream cone and then on to Weston Pass to return to Hwy. 9 back to Breckenridge. Weston Pass was a popular route for freight wagons and stage coaches as it was only 11,921 foot elevation. It was an easy drive with some very pretty scenery.

Colorado Adventure 2011

We got the RV fixed after two trips to the repair shop. They had to replace much of the wiring in the coach, move the inverter and wire it with a breaker fuse which had this been installed initially all of our problems would not have happened. We had to rob a bank (not!) to pay for it all. We got home with the repaired RV only two days before we left for Colorado to go off-road Jeeping in Breckenridge.

We left Sedalia on Saturday, September 17 and drove to Burlington, CO where we spent the night because of a severe weather. We got to Breckenridge about noon on Sunday. Once we got settled in, we rode our bikes from Tiger Run RV park up to the town of Breckenridge where we discovered Octoberfest in full swing! What a great way to start a vacation -- with beer and brats.

Today we took an unofficial off-road adventure with four other Jeeps. Our caravan leader's two sons couldn't wait for the official start on Tuesday, so we followed them up to Georgia Pass on the Continental Divide at 11,585 feet altitude. On the way up, we took a wrong turn and drove a very challenging dead end road. Not a bad way to get lost. We came down off the pass and drove to Fairplay and then back toward Breckenridge thru Boreas Pass at 11,481 feet altitude.