Hikes, and Drives

That mountain is "El Deinte" and it looms in the distance beckening. Somehow it ends up in all my photos on the trail.

Another landmark is "Lizard Head." Turn the corner on the road and there it is again!  Doesn't look particularly like a lizard Head to me but still a stunning monolith

A 150 year old train tressel that is still pretty impressive looking. Doubt it would hold an actual train today but it is still standing!

Looks like a painting, but it's real. I have taken a gazillion photos but they never really capture the Rocky Mountains!

Lots of open range in the National Forests so not unusual to hike past some curious grazing cattle.

Short trek to Colorado's only real geyser. Nothing like "Old Faithful" but it does bubble up quite aggressively and boil over the edge and send sulphur smelling water down the hillside to creek below every 30/40 minutes.

Anastazi Heritage Center was certainly worth a few hours of our time. When McPhee Reservoir was being completed in the 1980's a huge archeological push was on to find and preserve antiquities and evidence of the ancient puebloan peoples who lived for centuries in this part of what is now Colorado.

  Larkspur. So many late summer wild flowers.

on the Delores River

Moved about 160 miles West to the San Juan mountains. To a very comfy and convenient RV park that we have used several times situated on the Delores River. Actually between the towns of Delores and Telluride. It's called Priests Gulch named after the landmark across the road.

First day here we had to hike the Bear Creek trail just up the road. I swear these are the tallest Aspen trees I have ever seen. 

It was more of a challenge than expected. We hiked along the creek but first we had to climb up the canyon wall and then the trail followed the creek from this high vantage.  

That is Delores River in the morning. . .

The afternoon produced a down pour of hard rain that seemed to last for over an hour. We were warm and dry watching it rain and remarking how we hadn't seen a rain like that in a very long time--no storm, just straight down rain. 

And here is that same Delores River after the rain. A red clay/earthen hillside must have eroded into the river and turned it this dark red! Took several hours to clear and run clear again. 

Interesting and eclectic old mining town of Rico just up the road.  Many old derelict looking buildings but if you take the time to notice, there are plenty of nice, large, in fact, homes mixed in and on outskirts of town. It's more prosperous than first impression. 

Like this one that houses the Prospector Restaurant which just happens to be quite upscale. Has a limited menu but chef is somewhat of celebrity and has this exclusive reputation. We decided to have one nice meal --this being our last week in Colorado--and we were not disappointed.

 Lived up to it's reputation. Very nice, indeed.

More at Big Meadow

One day we drove back to Creede to take in a matine show at our favorite Repertory Theater, then just had to stop at "Fremans" for their famous hamburger.

Back to Beaver Creek Reservoir for another try at trout fishing. Beautiful spot but unfortunately no luck at all fishing. So we put away our fishing gear and decided to take a drive to find Summitville, and old abandoned gold mine high up above the tree line. 

Good directions and good forest service roads got us up there for a pleasant day. We stopped at a Menenite bakery and picked up some lunch and off we went.

There were two mining booms here, one in the 1880's another one in 1920's. Each time the population rose to 1500 people but both didn't last long and all is left are some scattered ruins in the town site. Copper was mined here during WW2.

The mining took place on the mount behind the town. Today there is a bit of activity as it is a Superfund site--trying to control damage done to environment

Back at Big Meadow. I have taken so many pictures of this lake. It changes as sky changes, always lovely.

Naby ducks. . .

. . and a Pica. Looks like a cross between a rabbit and a ground squirrel.  They love the rock scrambles around the lake and are fun to spot. 

Big Meadow

We are at Big Meadow Reservoir near Wolf Creek Pass in southern Colorado. 4 days this time, we were here in June, another of our favorite places. Only problem is no internet and spotty cell reception. Also a Forest Service campground which means no services--no electric or water hookups. We are "dry camping" using solar.

 

Lovely spot 

Fishing was great fun 

Extra friendly Canada Geese. What's with that

We are hiking around the lake when we enter one of those surprise cell phone spots and Will recieved a phone call from Doug, just to chat!

More Salida, Colorado

One more day in Salida at a pretty OK "newish" campground. So new that I couldn't figure out how to work the new-fangled lock system to get into the laundry room. 

Camground is beside the Arkansas River that also runs through Salida and is major tourist draw for river sports.

We hiked in the hills south of town up to an overlook called Castle Gardens. Lots of trails to hike around here. They actually are mostly mountain bike trails, which is another big draw to the area -- but bikers are amicable about sharing the trails.

We hiked early when it was cool and then went exploring with the jeep in the afternoon up some dirt roads in the high country. We had our route all mapped out and saw there was one small section that was marked as 4 wheel drive. Well that small section turned out to be a lot more extensive than planned. We picked our way to some really high vistas along "Aspen Ridge", it was quite the adventure. Will was a great driver, I was ready to turn around more than once--but after it was over and my heart rate came back down, can say it was great fun.

Salida

Best Southeast Asian Cuisine right here in Salida. We found this guy when we were here in June. He's only open Thursday thru Saturday from 4pm to 8pm, or until he is sold out. Two food choices, tucked in the corner of a bar/brewery. Last June we had the best Northern Thai "Kou Sou" but this week it's Punjab food. "Kashmiri Aromatic Chicken Curry Dish, with caramelized onions, Ghee, Yogurt and array of warming spices. 'Roghn Josh'" Other choice was a spinich and fresh cheese vegetarian dish. They were both excellent. Highly recommended!! (Ginny and Willis, you would have loved it)

We drove to the summit of Monarch Pass to do a hike that we couldn't do last June because it was still snowed in. We hiked a loop trail from present day summit that took us up to the Old Monarch Pass that was replaced by the new hiway. After hiking the trail up to 11,000+ ft where we could see forever, we found the dirt forest road and drove back up there for another look.

Back in Colorado

Back in Colorado. But before we crossed the border, comfortably driving on Interstate 25. . .suddenly a car passed us , waving at us that we had a problem. We immediately pulled over to side of the road and realized that our bicycle carrier attached to back of tow car had failed. One of two anchors had broken and Will's bike was being dragged down the road! Of course the front tire and rim were destroyed but Thank the Lord!, it did not break loose completely or it might have caused a serious accident. Caused a bit of trauma for sure!

Two days across Colorado to get to Salida where we will spend 3 nights. We spent some time here on the way East in June and we're anxious to return. It's a town in the shadow of Colorado's "Collegiate Peaks" on the Arkansas River.

The farther we got into Colorado the clearer the sky became. We have seen so much smoke haze off and on, all the way from Minnesota and across the Dakotas and in Glacier NP. Forgot how amazing the clear blue sky is. 

Even with rain clouds, the mountains are clear and defined.