Autumn Color: Colorado Part 3

In Search of Autumn Color

A reprise of the map showing my overall journey. Presented as a convenience.

Part 3 of 3: October 7^th through the 9^th

This is the last installment of the story of my trip to Colorado to find and enjoy colorful fall leaves. In this section I drive south from Leadville, along the Arkansas River, then explore Marshall Pass, and finally take the Silver Thread Byway, CO-149, toward home.

I also ran into a bit more adventure than I'd anticipated, so read on.

Tuesday, October 7^th (continued)

I headed back south from Leadville on 24. This pretty valley is the headwaters of the Arkansas River. I was still not sure where I wanted to go from here. The high clouds had continued to build and the weather report at the ranger station noted the increased chance of showers in the following days. I decided not to take Cottonwood Pass back over to Taylor Park, figuring those high country aspen were likely past peak and into bare branches. South of Buena Vista 24 heads east and US-285 comes in from the north; I continued south on 285.

I passed by the dramatic appearing Chalk Cliffs with the thought to explore up that road on another trip when it would be safer to head up into the high country. I found cheap gas in Poncha Springs and asked an old timer there if there wasn't a ranger station just up US-50 from there. He said it was just a ways up on the right, so I headed east in search of local information. Turns out his directions were out of date; the old station had closed. I had to stop at the Chamber of Commerce visitor information to learn a new, modern station had been built just southeast of Salida along 50.

A very nice and knowledgable lady at the Salida Ranger Station answered my questions about various routes and alternatives. I liked her suggestion to take Marshall Pass Road, FR-200, back south on US-285. She said it was one of her favorite drives for fall aspen. She also suggested I might like to camp at O'Haver Lake campground, but cautioned it might be a bit smokey, as there was a prescribed burn nearby.

Marshall Pass

I took that route and looked at the campground. It was pleasant enough, but more of a destination for those who want to spend time lake fishing, and it was very smokey and no aspen. I continued up the road. Higher up there were only a few colorful aspen. I kept my eyes peeled for dispersed campsites, but only saw one and it didn't grab me. It was close to 5pm by the time I got to the top of the road, there were a few side roads here, that might lead to camping, but it was also close to eleven thousand feet, so might be a bit cold.

The obligatory photo of the sign at the pass.

At Marshall Pass, the road changes from FR-200 to FR-243 as it enters Gunnison National Forest. I headed down the road and noted there was more aspen color in this side.

Colorful mountainside 

A patch of brilliant color captured using the telephoto lens.

I obviously like these photos of aspen leaves seen through the white tree trunks.

There were also more deer along here than I'd seen anywhere else on my trip. As the road continued to descend, I passed a few camping areas, but as they were right next to the road, I continued on. The road follows Marshall Creek and then entered into private land. I saw from my map there was a side road heading north, FR-242.2A and tried up that way for camping. There were a couple of nice sites, but they were occupied. There was another far off the road, but not particularly level or pretty, so I continued up the road. There was nothing else and then I hit the boundary line for the Pinnacle Mine, so I turned around and took the one open site I'd seen before. It wasn't as nice as the others I'd had on this trip, but it was getting late and I managed to find a portion of it that was close to level and without too many cow pies.

My campsite off a side road off Marshal Pass Road

Wednesday, October 8^th

I still didn't know where I wanted to head from here. I understood that the weather was turning, so generally heading in the direction of home made sense. Marshall Pass Road comes out on US-50, so I could either head east from there to check out the aspen approaching Monarch Pass, then down 285 toward northern NM; or west to either turn south on CO-114 and hence NM: or continue on through Gunnison, then down CO-149 which would take me by Lake City, then south along the Rio Grande. I'd come up 149, named the Silver Thread Byway, earlier in the year and knew it to be a beautiful, scenic drive, plus I thought there might be aspen to view around Lake Cristobal above Lake City. This last idea won the day.

