Rocky Mountain High

Molly Brown Campground, USFS, Leadville, CO.

 

 

Bucolic meadow view this morning from our campsite. We didn't see any wildlife, but sure enjoyed the sound of the birds and pine scented air.

What a joy to be in a campground where everyone was outside enjoying nature as opposed to so many campgrounds we visit where everyone is inside their RV's.

 

Our morning was spent driving over the Rockies. So interesting to get a different perspective along the varied elevations. When we hit 12,000 ft. I was definitely feeling the altitude.

The highlights were the Ute trail, going over the Continental Divide at the top of the Rockies, and being at the headwaters of the Colorado River.

We so appreciated the great weather and being able to see forever...well at least to Wyoming.

p.s. Things we do not take for granted on road trips: good weather, hot showers, cell service and being such great traveling companions. So much fun to travel with someone who enjoys the unknown and adventures as much as me.

 

On the western side of the Rockies we stopped by Grand Lake Lodge. The best part of the lodge is its location looking down on Grand and Granby Lakes. The inside is pretty and has a gigantic circular fireplace in the middle of the room, but the majestic lodges of the Northwest are more dramatic and grandiose.

 

 

We were going to do a side trip to Vail, but a crash closed the pass. Rather than sit in traffic we decided to head for Leadville. I was really looking forward to exploring this town. Several years ago I read the book, Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. Among other places the book takes place in Grass Valley and Leadville.

Loved, loved Leadville. A hippie, outdoors kinda town. Reminded me a lot of Nevada City. My favorite place was the Beer and Oxygen Bar. At 10,200 feet this is the only place that an Oxygen bar actually makes sense!

We opted for a late lunch/early dinner at a food truck. OMG - delish! I had a melted pepper jack/pulled pork/Ortega chilies on sourdough and Ned had a pulled pork sandwich. Yes, I have food porn pics.

 

Every town I fall in love with while on the road, I imagine what it would be like to live there. Sometimes I even glance at the real estate listings...causing poor Ned a bit of distress. As I was talking about how cool this place was and how fun it would be to live here, Ned reminded me of the high elevation and that they probably only get 6 weeks of summer a year.

There were several town murals. I saw us in the top mural, Ned saw us in the bottom mural. He also pointed out that no one was smiling in the bottom mural. Haha...point taken. Nevada City we'll stay.

 

 

The western side of the rockies is much different than the eastern side, but still beautiful.

Crossing over the Colorado River, while it still has water in it. Hard to believe this modest river will be supplying 40 million people with water downstream.

This is copper mining territory. The picture in the bottom right looked like something on mars.

 

 

We're camped in a USFS campground tonight right on Turquoise Lake. We are still at a really high elevation, over 10,000 feet. Good news is we have great weather (albeit a bit windy and knowing it's going to drop into the 40's tonight) and cell service! Bad news, no showers or flush toilets. Day two of no showers available. If I was a really good traveling companion I'd take a dip in the lake. I think for tonight I'll settle for being a mediocre one.

 

 

One more thing...Ned measured the water temperature with his infrared thermometer. It read 53 degrees.

Ned said he's onboard with also being a mediocre traveling companion. Great minds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Rockies!

Moraine Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park

 

It rained like crazy last night and a cold, wet morning greeted us. Burrrr. We decided to head out as soon as we took hot showers. Was it really only a few days ago it was well into the 100's?

Driving thru Loveland, Ned spotted a sculpture park and wanted to take a look. His sister, Nancy, is friends with a sculptor (Jan Rossetta?) in this area. He was hoping we'd see some of her work. No such luck, but we did take an amazing bike ride thru a park featuring African stonework.

The sculptures were set up beautifully among ponds and in a wooded setting. They reminded us of the African sculptures we saw earlier in the trip at the Dallas Botanical Gardens. We would have ridden longer, but it was still freezing cold.

 

As we're headed to the Rockies, we passed by a cherry shop. A few days ago we bought some delicious cherries from a roadside vendor. He said they were from Colorado. When we saw this shop we had to go in with the hopes of scoring another pound or two of those yummy cherries.

Turns out they don't have fresh cherries! Only cider, jellies, jams, pies, etc. Needless to say, we left empty handed. Once you have fresh cherries there ain't no going back.

 

 

 

The drive up the canyon to the Rockies was gorgeous. Better yet, the clouds were clearing and there was blue skies. Hurrah!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great shot of Winnie with the Rockies in the background. She's been a trooper this trip! 9th time across the U.S. and she just plugs along. (Okay, a couple of hiccups here and there, but she has over 176k miles on her). Just love the places she has taken us.

 

 

 

 

 

After a short stop in Estes Park we made it to our campground by noon. The pine smell and granite boulders reminds us of home. Darn you Rocky Mountains, you're starting to make me homesick. We had a quick lunch, looked over some maps, and planned our strategy for exploring the park.

 

 

We decided to take advantage of the in-park shuttle service and headed for Alberta Falls. From that hike we picked up another trail, up to Bear Lake, and then took the shuttle back to the campground.

It was really warm and the falls were amazing! I was struggling a bit with the elevation tho. We were at about 9,500 feet and I was definitely moving slow. By the time we got back to the campsite it was close to 6 and the temperature had dropped...a lot!

Our plan was to walk to the ampitheatre this evening and take in a Ranger show on the Black Bear. Fuhgetaboutit...We're beat and the idea of bundling up in our jackets, with blankets, as we sat there for 45 min. was a hard sell. Looks like a quiet evening at home, asleep by 9 is my guess.

No cell in park so will have to post this with tomorrow's blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy