Happy Birthday, John

Kay invited us to join her for a short walk this morning before we left Dave’s driveway. It gave us a chance to get to know her better and to get some exercise before getting in the coach for a long day of driving.

Today is John’s birthday. Our final destination before heading to Norman, OK and then home was going to be a stay at a National Forest campground about 60 miles west of Taos which means we had a long day of driving.  This is the longest we have traveled since we arrived in New Mexico in early August.  The campground we thought we would stay at was not very appealing so we decided to go on to Red River and camp at Fawn Lakes again.  Bad move, all the National Forest campgrounds along the Red River were closed up tight even though they were supposed to be open until October!  So back on the road and over to Cimarron Canyon and another stay at the Maverick campground in the State Park.  We pulled in at 5:30 PM - a 7-hour driving day. We have had our fill of commercial campgrounds and city life for the last week or so.  It is so nice to be in a pine forest with a mountain stream as background music.  

This was the best part of the day for John’s birthday.  He may have driven all day but tomorrow he will celebrate by fishing for trout and building me a roaring campfire!

Rest, Hike, Drive

Saturday was our day of rest, well, sort of a day of rest.  After a late morning in bed, we ate breakfast in town, washed the Jeep, aired up the tires, tried to collect lost mail, packed a picnic lunch and took a hike on the Perimeter Trail around Ouray.  So it was restful until the hike.

The perimeter trail is about 4.5 miles around the town but it goes way up into the mountain side on the east then down to the river on the west side.  We watched for bears but didn’t see any.  We had heard that a bear got onto the upper deck of the Ouray Brewery and made quite a commotion and someone else told us that there were 14 bears visiting Ouray this fall. We didn’t see one!  Our friends Larry and Edna did the same trail earlier this morning and saw three bear cubs playing in a tree!  Our timing must be off.

We tried to leave the campground early this Sunday morning but saying goodbye to our Jeeping friends kept getting in the way of de-camping.  But that was okay as I enjoy the last minute conversations we have as we say our farewells.  Actually, that worked out well for us.  We headed to Durango the long way around via Telluride, Dolores, and Cortez then Durango.  We had told our friend, Dave, that we would arrive between 4 and 5 and if we hadn’t taken so long to say goodbyes, we would have arrived much too early.  

David was really excited that we brought our home with us and parked it in his driveway!  He was also interested in our Jeep as he is considering getting one himself.  We had a delightful evening with Dave and his girlfriend Kay as we sat on the patio to dine on lamb and drink good wine while trying to watch the moon rise.  Unfortunately we missed the eclipse and the blood moon part!  Too much talking!

Seven Trail Day

We were down to only three Jeeps this morning (John & I, Larry & Edna and Greg & Kathy) and two hardy Jeepers this afternoon (Larry & Edna headed to Silverton after lunch). Rich & Marcia and Bob & Kathy headed home, Paul & Brenda went photo hunting and Bill & Debbie found another hike.  Our day started on Mineral Creek then through Animas Forks to Eureka Gulch and lunch.  We back tracked to Picayune & Placer Gulches which took us to California Gulch through Hurricane Pass and onto Corkscrew Gulch which dumped us out on the Million Dollar Highway and back to Ouray.  It was a long but beautiful day.   

Mineral Creek was the only trail listed as difficult but we enjoyed the challenge of the other trails as they were steep, narrow, twisting and high enough to give us great vistas.  Sunnyside Mine and Mill were on Eureka Gulch, it produce over $50 million and used a Angle Tram to transport the ore to the stamp mill. Several mines near the Sunnyside caved in in 1978,  causing the small lake to drain completely.  The Gold Prince Mine was on the opposite side of the mountain in Picayune Gulch and also used a tram to get its ore to the Gold Prince Mill in Animas Fork until the mill was moved to the Sunnyside Mill down the hill a mile. There were not so many mines on California Gulch but we were breathing heavily due to the 13,000 foot pass on California and 12,400 foot Hurricane Pass.  Corkscrew lived up to its name with some steep and tight switchbacks near the top.

All in all it was a good day and has been a good week.  We don’t remember another Jeep caravan when it did not rain.  The weather has been spectacular and the Aspens have lived up to their reputation of “Gold in them thar hills!"

Yankee Boy and Governor

Our group is shrinking!  Bill & Debbie like hiking the trails much more than driving them so they joined us this morning just long enough to get to a good hike.  Rick left for home this morning, as did Mike and Lynn.  We added John S for one day and then he will head back to Denver.

