Back to Creede

Good time around Gunnison and Taylor Reservoir but wanted to come back here to be here for 4th of July. Plus hiking opportunities better here. Lots of old mining  history wherever you go around Creede.

Unfortunatly the smoke settled in the day we got back from the Durango fire that is still going strong. It just hangs in the air and smells like a perpetual camp fire. All depends on winds. Now the wind turned northwesterly and back to clear blue skies. 
Merganser on the RioGrand
Dinner out at "Antlers", nice resort on the river with lovely restaurant. Live music tonight. 
A Creede special food truck. Macaroni and cheese with your choice of toppings. Will had bacon and grilled onions. I added some broccoli. 

Unfortunately I broke my camera so am only able to use cell phone. My phone takes good pics but can't do the really creative ones or zoom in on things. Argh!!

More Crested Butte

We went back to Crested Butte because the area is so amazing. We took the chair lift up the mountain at the ski resort and then spent the morning hiking around and almost to the summit of the mountain at 12,000 ft.  Well, I took a picture of the top, we got maybe 300 yards from top and decided it was grand enough. Riding the chair lift up and back was amazing all by itself. It was so quiet and pleasant. I wanted to just ride the chair all day. This time of year the ski runs are used for mountain biking trails and lots of energetic people were doing that, put bikes on chair up to top and ride down! A few hardy souls were riding UP hill also.  Way up near the peak there were lots of Pika scrambling across the talus slopes. They did not fear us and we got really close to them. They are more related to rabbits than rodents and they win the cuteness catagory!

Hiking Crested Butte

 Crested Butte is just down the road. Big ski area but lots of good hiking in that area. It calls itself the Wildflower capital of Colorado. We found plenty of bloom but wondering if it might be better with some rain. I actually think we are a little early also. Lots of Lupine and Scarlet Gilea.

Ranch country, cattle on the road!

Tin Cup and Mirror Lake

Mountain town of Tin Cup is picturesque with a colorful past, couple of shops, a restaurant and a few old timers who have lived here forever. Plus a good many summer homes now.  Good dirt road to get there. We wanted to continue 3 miles on to Mirror Lake but road got real rocky. . .meant for off road vehicles so we pulled over to the side and hiked it. The road followed a stream so we actually hiked along the stream in the woods. It turned out to a really interesting journey UP to the lake at 11,000ft.  We were fixing to be really disappointed if Mirror Lake was a swamp or something. . .it was quite a pull. But it was grand!

This is OHV country for sure. Everyone is pulling trailer with all-terrain machines and rentals are everywhere as are mountain trails for them to ride. They are noisy and dusty but they do look fun.

We also wonder if the whole state of Texas is in Colorado. Every other license plate we meet is from Texas!

Gunnison

A day in Gunnison at a large private RV park with all the amenities which was a nice change. Still no TV however. We took in a fee program at the Gunnison observatory. Unfortunately the clouds came in just as we were about to get a look through their big telescope. We did however, get to hear a lecture by an Astro-photographer who was a retired professor and head of Optical department at UA. We visited with him a little about the famed Mirror Lab and we were duly impressed!

Also spent a couple of hours at the Pioneer Museum, 30 some buildings from antique cars, dolls, school house to cattleman's hats.


Now we moved up the road about 30 miles to near Taylor Resevoir. Back up to 9000 ft but the FS campground actually has electricity. We can use our microwave and have some popcorn!!

To Gunnison

My absolute favorite roadside scenic view.  It's off highway 149 on the way to Lake City. It looks over the Brown Reservoir and views all the way to "the Pyramid ", that little point at top of mountain. That is Stoney Pass and right there is the real headwaters of the Rio Grand River. We took a drive after dinner last night to see it and I underestimated how far it was up the highway..  .like about 15 miles. But once we start out we aren't going to give up until we find the spot!! Was hoping for a sunset picture but it was longest day of the year so light not as cooperative as I hoped.
We packed up and moved on this morning.  We have been at Marshall Park campground for about 10 days. No hookups but with solar panels and sunny days we never were in want of anything. We did have to drive into town one day to get propane tank refilled as we used our furnace most every morning. We were camping at 8000 ft and this morning's thermometer (a typical morning) said 34 degrees outside. Was very thankful for furnace. However, as soon as sun was fully up it heats up and days have been sunny and 75 to 80 degrees. 

 

We have two mountain passes to go over to get to Gunnison and one closest to Lake City is a long pull so to save the RV we drove vehicles separately until we got over the summit. Actually, the RV can make it without too much problem, it's just slow going as it chugs along.

Overnight to Alamosa and Penitenta Canyon

We packed an overnight bag, left the RV and took off for Alamosa. They had a parade and a cattle drive down Main

 Street which we thought was quite a sight.  It was a pre-show for the Rodeo that evening which we were eager to take in.

Had dinner on the patio of a good Colorado Mexican restaurant and then enjoyed the luxury of a Days Inn.  Even time to get my nails done!  Next morning we took a circuitous route back to Creede by way of Penitent Canyon.  Stopped at this historic church outside of small hamlet of La Garita.  Still very much a working church but dates back to 1880's. Beautiful old cemetary, trail to stations of the cross, and monument to St. Juan Batista.
Up a rutty gravel road to Penitente Canyon. It's a popular place to go rock climbing. We parked the car and hiked up canyon among the boulders and watched several people trying out their technical skills.  We found it to be a great birding canyon.
There are ancient puebloan Indian pictographs in this canyon but this painting of Guadalupe was done by an unknown artist in the 19th Century.

Next up the road was "Ventana Arch," a large natural arch up on the 

mountainside. Its huge, just doesn't look so big as it is quite a ways away. Just a bit windy. . .

A view of Bristol Head, a landmark closer to Creede.

Out for a drive

At the Continental Divide above Del Norte. That's a cabin you can rent from the forest service. Looks fun to me. 
Ivy Creek.
A stream crossing on the Ivy Creek trail.

Sunday services and a rainy day

More welcome rain today. No storms or lightning or wind. Just perfect rain. Good day for a drive. We drove 50 miles to Lake City, Colorado to attend a historic Presbyterian church. First church on the western slope dating to 1876. Lovely congregation.

Then spent the rest of the day driving back roads back to camp and soaking up mountain scenery.

Oh, and an ice cream cone from Fremans.