Day 25 - Blue Mtn. campground - Mueller State Park

First a look at Blue Mtn. campground (a little jewel but not hookups) and the serenity.  It was a nice level spot which makes setup very easy.

 First of the two objectives for the day was Florissant Fossil Beds Nat. Monument, which is just east of Lake George (now that you know where that is?).  This site is known for the LARGE stumps of old redwood trees.  These stumps are 34 million years old and have been petrified.  They were covered by debris from a old volcano that left only the stumps and blew away the rest of the tree (kind of like what happened at Mount Saint Helens). 

As you can see this tree was large / this being what is left of the base.  They estimate it was more than 230` tall and 750 years old when the volcano buried it in mud / ash.   It is not the only one this size on the site.

This one is under a cover to protect it from the weather and has metal bands around holding it together.
The park is also know for fossilized insects and one even adorns it`s sign.

That is a representation of a 34 million year old wasp and it looks a lot like the ones we have today.

The second destination was the small town of Cripple Creek, Co which is south of Lake George (you know).  I am not sure why I went there except that the name is a part of an old song - but I can not remember who sang it (you know one of those 1970`s things).  Anyway it was a Big disappointment since it has been turned into nothing but a lot of gambling establishments.
In talking to some of the locals, it use to be a quaint little mining town but big money sure messed that up.  The weirdest thing I saw while getting something to eat was a small bus from a nearby retirement community.  It had brought a load of really "old people" with walkers and canes to spend what little money they had - I know who am I to judge......

I like these "old" wall art from the past painted on the brick.  Below, the town is decked out for the up coming July 4 th. weekend celebration.

This is what the rest of the town looks like from up on a hill - you can see the downtown strip off to the left.  They took all of the nice old buildings / left the front and gutted the inside for casinos. 

To close - a few pictures from the campground (which is at 9,700` elevation).  First looking north at a small storm that dropped a little rain.

Above a grove of Aspen trees on the way to my camp site in Mueller State Park, Co.  I really like the look of these trees in a large stand. 
I am headed east to check out several interesting things - stay tuned to see what they are......
Buenas Notches

Day24 - Nathrop, Co, - Lake George, Co.

This was a driving day and there were only a few interesting things along the way. 

First was Wilkerson Pass (elevation 9,507`) on Hwy 24 (west of Colorado Springs).  It was a high enough point (great reception) to do some catching up on my blog.  It also has a good view south to the Sangre De Cristo Mtns.

This is an attempt at a panorama with some snow covered mountains in the distance (I do not know if you can enlarge them).  The contrast is a little light but you get the idea.

You know that it is a slow picture day when I start showing you road side signs!  The name of the National Forest is a hint at where I am headed in a few days).  Oh well, you get what you pay for......
I passed by a yard where they were pre-fabricating log houses, so I had to turn around and stop to have a look.  Unfortunately the crew was leaving as I approached, so I had to be content with pictures over the fence.

This last on shows the notching of a log that I think would be the top plate on a wall and would receive the logs that will makeup the roof.  But what do I know......
At the end of the day I found a quiet little campground (run by the Forest Service so $7.00 / night) just south of Lake George (which you might not be able to find on a map - still west of Colorado Springs).  I had 21 spaces and only three campers (including me) so it was very quiet - Oh Yea!
Enough for this day.
Toot-a-loo

Day 23 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison - Denver area

Nothing stunning to report on and not to much in the way of great pictures.  So day 22 will have to be it for a few days.  I plan to be in Boulder on Thursday evening and then on to the Rockies.
Sorry but I am having to much fun to sit and type.
Bob

Day 22 - Durango, Co. - Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Nat. Park

The drive north from Durango was packed with beautiful mountains and a few passes.  The first pass - Coal Bank pass elev. 10,640` was a push and then Molas pass elev. 10,899` was fun.  I wanted to stop at every turn but there was not a pullout.

Always snow on the north sides of the mountains (and I am headed north, so that is my view) which makes for a great picture.  My truck made it over the passes without much problem and so far I am averaging about 16.7 MPG - not to bad.
What`s that you want more pictures - well....

Of course I had to work my truck into the shot.  This is on top of Molas Pass which I noticed has gained in elev. from my map, the sign shows it at 10,910`.

Then I was in Silverton, an old mining town which is preserved to look as it did around the turn of the century.  It is the other end of the old steam train that runs from Durango and is heavily tourist orientated. 

There are a lot of motorcycles, as you can see in this picture and it is ringed by snow covered mountains

Leaving Silverton and on to Ouray, another small old mining town.

Ouray is just about the same a Silverton except they have a great ROCK shop - the kind I like.  So I had to pick up a few small additions to my mineral case at home,

If you look closely you can make out the word "ROCKS" to the left of the flag.  Yep that where I headed.
On to Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat. Park which is just east of Montrose,Co.

This place is amazing - it is a large high area that has been cut down through solid granite (over millions of years) to form a shear canyon.  The depth is about 2,300` from rim to the river bed and the walls a almost vertical.  I am not sure it is possible to get from these pictures the scale but here goes.....

