My Trails

It was very cold here this morning. Even though it is still summer in Colorado, the nights can get downright chilly when you’re at 9400′. This morning my thermometer said 31 degrees when I got up. I talked with another couple that camps here every year and they said that after Labor Day it is just to cold to be here. The days warm up nice as soon as the sun comes up, so it is good to sleep in if you can.

I’m camped about a mile from Taylor Park Reservoir on a forest road in the Gunnison National Forest. The area is a haven for OHV. A small community down by the reservoir rents quads and motorcycles and many visitors that come here trailer in their own. It is so friendly to OHVs that you can drive them on dirt forest roads without a vehicle license.

Yesterday I rode Honda up Cottonwood Pass Road. The road was all gravel with many washboard and pothole sections for the 15 mile drive to the top. It was really beautiful at the pass. You had views for many miles in both directions. I walked around the summit for a while, enjoying the cool air and scenery, until dark clouds moving closer convinced me to head down.

I thought it was neat that the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail crosses the road at the pass, and I sampled a bit of the path just to say I had been on it. With Honda doing all the work to get up there – over 12,000 feet of altitude – I’m quite familiar with how much harder it is to walk up.

A lot of weekenders are pulling out today. With school starting back up and many vacationers going back to work, it should be less crowded in the forests and parks. I may stay here for a couple weeks and then find someplace a little warmer.

I knew it was time to leave Caddis Flats Campground when two unfortunate things happened on Monday and Tuesday. The first thing that happened didn’t really affect me much but it was exciting anyway. I had been out doing a little hiking and panning down the river, and on my return to my camper, just as I rounded the last curve, I was met with all sorts of emergency vehicles with flashing lights parked along the road by the campground entrance. As I got closer I saw that a vehicle had lost control and rolled down the embankment where it ended up on its top. I told the Sheriff I had a camper in the campground and they eventually moved the firetruck so I could get in. The good thing was that the guy involved in the accident was not hurt.

Later that night I woke to go to the bathroom, turned on the light, and came face to face with a mouse on my counter. He didn’t seem startled at all and didn’t even run until I started chasing him with a shoe. I checked my drawer where I keep my snacks and found several things chewed. I slept very little the rest of the night, expecting the little intruder to come back and continue his ransack of my kitchen. Early the next morning I packed up Minnie and headed north.

I spent the night at a Walmart in Montrose, Colorado where I purchased two mousetraps and more snacks. Then I moved all food to cupboards that were sealed. So far my traps remain baited and ready for the next invasion. It is amazing how fast the little varmints can find a way in. All I lost was a few snacks, but I’ve heard horror stories of mice getting in the engine and chewing the wiring. I usually leave the hood open when I park now. It is supposed to discourage mice from hiding and doing mischief under there.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison is one of those places you can’t capture with a picture. Like the Grand Canyon you have to see it in person. The black volcanic rock gives the appearance of Gothic walls descending into the canyon.

I was interested in finding a campsite for the night so I drove a road that parallels the canyon to the north and skirts the southern boundary of Gunnison National Forest. I finally found a forest road that took me to a pretty camp at the base of an Aspen forest. I set up camp with the idea of exploring further up the road to see if there was any cell service.

The next day I rode about 10 miles up into the mountains. I didn’t find any more camps until almost at the top, and even then no cell signal. It would have been way too cold to camp up there anyway. Several times as I rode the narrow mountain road, cows would be standing in groups on the road. The mountain road was cut into a steep bank that offered very little pasture for the herd, but the cows seemed to be content to walk the road grazing the narrow shoulders. The problem was that when I would try to go by them, they would think I was chasing them and run up the road in panic. I usually had to drive along behind them until they would get tired enough that I could zip around.

When I looked out the window the next morning, there were 20 more cows standing in front of Minnie. I saw two move over to Honda and lick the seat. I though back to when I was on the farm and a cow ruined the seat of a motorcycle I had foolishly left parked in the pasture, so I jumped out the door and yelled at them to get out of my yard. They moved back a few feet and gave me a look like – who do you think you are? It wasn’t until I picked up a switch and swung it at them that they moved on across the road. I was going to wait until after the weekend to move, but cows and no cell convinced me to hit the road again.

Tonight I am at a campground a few miles north of Gunnison, Colorado. There is no cell signal here either, but I talked with the camp host who told me there is dispersed camping a few miles up the road by a reservoir that has good AT&T cell service. The host and his wife have AT&T phones and have to drive up there to make calls. I will pay to stay here one night and explore the area around the reservoir tomorrow.

I have done some exploring of the area near my camp here at Caddis Flats in Placerville, Colorado. Two days ago I rode 25 miles to Ridgeway and checked out a few forest roads along the way. I found some nice isolated campsites but none of them had any cell signal. I would probably move if I could find a more private spot with all the amenities I look for in a temporary home. This campground is okay but a little to close to the main road.

