Dave and Ruth are taking us along on their summer 2009 trip through the Southwest, pulling their camper and CJ-3B on a trailer. In Part 1 we visited Capital Reef and Mesa Verde National Parks. (See a map (350K PNG) courtesy of the National Parks Service, in a new window.) Here's the rest of the story. Click for the large copies of Dave's great photos of Lil Willy and the scenery. -- Derek Redmond
We waved good-bye to Mesa Verde, and headed out to re-supply in Durango, CO. Continuing east, we took Colorado Hwy. 160 over Wolf Creek Pass and down into the San Luis Valley of Colorado, an extensive agricultural area. We finally arrived late in the day at Great Sand Dunes National Park. We had not been to Great Sand Dunes before, so we had no idea what to expect. It was a Thursday evening, and still two days before July 4th, a popular USA holiday involving things like barbecues, camping, fireworks and national Independence, so we figured there would still be campsites available even at this late hour. We were wrong.
Apparently, the locals consider the park their personal playground. We can't blame them; that's how we feel about Grand Teton. They had already bought their several days of camp reservations for the upcoming weekend, securing their sites for arrival by Friday night. So we left the park campground and bought a couple nights at the much more expensive private RV park just outside the gates. Even so, the RV park worked very well for us and again, we took Lil Willy down off the trailer. We sat and enjoyed the sunset over the distant San Juan Mountains from the balcony of the lodge, and then returned to our campsite for dinner.
Next morning we drove Lil Willy into the park and checked out the Visitors Center. This park was a very pleasant surprise. It is one of a handful of places in the world where you can see "surge flow." The creek flow surges, then lessens, then surges again. This is due to the constant miniscule and temporary damming of the creek by little sand dunes created from the water current. The Medano Creek flows out of the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains and flows along the case of the dune field, where it eventually sinks completely into the sand, surfacing again to the west and south to fill nearby San Luis Lake.
We drove the Medano Pass Primitive Road, from the base of the dunes on a deep and sandy surface, to the pass at 9882 feet, and beyond for a short distance. Along this road we passed through several vegetation zones, our favorite of which is still Montane Forest (150K JPEG); deep, dark, pungent.
What an awesome drive. We made many creek crossings, viewed Rocky Mountain sheep, saw thick forests and open meadows covered with countless wild flowers. We returned to camp in early evening and had another great camp dinner cooked on the grill.
On the morning of July 4, we pulled up stakes and left Great Sand Dunes behind, driving north on Colorado Hwy. 17 and 285. We stopped for a tour of the Marshall Pass Road, an old railroad grade.
Years ago Ruth and I transcribed some old family letters from the late 1800's and wrote a book using their contents. Some of these letters described how some of my ancestors from Utah had helped build this first railroad over the Rocky Mountains. One positive letter dated Dec. 19, 1880, spoke of wearing shirtsleeves in winter at 11,000 feet, while a letter only three weeks later dated Jan. 7, 1881 reflected much more miserable conditions. For years I have wanted to drive this grade, which had the tracks removed some time ago and is now a fine road at railroad grade (180K JPEG) and suitable for a two-wheel-drive car.
After another nice open air drive, and perhaps a supernatural discovery of a railroad spike provided by one of my ancestor's spirits, we descended back to the tow vehicle, and continued on north. (For further reading, see Colorado Legends: The Phantom Train of Marshall Pass.)
We stopped for the night in Leadville, CO, and of the two RV parks available, we chose the one downtown, so as to be within walking distance of activities in town for Independence Day. We watched a little band perform, and then had a nice dinner. Finally returning to our camper, we watched the fireworks from our trailer deck, called 911 on what we thought was a house fire but turned out to just be fools playing with a bonfire by the corner of their home, and retired for the night.
Across the street from the RV park, the band at a little bar started to play for their "after the fireworks" celebration. From our preferred sleeping position we listened, until about 2 A.M., to a man with an accordion attempt to sing every song ever written. Yep, it was time for us to get back into the wilderness.
