On to Colorado (07-07-22)

 After spending a few days with Paul’s mom, we left El Paso, and meandered our way toward Colorado. Our destination was Bayfield, home of our friends Tom and Dianne.  We weren’t actually going to see them for the first few days though- first we were meeting up with some of our Phoenix friends.

On the way there, we took one day to explore the Jemez Springs area of New Mexico, near the Santa Fe National Forest. We had found out about some hot springs in the area, so we thought that might be a good outing, but it turns out they are “luke warm springs” and the weather was cold and rainy. 

Instead we took the Jeep to investigate the Gilman tunnels. 

These tunnels were built in the early 1900s to provide access for logging and mining operations.  Building the tunnels was easier than going over the nearby mountain peaks. Our trip through the tunnels and along the forest roads was mildly entertaining.

Once we arrived in Bayfield we realized that Dave and Debby would be in the site next to us.  That made it easy to party with them!  Another couple, Roxanne and Rick, had rented a VRBO near Durango.

Our first day was great- we went for a short but interesting hike…

and then drove way up the hill to the Animas Lookout where, after a short walk, we had a picnic lunch with an amazing view.

Our plans for the next few days were thwarted by illnesses….first Debby didn’t feel well, and then I didn’t feel well.  She and Dave did get together with Rick and Roxanne, but Paul and I did not. Oh well, best laid plans, as they say.

Once they moved on, we headed to Tom and Dianne’s.  Our few days with them were spent visiting…

and of course, the guys are happiest when they are working on projects.

We had a little excitement when Dianne’s kids next door found 4 horses roaming in their yard.  Seeing horses in this area is not uncommon, but horses running around loose is.  They were put in Tom and Dianne’s pasture to keep them safe until the owners could be found.  Eventually, a neighbor came to get them and lead them home.

Our last day in Bayfield, Tom and Dianne had errands to do in nearby Durango, so we made plans to meet them there later in the day for an early dinner. In the meantime Paul and I wanted to explore the shopping there, since we had only seen the inside of breweries. 

Unfortunately I decided to wear my sandals and the skies started looking ominous just as we got there. We are storing some stuff in bins in the Jeep so I looked for other footwear- I found Paul’s water shoes, which worked in a pinch. 

Good thing, too- my sandals would have never survived.

Our next destination was the Pagosa Springs area of Colorado, but we had to make a short pit stop in Farmington NM before we headed there.  The truck has a slow coolant leak and Farmington has Paul’s favorite Ford Dealership.

On the way there we stopped at Salmon Ruins to check it out.

These particular ruins are named for the Salmon family- they bought the land the ruins are on in the early 1900s and protected the ruins from treasure hunters.

The ancient buildings were built in about 1100 AD by very skilled stone masons, using the same techniques that were used in nearby Chaco Canyon. The effort and attention to detail is amazing- and the fact that they are still standing almost 1000 years later, is a testament to their abilities.

We finally made it to Pagosa Springs, where our original plans were to boondock at a highish elevation but it was quite warm out so we decided to stay at an RV park instead. Once we were settled, we set out to do some hiking and exploring.  We headed up Wolf Creek Pass, a very steep, high pass through the Colorado mountains. The last time we drove this road, we were towing the 5th wheel and the “Check brake system” light came on, while we were going down the hill.

We stopped at all the overlooks that we couldn’t stop at while towing, and hiked the short hike to Treasure Falls, along with a ton of other people.

At the summit, we stopped to take some pictures before heading back the way we came.

The view of Pagosa Springs as you approach from Wolf Creek Pass is one of my favorite views ever.

We only booked a short, two day stay in Pagosa, but we did manage to hike to two other waterfalls.  Silver Falls was a pretty nice waterfall, and there were no crowds of people.

                                That’s not to say we were alone, however.

South Fork, CO (July 25, 2020)

Having no reservations, because we had no idea how long we would be in Farmington dealing with the truck, we called around Pagosa Springs but no one had availability. And that’s how we ended up in the small town of South Fork.....home to 5 restaurants and one gas station. 

Getting there required us to go over Wolf Creek Pass again but we were happy to get it over with and see how the truck performed. And yay, no check engine light and no code thrown.

We didn’t have any time to explore this little town- we were going to eat out but it was raining and 61 degrees - not conducive to eating outside.

Our one day there we packed a lunch and headed out to the historic mining town of Creede.

This is a neat little town with a dramatic back drop. It was an active mining town well into the 1900s, and since there is a mine tour, Paul was very interested. 

I was not, so I waited for him in the truck. 

Because of Covid they are only doing self guided audio tours, which was perfect, plus he was the only one in there, even better. It’s not actually in the mine, but they blasted through the rock to create the tour area, and he said it was very well done. 

From there we drove the 17 mile historic “road” to look at the remains of local mines and the Humphrey Mill. There are all kinds of warnings to make sure your vehicle is in great shape and can handle a very rough, narrow road. 

I had trepidation taking the dually but we figured we could always turn around. 

We made it the whole way but the most interesting part was at the very end, and we could have skipped the jarring trip there.

I had wanted to hike the short trail to the nearby pinnacles, but it’s 900 ft of gain, and just walking around casually reminded me sharply that we are at 10,000 ft.

With that plan nixed, we drove to North Clear Creek Falls. It was a gorgeous waterfall, and no hiking required.   

We took the backroads on our way home, just to check out more of the area. It seems that wherever we look in Colorado, the views are amazing.

Death Valley, Part 2 (03-17-12)

Post delayed due to lack of internet

  Who says it doesn’t rain in Death Valley?
Today it rained in Death Valley.  We woke up to a pretty fierce storm, with wind gusts of 50 mph.  There wasn’t a lot of rain here in the valley, just enough to make mud, but the mountains are sporting a new layer of snow.





We canceled our hiking plans and headed into Beatty,  the town over the mountain, to fuel up the truck.  Once we were up the hill, it started to sleet, and it rained almost the whole time we were in town, and all the way back to the campground.  This picture, taken in the valley itself, shows the rain on the windshield, and our trailer is somewhere in that huge dust cloud that built up all day long. Twice we had a dirt devil ( a mini tornado of dirt) come over the trailer. One time when we were outside, and we were immediately covered in sand and couldn’t see.

The way everyone talked about Beatty, I thought it was a bigger town, with more services- like a grocery store. It did have better fuel prices- $3.99 per gallon vs the prices in the park (pictured).  No grocery store there though, just a small mercantile that sold fruit and veggies by the piece, and didn’t have much selection.



When we first got to Death Valley we stayed in Sunset campground, which is dry camping. That means we had no electricity, water or sewer, just our own tanks and our generators. It was a bit too hot to do that, but we survived (more importantly, the cat survived).
We’ve now moved down the road about 25 miles to Stovepipe Wells Campground, and full hook-up.  We are all much happier, although the weather has changed and it’s now 55 degrees outside.  

Before we moved, we hiked 2 miles up Willow Canyon, to one of the few running waterfalls in Death Valley.  The hike in was a disappointment after the beauty of Golden Canyon. It was just a rocky dry riverbed all the way up to the first waterfall.  It got more interesting after that, and it was fun to see actual water flowing. It was also cool in the shade after hiking in the hot sun for an hour or so.

The really cool part was when we went to leave though. Walking down the trail we came upon a family of Desert Bighorn Sheep.They had been on the trail, but headed up the steep sides of the canyon when they saw us.

 

  They would walk a little, then stop to take a look at us, then move on again. That made the whole hike worth it. We basically froze where we were, except to get the camera out, and were able to watch them for quite a few minutes before they went out of sight.  I even got a few videos.