Colorado '17

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 6, continued
Grabbed some snow while driving past a snow bank and had a snowball fight inside the truck! :D
My original itinerary called for taking Bolam Pass over to Hwy 550, then camping at Junction Creek Campground or on some BLM land. We were running behind so we cut out Bolam Pass and made a beeline for Durango. Decided to Holiday Inn it to make it easier for an early start the next day.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 7, July 28:
Rafting the Animas River and camping at Morefield Campground in Mesa Verde.
- Breakfast at Oscars.
- My middle kid has no idea how to smile. I must have 1,000 pictures with him with his eyes closed or otherwise looking like he's in pain.
- Parking Rules Applied at the outfitter!
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 7, continued
- A couple pics of how we packed for 5 people for two weeks. The orange and blue duffels were all of our clothes. The gray bin in the upper right as well as the smaller one on the lower left was misc camping/cooking/food stuff. Camp table. 5 gallons of water. Under the shelf were all my tools/spares, our Keen's and daypacks, gun, stove. Went with the white gas stove on this trip because all the fuel packed INSIDE the stove, whereas 2 1lb propane cylinders would have had to be packed outside the stove. The Yakima roofbox stored 5 sleeping bags, air mattresses, tent, and camp chairs.
- Stopped at the Wally World after rafting to get some groceries, and finally decided it was go with a larger cooler. Being as tight on space as we were meant someone got a nice cooler in the parking lot!20170728_151852.jpg20170728_151859.jpg20170728_163446.jpg



Here is how we packed with the larger cooler. Still maintained good visibility out the rear window.
20170801_085630.jpg
 
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fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 7, continued
- Made it to Mesa Verde!!
- Heard rumors in the Visitor's Center about 2" of rain overnight.
Decided to roll our camping reservation over to the lodge. The people in the campground were incredibly helpful doing this. They called up to the lodge for us and confirmed availability and the lodge applied our camping fees already paid to the room.
- Still whipped up some chicken, peppers, and pasta on the porch
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 569, err rather Day 8, July 29:
Mesa Verde to Potholes Recreation Area
- Mesa Verde was very cool. Definitely glad we stopped here.
- Getting sworn in as Junior Rangers
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 8, continued.
We had a lot of driving ahead of us on roads that weren't exactly conducive to high speed travel.
- Picked up County Road S near Bradfield Recreation Site. I spy some Rovers on their sign!
- It started out as a nice gravel road.
- But it gave way to a pretty seldom used trail.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 8, continued
I need to boot up my tablet with all the mapping and figure out exactly which road I took after County Rd S. I'll come back and edit this post when I find it.
- Closing the gate!
- About to start the descent.
- Going down was easy but bumpy as hell(looking back up). Reminded me of descending Top of the World in Moab. My wife took a video, I'll have to try to find it.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 8, continued
Had a lot of road ahead of us, including Rimrocker and Escalante Canyon Rds. I took some of the winding roads a little too fast and my youngest got car sick(in a bag). There wasn't much to do though, other than press on and not go so fast.
- Took Love Mesa Rd 500. This was a really pretty drive, wish I could have slowed down a bit more when driving it.
- About a 1/2 mile from our planned campsite I thought I found a different spot that would have been perfect for some "remote" camping, which by this point I was desperate for. Well, turns out my wife has a wildlife phobia, not just a bear phobia. She was afraid of mountain lions, and also all things "remote". :banghead: Anyway, we had a HUGE argument and I tore out of there pretty fast(because I was pissed, LOL). Well the road was pretty washed and twisted up my axles pretty good. By the time we got a half mile to the Potholes Rec site I had a flat tire. Turns out the valve stem got pushed into the dirt in a wash. The plastic cap got cut and the coupon stuck inside the stem, depressing the schrader valve. All I had to do was pry the plastic out and refill the tire(On Board Air FTW!).
- Campsite and area was still beautiful.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 9, July 30: Potholes to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Original Itinerary called for us to head up to Dinosaur Nat'l Monument. Well, the main attraction, the trail with all the dino prints was closed. So we decided not to make to 3+ hour drive up there. I was kinda bummed because I wanted to stay at the Echo Park Campground on the river up there, but sometimes you just have to roll with it.
- Spent a few hours exploring Escalante Creek. Kids caught frogs and tadpoles and looked for rocks. It was a welcomed break from the long day before.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 9, continued
- Heading out of Escalante Canyon
- Made it to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP!!
- Junior Rangers, again!
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 9, continued
- Started hiking to the bottom of the canyon. Spoke with some people coming up and realized we wouldn't have to to finish. So we turned back. Definitely want to get back here to do this again though.
- Big ass beetle!!
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 10, July 31: Since we cut out Dinosaur Nat'l Monument we were a day ahead. Called another audible and headed to Glenwood Springs. Another hotel, too. :( I was Ok with it because my wife was happy. :)
- Exploring another creek, this one just on the side of the road.
- "Spa of the Rockies" LOL
- Trailhawk vs Disco Sport, Hmmmmm :ack:
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 10, continued:
Checked out Doc Holliday's grave site. Some weird stuff going on at that cemetery, that's for sure.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 11, Aug 1: Glenwood Springs to Breckenridge.
- Took Haegerman Pass to Leadville.
- Found some snow to play in!
- Pic in front of Dee Hive Tours that shuttled me and a buddy on a backpacking trip 20(?) years ago.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 11, continued: Leadville to Breck via Mosquito Pass
- My wife loved all the flowers in the mountains, these especially.
- It was cold at the top of the pass!
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
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Lake Villa, IL
Day 12, August 2: Summit Mt Lincoln
- Driving to the upper trailhead
- Turned around and parked facing back down the mountain. This will be important later!
- Oldest and middle at the summit
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 12 continued:
- My youngest froze about 50ft from the summit, if you look close you can see a tear on his cheek, LOL

So the day before I had experienced a slight issue with a difficult restart after shutting the vehicle off. After the hike up Mt Lincoln I COULD NOT get the truck started. Fortunately I was able to push the truck back down the trail, pop the clutch, and get it fired up. Weird.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Day 12 continued:
After some lunch in Alma we decided to make a run up Mt Bross.
- Cool dome houses on the road to the trail
- Old mine shaft?
- Ended up stopping short of the summit. Trail got slightly sketchy and with the earlier truck issues it wasn't worth risking.