We explored Governor and Yankee Boy Basin this morning.  Governor Basin took us past Atlas Mill, Virginius Mine and Revenue Tunnel which opened in the late 1800’s and was still producing up to 1948 and appears to be operating today, and ended at Mountain Top Mine where a boarding house built in 1912 is still standing, sort of.  It would have housed 30-50 men.  In 1922 it was the largest employer in Ouray County but went bankrupt in 1924.  It was worked off and on until 1996 and it may be open again today.

There were several hundred mines in Yankee Boy Basin.  The Ruby Trust Mine produced silver from the 1880’s to 1893 and then again in the 1980’s.  It appeared to have some activity around it today.  The Camp Bird Mine was discovered in 1896 and sold in 1902 for $5.2 million and had made $26.2 million by the time in closed in 1911.  The owner treated his miners well with advance comforts such as hot running water, steam heat and electric lights.  They also only had to work an 8-hour day as apposed to 12 hours for other miners.  The Yankee Boy Mine is where the first gold was discovered in 1875.

We had a nice lunch along a  babbling stream with views up and down the valley and towered over by a lovely tree-topped mountain.  As we had a short day, several of us stopped at the Ouray Brewery for a beer and tall tales.

Ophir

Ophir is the name of the pass from Silverton where the Rio Grande Southern Railroad came up from Durango to the west side of the San Juan’s . The name comes from King Solomon’s mines but the trail was established first by the local Indians then Otto Mears came in and built a road and then a railway.  The really challenging part of this trail is the traverse across the scree field on a narrow shelf road.  We have traveled this trail at least twice before and always in rain.  Today it was sunny so it made a big difference to us.  We actually got to enjoy the scenery.

This was a very short day for off-roading.  We arrived in Telluride way before lunch, so we shopped, ate a picnic lunch and then took a long walk along the river.  It felt good to get out and stretch our legs. Tonight the whole group got together for dinner at the True Grit restaurant in Ridgway.  It was a very enjoyable evening.

Imogene and The Last Dollar

Another long but fun day on the trail.  We tackled Imogene, a trail that goes west, up and over a 13,140 foot pass and back down into Telluride.  It was cloudy most of the morning and sprinkled on us as we were stopping for lunch but then quit until we were ready to move on.  This trail had some very challenging parts over big rocks but overall it was a fun drive.

We then drove over to Alta Lakes, Alta Mine and the Gold King Mine.  The first thing we saw in the lakes was a baby beaver swimming past us. This is a very pretty area.  We then drove over to the bowl that contained the Gold King Mine.  Not much left except for a few wooden structures over mine entrances.  There was no evidence in this area of the water leak that occurred several weeks ago.  The Alta Mine still had several structures standing.  At one time this was one of the largest mines in the area.  Gold King is also the mining company that first used alternating current to run it’s stamp mills.

The Last Dollar trail cuts a few miles off of travel between Telluride and Ridgway but time wise it is a lot slower.  There are a lot of beautiful homes in this back country. After we had pulled back on the highway just outside of Ridgway a big black bear ran across the road in front of Bob & Cathy. They got pretty excited!

Day One on the Trail

John led the group today with Rick as the tailgunner.  When we drove through Ouray to pick up Greg and Cathy they had invited another couple to join us. They are very nice people and they were delighted to be able to Jeep with a group.  So today we had 9 jeeps.  Three of the Jeepers were very new at this so John made sure they were each following a more experienced driver.

We drove up Mineral Creek to Engineer Pass then through Lake City to Cinnamon Pass and up and over to Animas Forks before driving down the hill into Silverton.  It was an all day ride.  We didn’t even get to Lake City before we stopped for lunch!  We drove into Silverton at 5:45 pm so several stopped at the Handlebar Restaurant for dinner. The big thing that Rick, Bob & Cathy and us missed was our absent leader, Mike, commentary on the mines and history of the area. Tomorrow Rick is bringing Mike’s book for me to read and try to relate some of his knowledge to the newbies.

 

 

It was a beautiful day, lots of sun, light breezes and just a smattering of high clouds to keep it cool.  On our way to Silverton we spotted a moose - the only animal other than marmots that we have seen. He is much bigger than what he looks in the picture.

 

 

We didn’t get back to the RV until about 8PM Considering we were on the road at 7:30AM we are pooped.

Ouray

Ouray (pronounced 'your-ray’) is a neat town tucked into a fairly narrow canyon formed by the Uncompahgre River.  

