Rocky Mountain National Park in the Snow

ALocation: Boyd Lake State Park (El. 5,100 ft); Loveland, Colorado

(click pictures to enlarge)
(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)

This is the first Colorado State Park for me. In fact I haven't been in any state park in a while and I miss them. Colorado is kind of screwy with their campground reservation system in that you can't make a reservation sooner than 3 days in the future. Since I didn't know I would be here that far in advance, I called ahead and they assured me they had vacancies so I just showed up without a reservation which is rare for me. The campground was only about 25% full but they still wouldn't let me pay for more than 2 nights at a time. My plan is to stay 5 nights so I have to go back to the office 3 times. When I asked why, they said their computer system wasn't tied in with walk-in campers so they were concerned about double booking the same campsite. I've stayed in a lot of state parks across the country and this is the first time for this nonsense. Oh well, I have a nice campsite that is level and 50 amp power to keep me warm. It is open and not cramped or crowded. The sites are paved, small, half circles which are OK for small bumper-pull trailers or motorhomes but for fifth-wheels like Liberty, I had to "straighten" the curve out so I could drop Freedoms tailgate without hitting Liberty. 

Campsite 111

It has been raining off and on since I got here. The weather forecast is for snow tonight and more rain through Thursday. I plan to leave on Friday. I stopped here so I could explore the Rocky Mountain National Park located about 30 miles west of here. Accuweather said it snowed up there last night and will continue to do so through tonight. The forecasted temperature in the mountains was predicted to be 34 today. I knew there wasn't going to be a clear day so I headed up there today in a drizzling rain which turned to snow as I entered the park. The roads were wet but not frozen and I kept a close eye on the outside temperature. I turned around when it suddenly dropped to 30 and the roads started getting slushy. Just like I was lucky enough to catch Wolf Creek Pass in the snow, I was able to see this National Park in its winter cover. It was good.

The Visitors Center where the snow started.

I found a bench so you could sit and look over the meadow

This was my favorite picture



Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road. 

Royal Gorge and Travel Plans

Location: Pueblo KOA (el 5,050 ft); Pueblo, Colorado

(Click pictures to enlarge)
(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)

I went to see the bridge that held the record as the highest bridge in the world for 72 years between 1929 and 2001. It is a suspension bridge across the Royal Gorge with the Arkansas River about 1,000 feet below. It is a Civil Engineering landmark for its time and surprisingly was constructed in only 7 months. There is a park surrounding it now-a-days with a cafe, gift shop, zip lines, gondola rides, etc. I don't like commercialization of attractions like this, but they have incorporated it into the surrounding very nicely, so I approve. :) 

It was very windy yesterday. I would guess it was blowing somewhere in the 30+ mph range with gusts even higher. There were times when I was facing into the wind that I thought it would blow my cell phone out of my hands. But overall, the weather was good, not too hot, not too cold, just right. I enjoyed walking over the bridge and just finding a placed to sit for a while. It was a good day.

It was a pretty day for this drive

Nice view of the bridge

It's not a bench, but it was still comfortable
with a great view

Showing the main cables coming back
to their anchorages.

Wooden deck

They have flags from all the states
I found Louisiana

Looking downstream in the valley. That is the Arkansas
River way down there.

A panoramic view. Notice the man on the far left as he holds his young daughter so she can look over the edge of the balcony.

Another panoramic view of the valley

This was the view while leaving the gorge area. I liked it.

Tomorrow is moving day. I'll be heading about 150 miles north to a state park in Loveland, Colorado. I couldn't make reservations because for some reason, you can't reserve a campsite less than 3 days in the future. Most of the time I don't know where I'll be in 3 days. But I called them and they said they shoujld have plenty of room, so I'll head there. It should be a good place to explore Rocky Mountain National Park and to just kick back and wait for nice weather in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. It also looks like Glacier National Park won't thaw out until the first of July so I need to "slow walk" it north for a couple of weeks. Boyd Lake State Park looks like a 5 or 6 day stay. We will see. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.

Pikes Peak (history and pictures)

Location: Pueblo KOA (el 5.050 ft); Pueblo, Colorado

(click pictures to enlarge)
(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)

People of my generation learned about Pike's Peak from our history classes. It was mainly used in the slogan, "Pikes Peak or Bust". That slogan symbolized the effort of gold seekers headed to the Colorado gold fields in the mid 1800's. We were shown Conestoga wagons with that slogan painted on their canvas coverings. The underlying lesson was the determination that these people showed in their effort to provide a better life themselves. The moral of the story was that in America anything was possible as long as you worked hard and were determined to succeed. I'm not sure how that lesson is being taught today, if at all. 