You can see the surrounding country around the rim is forests and fairly level.  But the river (visible at the bottom of this shot) is busily cutting the canyon deeper at the rate of an inch a century.

Another view of the river below and a few spires that resisted it`s force.

One last look at the canyon and the surrounding country.This is the view below is looking west from the highest point on a trail at the end of the Park rim drive.  Nice mountains!

That is it for now - you did`t think I was going to close without getting myself in the blog.

That is going to have to hold you for a few days since I will be is an area with no reception until I get to the

Denver area.

Signing off for now

Day 21 - Durango, Colorado - Bicycling & Shopping Downtown

This being day 21 - that means I have been out on the loose for 3 weeks.  Time flies when you are having fun and I am.
I spent the day in the Durango area.  First I got my road bicycle out and rode about 40 miles - half up hill and you can guess, the other half down hill.  I headed north toward a small town called Silverton.  The ride up the main road (Hwy. 550) seemed really easy until I turned around and started back down.  It was then that I realized that I had a 25 MPH tail wind and the ride back was not just coasting but having to pedal down hill.  No brains - no headaches!  It was still a good ride and I gained about 2,000` of elevation but did not make the pass (10,640`) as I intended.

Above is a shadow picture of me on the roadway.  OK so I`m weird!  Below is one of the green hills with red rock layers.

I cleaned up a took the "free" shuttle bus into downtown Durango and did some shopping.  Found a great Spanish food restaurant and just checked out old town Durango.  The highlight was a celebration for the Denver Broncos complete with three of the cheerleaders signing autographs.  Yes, they were in their uniforms and guarded by several policemen.  They even had two of the Superbowl trophies (also heavily guarded) on display.

Sorry Mark but the sun was bright that day so the lettering is hard to read but they are the real things.

This last picture is one of the Police cars at the Broncos celebration and the way they secured their bicycle to the rack - look closely - yes that is a pair of handcuffs.  I guess they figured that was going to hold it.

Well that`s it from Durango, Co. - next it is north to Ridgway State Park about 70 - 100 miles.  But a stop in two small towns of Silverton & Ouray along the way.

Probably no more "ruins" for a while but then you may have had enough already...............

Hasta la Vista, baby.

Day 20 - Farmington N.M. - Durango, Co.

I found a great little RV park very near to Aztec Nat. Monument, outside of Farmington N.M. and it was only $20 with elect. hookups.  Also very quiet since almost all of the "residents" were long term and worked for the oil fields - so lights out early.

My drive was four blocks to Aztec N.M. which is very large ruin site.  I was able to have a one on one semi. tour with a Park Service Ranger who grew up in the area.  He was quite knowledgeable about the site and the history of the area in general. 

The site is one of the biggest I have yet seem and has about four hundred rooms and several "kivas".  These are cermonial or meeting rooms and are always round - most partially below ground which keeps them very cool (about 25 degrees different from outside temps.)

This is a model of the entire complex and shows the Great Kiva in the center with all of the other rooms around the sides.

 It  has one of only three "Great Kivas" know to exist in the U.S.  This Kiva or meeting room is about 100` in diameter and 20` high.  You say "show me a picture" - well OK.  Those are windows around the sides.

Below is a view of the Great Kiva from a higher vantage point.  Notice the early use of "skylights" - not really, they had to cover the hole in the center (see previous picture) that served two functions.  First, it let the smoke from the fire pit (on which the ranger is sitting) out.  Second, it was the traditional way (via a ladder) that the ceremonial dancers entered during celebrations (it symbolized messengers from the heavens descending into the meeting or celebration).

I also happened to enter the Great Kiva just a one of the park personal was starting to give a talk about the structure and it "believed" use in the society.  It of course had to be rebuilt since the use of the site dates back to between 800 & 1130.  After that a prolonged drought,  forced many of the people to abandon the sites in search of other sources of water.

Like at so many of the sites, the doorways are shaped in this pattern and made it easier for someone entering with a large bundle or container.  The doorways were covered with a cloth all but the bottom so that the heat would stay in and some fresh air could also enter.

These two pictures (above) are interesting in that they show a darker layer of stone that has been included in the walls.  Originally though, all of the walls were covered with a type of "stucco" that was white so all of this layering was hidden.  Odd.....

They found many of these milling or grinding stones that were used to turn the corn into flour.  Corn was a main staple of their diet.

And now for something completely different - this is the lowest I have found regular gas on my trip (so far).  We haven`t seen those prices in Santa Barbara for a while!  This was in Farmington, New Mexico - it might have something to due with our taxes - maby.........

 And no I did not stop at the Taco Bell for the other kind of "gas"!

As soon as I crossed the border into Colorado the landscape changed from desert to mountains with green stuff growing all around.  A little snow (a little hard to see) on those mountains made it even better.

Well since it is after 10:00 PM and I gave blood today (mosquitoes) at this campground.  I will close and invite you to check in tomorrow for more stuff............
"Rocky Mountain" goodnight.