So north again we turned, driving the rugged Colorado Rockies highways with steep grades. At one point, we stopped and parked on a pull-out with a U-Haul truck towing a vehicle on a trailer, the driver of which had been riding his brakes on the long down grade, and appeared scared to death. Learning he and his young wife were from the flat lands, and unfamiliar with mountain driving with a load, we gave him lesson one of "Engine Braking 101;" he seemed to understand and his face displayed a visible new confidence. We looked both ways and crossed I-70, then headed for Rocky Mountain National Park. (See the map, 350K PNG).
Pulling into the Park, we set up camp at the Timber Creek campground. Recent years have seen a tremendous Pine Beetle kill In the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, and Rocky Mountain National Park has not been spared. In some spots Timber Creek campground looked like a war zone. The once-beautiful pine tree-covered setting was partially closed, with trees cut down, and slash piles galore. Pine Beetle kill is a natural cycle by the way.
The devastating look reminded us of the aftermath to the Yellowstone fires of 1989. Even so, burned areas of Yellowstone now have wonderful low cover re-growth creating excellent wildlife habitat. The earth is just breathing, and we short-lived human creatures simply need to keep the clock of geology in our perspectives. But we should probably also develop personal and species habits to "take only pictures, leave only foot prints." Go Tread Lightly! (Dave steps off his soapbox.)
If you've never visited Rocky Mountain NP, you must. You will always see elk. Our elk visited our campsite, and there are always herds covering some of the high mountain slopes on the Trail Ridge Road. You will almost always get an afternoon and evening thunderstorm in these mountains, usually with a pretty good downpour. Then it will dissipate and you'll get clear blue evening skies, but it does chill things down so wear your clothing layered.
The first evening we took Lil Willy down from the trailer, kept the top on (due to the look of rain) then drove a short distance to the parking lot for a half-mile walk to the Holzwarth Historic area and buildings of the Never Summer Ranch. After an enjoyable walk and tour by volunteer rangers, we returned to the parking lot and drove down to the Kawuneeche Visitor Center. We browsed about in the bookstore and then returned in a heavy downpour to camp. There's nothing like driving a Willys in heavy rain, or a hard snow, dry and warm under a soft top.
The next day dawned mostly clear but cold, so we took off the top anyway. Keeping the windshield up, we headed out with coats and gloves and drove the Trail Ridge Road to over 12,000 feet. Taking many pictures, and taking in many grand views, both while driving and stopping at various overlooks, we eventually descended to the Moraine Park Visitor Center, where we saw a wonderful movie about the park, and bought a hat.
Next we set off for the base of the Old Fall River Road, a one-way dirt road that tracks back to the top at the Alpine Visitor Center. We ate some sandwiches in a nice tree covered picnic area in the bottom and set off up the road. This is a beautiful drive and can easily be navigated in a two-wheel-drive car. At the top we visited the Visitor Center, and headed back down the switchbacks to camp.
We broke camp in the morning and drove back down toward Granby, turned right on Colorado Hwy. 125, and set our sights for Wyoming. Wyoming Hwy. 230 and 130 got us to the Brush Creek Ranger Station in the Medicine Bow National Forest, where we talked with knowledgeable ranger volunteers about roads and land use. We made our plan. One or two hours later we had Lil Willy back off the trailer and had driven him to the top of Kennaday Peak, an old fire lookout tower site. Two hours after that we had taken him to the end of a very narrow and almost non-existent two-track, through several creek crossings and back onto the trailer.
The Medicine Bow Mountains are still some of the prettiest places we've seen. Once again northbound on forest roads, we trailered Lil Willy past a few en-route forest campgrounds and decided we were close enough to home to drive the rest of the way, and sleep in our home beds for the first time in more than ten days. After passing through swarms of mosquitoes and through the little town of Elk Mountain, almost "Stephen Kingish" on a Sunday evening, we again found ourselves on pavement.
This mountain loop through parts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming (see the map, 350K PNG) was so very enjoyable. We tend to lay down some miles in between Jeep rides, but it really fits our travel style and beats the heck out of a hotel stay. We have a grand time, but always find ourselves clicking the heels of our hiking shoes together and mumbling things like, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."
Return to Scenic Drives on Public Lands, Part 1.
Thanks to Dave and Ruth for the story and photos. -- Derek Redmond
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