Yesterday I rode to Telluride. The town reminds me of Jerome, AZ., or Julian, CA. There were lots of stores selling trinkets or souvenirs, and restaurants that I could only guess at their prices. The one gas station just outside town had regular for $3.00/gal. I get the sense that the tourists who come here are not worried about what anything costs.

Telluride, Colorado is famous for a world class ski resort, golf course, and even – I found this kind of amusing – an opera house. I didn’t go to the opera or play golf, but the ski resort runs a gondola to the top of the mountain, and it is totally free. You just walk up and get in the gondola. In the summer, mountain bikers ride the gondolas to the top and ride their bikes down several different trails.

The view from the summit was fantastic. At 10,500 feet, 1800 feet higher than Telluride, you get a splendid panoramic view in all directions. I liked that ride very much.

The only other time I got to ride a ski resort gondola for free was when I was hiking the AT. Killington Mountain in Vermont offered free rides in their gondolas to any thruhikers that showed up. The difference was that we were hiking over the top of the mountain and got to ride down and back up. Both places are happy if you get something to eat in their restaurant. I remember buying snacks at a vending machine on Killington.

I was fascinated to learn that there are four stores in Telluride that sell Marijuana. I guess there is more than riding the gondolas that will get you high on the ski slope. Years ago I would have been too shy to go into a store like that just to look around, but my exploratory nature has made me more bold in the last few years.

The shop was small with a glass display of all the smoking pipes and supplies on one side and a chalkboard with prices above a counter on the other. On a shelf above the counter there were several glass jars of different varieties that customers could choose from depending on how they wanted the drug to make them feel. I talked with the young lady behind the counter for a few minutes, asking about the business and then asked if I could take pictures. She let me take one of the display case but she did not want me to photograph the price blackboard behind the counter.

Today I rode west along the San Miguel River. There were several recreation areas, spaced every few miles along the road, and I stopped at several to see what they offered. I sometimes wish I liked to fish or had a kayak to enjoy on rivers like these.

I did find places where it is legal to prospect for gold, and later in the afternoon I returned with my gold pan and spent about an hour panning beside the river. I found several flecks of gold, but they were so small I washed most of them back into the river. The gold found along this river is mostly tiny grains and hardly worth the time.

I have explored every road north, east, and west of here. After the weekend it will be time to move on.

My camp in the Monti-La Sal National Forest was great. I had pleasant temperatures for the ten days I was there, I had good cell service, it was close enough to town for supplies, and a nearby stream let me do laundry and supply my non-potable water needs. I was isolated enough that hardly anyone came by and there were shade trees that I could sit under in the afternoon. I will definitely remember the spot for future travels.

In the last few days I was there I made several sidetrips on Honda. A ride into the mountains towards Colorado brought me to a display of dinosaur tracks in the rocky ground, another rough, dirt road took me to a historic site where there was a battle between Indians and ranchers, and the day before I left I rode several miles to Gold Canyon at 10,000 feet. I waited until after the weekend, packed Minnie, and headed into Colorado.

It took a lot of packing to get ready to go. I had my screen tent set up and an awning fastened to the side of my rig, plus I had unloaded my motorcycle trailer to use for hauling water. I had really set up a nest for an extended stay. By the time I drove down the mountain and reached Cortez, Colorado, it was early afternoon.

Cortez had everything I needed to equip for my next travel leg. I stocked up on groceries at Walmart, found a laundromat to get everything clean again, dumped tanks, filled my propane, and of course, I had a hamburger at Mcdonalds. After all these chores – the laundromat driers were particularly slow – I finally got back on the road.

I wanted to head over to Mesa Verde National Park but I talked with some people who said the cliff dwelling tours are booked several days in advance. I have been to all the National Parks in Utah and several times to the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde National Parks. I decided this trip that rather than fight the crowds at the national parks I would instead explore the national forests that almost always surround the parks. I have found some of the best camping and scenery exploring the back roads of our forests. With that in mind I headed north towards Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Most of the time while looking for a good place to camp, I park Minnie someplace safe and ride the back roads on Honda. For some reason I turned up a side road just past Telluride Ski Resort into the Uncompahgre National Forest. It was a mistake! The road soon narrowed to one lane with a dropoff on one side, threatening slides on the other, and an unstable road bed from days of heavy rains. I pushed on with clenched fingers on the steering wheel and heart pounding, hoping it didn’t get worse before I found a place to turn around. Eventually, the road widened some, and after two miles I found a place to turn around. On the way down I kept meeting SUVs on the way up and we would squeeze by holding our breath. Luckily, I met no one on the very narrow streatch. I don’t want to reach for that much drama ever again.

Right now I’m parked just north of Placerville, Co, at a place called Caddis Flats campground. It is along the San Miguel river on BLM land. I will probably stay here for a few days even though it is a little too close to the road for my taste. At least I have cell and the river out my window is lovely.