7/8 - 7/28/06 Colorado Recap - Gems and thunderstorms in the Rockies |
Colorado Odyssy Photo Gallery |
8/3 - Beset by computer problems for weeks, we weren't able to keep up our journals regularly, so we'll just give you the highlights for the last few weeks. As for the computer, after sending it in for depot repair, only to have it returned still flaky as ever, I demanded a replacement unit from Dell. It took about 10 days, but I got one, even better than the old model, which I had to return. So far, so good.
But to pick up our adventure... While we were camped near Del Norte collecting agate and jasper, Liz heard from her through-hiking pals Ken & Cindy; they were heading out on the road for a year, driving long haul big rigs to save up for a year of hiking. They live in central Colorado west of Pikes Peak in Woodland Park. We decided to visit them before they left, so off we went.
The first leg of the journey was
easy & scenic, US 285 up the broad San Luis Valley
with Colorado's Sangre de Cristo range dominating the eastern
horizon. To our west the main spine of the Rockies came into view, as the
valley narrowed to easy Poncha Pass. We made a short stop in Salida for
groceries & a pickup at the post office. We followed the Arkansas River
north up to Buena Vista with dark clouds gathering ahead of us. Several of the
tallest peaks in the Rockies towered just to the west. Turning east on US 24, we
encountered rain, which increased as we pushed on. In the high plateau creeks
turned to torrents. The rain was so heavy that we couldn't see any of the
surrounding landscape. We had planned to camp in the National Forest below
Wilkerson Pass, but with the rain continuing & the day waning, we decided to
look for an established campground. We pulled off at Lake George & stopped
at Riverside Campground in Pike NF, a small but scenic spot alongside the South
Platte River. We were glad to find a pull-through site which made parking in the
downpour much easier. We quickly leveled, unhitched & set off for Woodland
Park, 25 miles down the road, for dinner with our friends.
Next day we scouted around & moved to a spot in Pike NF with a
grand view of massive Pikes Peak defining the eastern skyline. This
would be our "home" for the next couple of weeks. We needed to be in
one area with access to FedEx for shipping & receiving our sick
computer. Since we were going to be forced off-line for several days,
we decided to backpack a section of the CDT. We dropped Gypsy off at
a nearby RV park for storage & headed back across US 24 & down
US 285 to Saguache, then west to North Pass. We hiked south for 2 days,
about 20 miles, through scenic "parks" (open rangelands surrounded by
forested hills), mostly following Forest Service roads. Everywhere the
grasslands were dense with wildflowers. The third day we day-hiked into
the beautiful Cochetopa Valley, where we had a not too close encounter
with a large brown bear. He came down the steep mountainside across
the creek from where we were resting, took a drink & ambled back
up & into the woods. We never felt threatened as he came no closer
than a few hundred yards. The other "wild life" action was a bull fight
between 2 large, but fortunately un-horned, Angus bulls. It was a lot
of shoving, grunting & bellowing. There were a lot of cattle in
the valley & they were really tearing up the trails & meadows.
Kind of spoils the wilderness experience. We enjoyed a couple of spectacular
sunsets out on the trail. Timmy had a good time too; so many smells,
so little time! Normally your pack should be lighter on the way out
of a backpack, but we had collected a sizeable cache of blue agate &
multi-colored jasper along the trail, so ours were heavier. A half mile
from our truck at trail's end, we encountered a styrofoam cooler packed
with iced soft drinks. The log book on top of the cooler explained that
"Burnt Foot," a genuine trail angel, had been stocking the cooler there
for years & asked only that hikers sign the log. We happily complied,
downing a couple of cream sodas & reviewed the log. There was an
entry from our friends Jim & Ginny from just a few days earlier.
We were very fortunate on the hike to only have one brief evening shower,
this after 3 days of nearly non-stop rain a week earlier & daily
afternoon thunderstorms therafter.
We returned to our forest campsite, picked up the computer, tried it,
still busted. I read the riot act to Dell, got them to ship a replacement
unit. With a week or more ahead of us waiting for it to arrive, we made
plans for our stay. We visited nearby Florissant Fossil Beds National
Monument one day & went to a private fossil dig site where for $10
per hour you can pick through fossil bearing shale that they dig up
for you. We were hoping to find fish fossils, but only found one on
a 5 pound rock. We found several nice leaf fossils though, 35 million
years old. Another day we drove up to Spruce Grove campground near Tarryall,
hiked in & dug for topaz. Liz found a nice crystal fragment about
3 inches long, blue with amber highlights. We also took the toll road
up to the top of Pikes Peak, shrouded in clouds. Swirling winds occasionally
lifted the veil, providing views east to Colorado Springs & west
to the area where we were camped. Near the top, we saw a band of big
horn sheep, all females. With still more time to wait, we decided to
move our camp up to Spruce Grove for more topaz prospecting. It paid
off as we found several more crystals, including some smoky quartz,
but none as large as the first. Afternoon thunderstorms continued to
be part of each day's agenda, some quite severe & causing local
flash floods. We were told that prior to our arrival Colorado had been
very dry, so I guess we brought the rain with us.
Finally the new computer arrived.
Next day we were headed north. We made a slight detour to Denver for a stop at
Camping World to pick up a new stabilizer jack (I've now ruined 5 of them)
& a couple of other things. After weeks on the remote highways along the
Continental Divide, Denver traffic was a shock. We were glad to escape,
westbound on I-70, then US 40 north, up & over 11,315 foot Berthoud Pass.
Egor took it in stride, even with the extra load of rocks we were now carrying.
We stopped for the night at Sunset Point campground on Lake Granby, our last in
Colorado. Next up, Wyoming.
<< prior adventure next adventure >>