The drive on Saturday from Taylor Canyon to Gunnison and then on Hwy 50 to Montrose is a really pretty drive.  Taylor Canyon towers over us while we parallel the roaring Taylor River.  Signs indicate that a lot of wildlife can be seen along this road but our old eyes never spotted anything more than birds and chipmunks. Highway 50 follows the Gunnison River that forms into the Blue Mesa Lake which is a long, snaking blue waterway among mostly scrub and dry high mesa hills.  As we near the Black Canyon area the topography changes into more forests and greener valleys that are already showing signs of the fall change to gold.  When we turn south from Montrose the San Juan Mountains take over the horizon and grow taller and more rugged the closer we get to Ouray.

Today we had a leisurely morning until we decided to ride our bikes into town.  The gravel road we take is just a short hop from the KOA campground but one has to climb one of the steepest hills ever know to mankind!  It is that steep! And that long!  

I may have exaggerated a bit, but both John and I ended up walking our bikes up that hill.  Once at the top, the ride wasn’t too bad as it skirted the west side of the canyon and gave us some great views of the surrounding mountain peaks.  We also spotted what appears to have been an old mine on the eastern face of the canyon wall.  The Uncompahgre River is very yellowish brown due to the leaks at mines in the mountains. It may be a long while before the river can run clear again.  After lunch we strolled the main street a bit and then rode back down in less than half the time it took us to ride up hill!  

Today is when all the Jeepers are to arrive for our week long adventure in the mountains.  Most of the group drive a Born Free RV, but not all as our fearless leader, Mike, invites all who might enjoy our caravan. Speaking of our fearless leader, Mike was unable to come west this year due to his wife’s health issues.  We didn’t know he wasn’t coming so started getting pretty worried when our meeting time rolled around and he wasn’t there.  But at 5 minutes after 5 our new fearless leader, Rick Z. aka Zoro, made his appearance and got us all organized according to Mike’s directions.  John will now be leading the group through the mountains along with Rick.  It may be a REALLY interesting week!

Ditto

More fishing and hiking today and another beautiful day although it is about five degrees cooler and windier than yesterday.

I spent part of my morning drawing with colored pencils, trying to capture the yellow aspens on the green hillside. I need to get some help as its not very good.  This afternoon I worked on my photo albums and then took another walk.

John tried a different fishing hole this afternoon but he only caught one small trout and had lots of tangled lines because of the wind whistling up the canyon.

I love a roaring campfire!

Fishing and Hiking

John found a fishing hole today and caught at least one fish.  The weather was perfect for fishing and for hiking - sunny, not too hot, and not too windy.

I hiked up Union Canyon Trail from our campground.  It is a very rocky road that the Jeep might be able to handle except for one spot that is very narrow with large boulders on both sides.  I had hope to hike over 4 miles but the road crossed the Lottis Creek and it was too wide a gap for me to cross without getting wet.

No signs of the bear nor any other critters.

Taylor Canyon, River and Lake

The dirt road.

We had a choice of driving 130 miles around the Collegiate Mountains, south past Buena Vista to Poncha Springs to Hwy 50 over Monarch Pass to Gunnison and then back north towards Crested Butte but then turning off the highway and driving into the Taylor Lake Valley. Or we could drive 60 miles by going to Buena Vista and then west over Cottonwood Pass at 12,120 feet and down into Taylor Lake Valley.  We chose the shorter distance but it took longer to get there because the down side of the pass is a washboard dirt road.

We drove to the west end of the valley and about two miles into the canyon along the Taylor River, where John hopes to catch some trout, and camped in the Lottis Creek National Forest Campground. We were told to be bear-aware as a big cinnamon colored bear wanders into the campground periodically. We got John’s fishing license and then bought more flies at a resort about 25 miles from here. Before John could begin to grill the lamb for supper he had to get all his fishing gear ready. So we ate late, again.

Independence Pass

Our view from the campsite this morning included some white stuff.

As we drove through Twin Lakes town this morning, we saw the funniest thing!  On the eastern edge of town they have placed a speed warning sign that blinks furiously if you are going over 30 mph but on the west edge of town they have placed an old police car on the side of the road.  At a quick glance, it appears to be a speed trap but on closer inspection it is just a naked dummy in the driver’s seat!

The drive up Independence pass to the 12,200 foot continental divide has spectacular scenery surrounding the squirrelly road.  The driver (John) does not get to see much unless he pulls over and stops, which he did several times.  He also drove slowly so he could try to see some of the mountain sides covered in boulders, golden aspen, yellowing willow bushes and deep green pine trees. We searched diligently for wild animals but did not see any. At the top, above the tree line,  it was very windy and cold but we got out of the car a walked up the path to the scenic overlook.  What a view!

