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
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