As Paul Harvey famously said, "and now the rest of the story,,,,". Pike's Peak is named after Zebulon Pike, who at the age of 27 was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He was in charge of one of the three exploration parties sent by President Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase. While the more famous Lewis and Clark expedition explored the northwest, Pike's party was charged with exploring the southwestern part and to find the headwaters of the Red River. Pike left St. Louis, Missouri just a couple months before Lewis and Clark returned from their exploration. He headed west across present day Missouri and Kansas in search of the Red River which was supposed to be the southern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. Little did he know that the source of the Red River was in the present-day panhandle of Texas and that it never reached the Rocky Mountains like they thought. The first major river they came to was the Arkansas River. Some people believe Pike thought this was the Red River and therefore was the reason why he sent a small group of he men down it. That small party went down the Arkansas until it emptied into the Mississippi and then returned to St. Louis. Pike and the remainder of the expedition went upstream on the Arkansas where he saw the mountain that ultimately bears his name. He also saw the Royal Gorge which is where I'll be going today. After several errors in navigation and going in circles at least once, the expedition came to the Rio Grande River in present day Alamosa, Colorado (where I was camped a couple days ago). Again, confused by which river he was on, Pike thought it to be the Red River and planned to go down it to the Mississippi River in the spring. Winter was coming on so he decided to build a fort for protection from the winter weather and the Indians. He didn't realize he was in Spanish Territory until Spanish troops from Santa Fe showed up and arrested him and his men. As a result of the Louisiana Purchase, Spain was suspicious of the U.S. intentions since the boundaries of the purchase was not clearly defined. Spain thought Pike and his men were spies sent to collect military information. The ironic part of the story was after his capture, the Spanish troops took him through present day New Mexico, Texas and Old Mexico. Pike kept careful notes as to the military strengths, locations of forts, towns and populations. He gathered all of the information while in the custody of the Spanish troops. It was as if they were giving him a guided tour. Since we were not at war with Spain, Pike and some of his men were released to return to the U.S. Pike returned in the summer of 1807 and filed his report. Of course, by then, Lewis and Clark had been back from their expedition for almost a year and Pikes report was overshadowed by theirs. 

Today, there are two ways to reach the top of Pikes Peak. One is by train and the other is to drive on the toll road. However, due to recent snows, neither modes of transportation was able to get to the top. The ranger said it is normally, mid to late June before it is open all the way. I was able to drive within a few miles of the summit before having to turn around. There were still a few good places for pictures, but I'm not sure it was worth the $12.00 toll.

Here are the pictures:

Waiting line

Nice view of the valley and U.S. 24

There is a business that takes people
up the mountain and allows them
to ride bicycles back down. Nope,
I didn't even think about doing it.

Nice View

Freedom and the snow

You can see the switch-backs with
the car coming on the road above

I liked this picture. It shows it all, the
road, the drop-off, the view and the
deep snow.

Another view of the valley

Last view of the valley

This one was taken at the point where I had to turn around due to the road being closed. If you look up at the top of the snow ridge, there is an edge that is "curled over". Although I didn't see any signs warning of potential avalanches, it sure looked like a possibility to me.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.  

Memories Remain but Towns Change and Moving Day

Location: Pueblo KOA (el. 5,050 ft); Pueblo, Colorado

(Click pictures to enlarge)
(All pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell Phone)

One of the reasons I stopped at Alamosa was to be close enough to drive to Red River, New Mexico. I made that drive two days ago but just now getting around to writing about it. The short version is, a friend and I worked there as 17 year old's. The long version can be found in an older post at http://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-river-will-tell-you-your-future.html 

I didn't take any pictures of the town because I felt like a stranger there. The only part of town I recognized was the condominium where we stayed. The best I could tell, a real estate office is at the location where we rented the motorcycles. I did travel up the road towards Goose Lake thinking I may be able to find the location where I wrecked. It all has changed with heavy residential development and paved roads. It was a different world from what I remembered. Oh well, life goes on.

This is Blanca Peak (el 14,345 ft). It
dominates this area. 

Some bighorn sheep grazing on the side of
the road.

The road to Red River. It was a nice drive

The road back to Alamosa and the campground. The land is
wide open and sparsely populated.

Seeing Blanca Peak means getting close

Yesterday was moving day and I moved about 125 miles north. The good thing is that I also dropped about 2,500 feet in elevation and the lower elevation feels much better. The new campground is located in Pueblo, Colorado which is at the junction of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. There are a couple things I want to see in this area and will be here at least 5 days. Today seems to be a lazy day though.

Hitched up and ready to pull out of Alamosa. I wanted one more picture with Blanca Peak in the background. It was a nice backyard.

The sky put on a show as I was driving
east. The vapor trails were playing
tic-tac-toe. 

This is after crossing the mountains
but not yet to the flat-lands

Large snow-fences on the left. They
must have some big snow drifts here

This is taken from a rest area off the
interstate. The interstate runs north
and south with the Rockies to the west
and the Great Plains to the east.

The latest campsite at Pueblo. It is an open campground and I like those types.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.