The drive down from 12,200 to around 9500 foot elevation took over 15 miles of twisting and turning, hairpin curves and narrow, narrow road. We ended up in Aspen where we shopped downtown, ate a delightful lunch and then tried to find some of the other ski areas besides Aspen Highlands. One of our stops in town was at the Hotel Jerome where John and his skiing buddies ate a very expensive dinner years ago - the bill had a comma in it!

Our drive back over the pass was less spectacular as clouds had moved in and obscured the view as well as dumping rain on top of us. By the time we got to the campsite, the sun was shining and the wind had died down.  It was a great evening for a roaring campfire.

Twin Lakes

Time to move on as we have stayed in Frisco for a whole week but we didn’t move very far.  Just south of Leadville is a San Juan National Forest campground on Twin Lakes and near the town of Twin Lakes. The lake is a beautiful blue and very clear and the surrounding mountains are magnificent.  The Aspen are starting to change creating pockets of gold and fiery red on the mountain sides.

We stopped for lunch in Leadville and enjoyed a stroll along the main street.  I popped into a nice little gift shop and met the owner who knows a friend of mine in Sedalia!  She is sort-of related on her ex-husband’s side of the family.  It is always exciting to meet people this way.

 

We rode our bikes around the campground then jumped into the car to go into Twin Lakes and have a drink at the Twin Lakes Inn and Restaurant.  According to John’s restaurant app, this is a 4-star, fine dining establishment.  We may have to try it our if we stay here long enough.

Busy Weekend

This is the weekend for the Breckenridge October Fest which is, pretty much, an opportunity to walk the main street while drinking beer and eating brats.  There are several booths serving other German foods, French and Mexican.  Some booths sold doodads and trinkets, some clothing sales and, of course, beer steins. The party started at 2 pm on Friday until 6 pm and again all day on Saturday and Sunday. We chose to attend on Friday because we know that the crowds will be horrendous the other two days.

After shopping all the stores and eating a very good hamburger we showed our ID and bought tokens for beer.  When we got tired of walking we would sit at a picnic table and make new friends.  One table had folks from MN, FL and KS and another had folks from St. Louis and Denver.  One guy had graduated from Rolla so he and John had a few things in common.

Saturday we played golf at the Keystone River Golf Course.  We joined a couple from Nashville who were pretty good golfers and our lack of play time showed with lost balls and a reminder from the course sheriff to speed things up a bit!  The best part was it was a gorgeous day! Blue sky, green grass, temps in the 70’s and some wind to cool us off.  

The Frisco Fall Fest was held at the marina on Dillon Lake Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday and included beer, wine, food tasting from local restaurants and lots of local artists displaying their talents.  Starting at 4 pm until 6 pm was a local band that played a wide assortment of music from our era on up to today.  We stopped to visit with a couple of gentlemen who owned a beautiful wood boat then we listened to the music before heading to a restaurant for dinner.

I attended a lovely Methodist church in Breckenridge this morning then did laundry while John rode his bike down to Silverthorn where he shopped the outlet mall for a new jacket.  Poor John had a really hard uphill ride back as Silverthorn is below the Dillon Dam. It was nice to not have to do much this afternoon except to enjoy the nice weather and a roaring campfire.

Recpath to Keystone

Yesterday we tried to recover from our 27 mile bike ride by riding around in the Jeep and eating a fine dinner in Breckenridge.

Blue River Plaza in Breckenridge.

When we got our campsite on Monday, it was available through the weekend but we thought we should just pay for four days and then decide what we would do over the weekend.  Since we needed to rest our bodies, we explored some of the other campgrounds near Frisco.  Almost all the sites at each campground were reserved for Sept 11-13 because of the Octoberfest in Breckenridge and the Fall Fest in Frisco. Then when we got back to our site, it had been reserved for Sept 11-13!  Now what will we do??

This morning, bright and early, I walked over to the campground host’s site to see if any other site might be available for us to move to.  I must be one of the luckiest people on earth - maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket today - because the folks who had reserved our site had cancelled the reservation!  I immediately paid for three more days!

To celebrate our luck, John suggested that we ride the ‘short’ and ‘easier’ bike trail up to Keystone. Short turned out to be almost 22 miles round trip and easier if you don’t mind up and down as opposed to just up!  But it was a warm, sunny, beautiful day and the ride around Dillon Lake took my mind off the tired legs.  Keystone is closing down until the first snow fall so not much going on. 

Summit Rec Trail

Frisco, Dillon, Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Vail are all connected by a paved trail that is great for biking and walking.  We are camped right next to the trail along Dillon Lake so it just seemed like a good idea to ride our bikes up to Breckenridge Ski area, have lunch and then cruise back in time for cocktails before dinner.  The problem with that plan was that we didn’t get started until after 11 am and the ride is over 13 miles one direction. And that direction is mostly UP hill!

When we got up this morning it was 40° but it warmed up nicely by the time we got the bikes ready to go and a lunch packed. It really is not too bad of a slog up the hill but I have not had much time on my bike lately so it felt hard!  We got to almost the top before I gave out and we stopped for lunch.  Then we rode on into Breckenridge.  It is a busy town. We enjoyed the sun, walked a few blocks, ate some ice cream and chocolate and then got back on the bikes.  You would think it would be down hill all the way but there were at least two spots that were steeply up hill! My legs just could not peddle that hard and I had to walk several times. But - it was a pretty day, a beautiful 27 mile ride and I’m glad we did it.

Tomorrow morning, our legs will complain, I’m sure!

Labor Day Weekend Fun!

Knowing that finding a camping site over Labor Day weekend would be nearly impossible and wanting to visit with our friends, Ray and Judy, we called and easily received an instant invitation to camp in their driveway for three days.  We love to visit Ray and Judy.  We reminisce about our budding friendship back in Detroit in the 70’s and regale each other with tales of our travels in the RV.  Ray and Judy traveled to the northwest this summer and got home before the wildfires could block their route. 

We arrived at their house on Friday. Saturday was a perfect day for a hike in Staunton State Park and Sunday was an absolutely perfect day to play golf at the Evergreen Golf Club.  Of course, everyone else thought that same thing so there were lots of people hiking and a crowd on the golf course.  But since the weather was so good and we enjoy our friends company, the crowds didn’t bother us.

We dawdled over breakfast as long as we could before leaving Ray and Judy’s Monday morning.  As we headed west to Frisco we met the traffic coming into Denver and it was horrendous!  From Idaho Springs to about 4 miles west of the Eisenhower Tunnel, it was one long line of cars.  We were really happy we were going the opposite direction! 

Heaton Bay Campground is one of our favorite places to stay.  It is only a short bike ride from Frisco or Dillon but we feel like we are out in the country due to the lake and all the trees.  Unfortunately, a lot of other people think that as well.  A rain storm broke over us just as we were looking for a site to camp in.  All the sites except the one we are on are reserved for next weekend.  If we get lucky, we may get to stay on this site for 6 or 7 days.

When the rain quit we drove to downtown Frisco, shopped and re-acquainted ourselves with the area and then stopped at a German pub for a beer and fresh baked pretzel.  We struck up a lively conversation with several people on the patio and ended up staying until almost supper time.

The Regal Ditch

If you know your geography you might be able to figure out the tourist draw I am referring to - The Royal Gorge.  John called it the Ditch all day long!

The Royal Gorge Bridge was built in 1929 and, until 2009, it was the worlds tallest suspension bridge at over 1000 feet above the Arkansas river.  It is about 1/4 mile long and has all wood decking.  We could drive our car across if we wanted to but only between 7 & 9 am or after the attractions close in the evening.

The Vista Dome car & open train car at the narrowest section of the Gorge where a short suspension system was built to hold the tracks.

I came here as a kid with my family but that was so long ago that I convinced John we had to see it again.  There was absolutely no comparison to 50 years ago as a wild fire came through the gorge in 2013 and burned almost all of the buildings around the bridge and even burned some of the wooden decking on the bridge.  There used to be a cog rail train that ran down to the bottom and back and that was destroyed as was the original gondola and the visitor center.  The city of Canon City owns the Royal Gorge Bridge and much of the land around it.  They got busy and built a new visitor center, gondola ride, children’s play area, theatre and other small attractions.  There is also a zip line across the gorge and a sky coaster (swing).

But what we really came to do was ride the train along the river’s edge at the bottom of the gorge. It was a two hour ride over 12 miles up and back.  It stopped under the Royal Gorge Bridge and crossed its own short suspension span.  We got a little of its history and some great views of the gorge.  We rode in a Vista Dome car with windows  curving up overhead but we spent a lot of time on the open air car with nothing to block our view.  Before we even left the station we were served our hamburger lunch.

An original section of the wooden water pipe.

Canon City is the home of a regional prison that was built in the late 1800s by the prisoners it housed.  These prisoners also built a water line to the city from about 8 miles up river where a damn was built.  The original pipe was made of wood from the Giant Redwood trees and there is still evidence of the pipe all along the route. Several years ago the damn was removed so that the rafters did not have to portage around it, rafting is very popular on this stretch of the river.