Lake Fork of the Gunnison

I drove through Gunnison, then south on CO-149. The first part of the route is through drier, lower terrain, then it goes up and over and down to along the canyon of the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. There were some photo opportunities here, mostly cottonwood rather than aspen, but colorful. I noticed a side road dropping down into the canyon and turned around to explore that. It ran next to the river, right up against the canyon wall to the trailhead for Devil's Creek. There was an interesting truss bridge, but I didn't explore farther.

A scenic spot right along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River near Devil's Creek

Truss bridge across the river just north of the previous photo.

As I was taking photos of the bridge and river I noticed the battery level indicator flashing on my camera. Oops, I hadn't been checking that and I could have easily recharged using my 12v/120v converter the night before. Well, I was almost to Lake City and it was lunchtime, so I would look for a cafe where I could plug in my charger while I had lunch.

Highway to Lake City with Carson Peak in the background

I found the Tic Tock Diner and the nice waitress found an outlet for me to use. I had a Tic Toc burger and by the time I was finished the battery was charged enough to get me through.

The road to Lake San Cristobal, County 30, is a few miles south of Lake City. This is the same road that goes to Cinnamon Pass (closed for the season.) Although slightly augmented by man, Lake San Cristobal was mostly formed by an ancient landslide that blocked off this fork of the Gunnison River.

I pulled in to the north end of the lake for photos. By this time it was between mostly cloudy and overcast, but still very pretty.

Lake San Cristobal and the gathering clouds

I then thought I'd head on up the road to look for more photos and this is where I ran into that adventure I promised.

Predicament

I passed the lake and the wide, dirt road continued along the river. At one point I saw a spot for a photo, but was past it before I could stop. I threw the truck in reverse to back up and get the shot, after checking there was no traffic. I was obviously not careful enough as I ran the two right-side wheels off the road. At that point there was a steep drop of three to four feet to the ground. I put the truck into 4WD and tried to drive out, but that caused me to actually slip father off. I put on the parking break and took a deep breath.

Just then a fellow and his wife came by and stopped in their John Deere ATV. The driver said "Looks like you're in a bit of a predicament." That was an accurate statement! I replied "Do you have any suggestions?" He said that if he'd been in a larger truck he could pull me out. I replied that I had a front hitch that would take a shackle, maybe that would help. His idea then was to pull from the side which might help keep my truck from sliding farther into the ditch. He was concerned that if we messed up my truck would tip over on its side, but I was hopeful this scheme would work. I dug out and installed the shackle mount on the front hitch and found the recovery strap which I'd also had the foresight to carry. We double-doubled up the strap so it would be short enough. He asked if I wanted to take a picture. If he hadn't brought it up I wouldn't have this evidence of my foolishness.

Not a good spot to be in, but at least I had recovery equipment and a good samaritan to help.

The plan was for him to keep tension on the front of my truck at an angle and help pull the front back on the road with the rear following as I eased out in 4WD. It took two failed attempts for me to remember I'd put on the parking brake - do'h. Once I disengaged the brake I was able to easily drive back on the road with the help of the ATV. Whew! Am I ever thankful I'd put on that front hitch earlier this year and bought those very basic recovery accessories. That easily saved me hundreds of dollars and the time and stress of getting a tow truck up there. And thankfully the event did no apparent damage to the tough little Tacoma.

I wasn't going to let that stop me, so took my photo, then drove on up the road for a while longer to see what was there. When I got to the point where clearly there would be no more autumn colors I turned around and drove back to the highway.

Upper Lake Fork of the Gunnison River

Slumgullion Pass – Spring Creek Pass

Continuing southeast on 149 most of the aspen were gone by. I again marveled at the enormous geographical area between Slumgullion Pass and Spring Creek Pass that is utterly decimated by the Spruce Beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis). There were large groves of aspen in this area, too, whose branches were totally bare of leaves, though I was told later at the ranger station in Creede that the aspen are fine; they had just lost their leaves, probably from a recent wind storm.

The farther south you get from Spring Creek Pass, the less affected the spruce are by the beetles. There are some interesting side roads around the North Clear Creek Falls area, specifically FR-510, 509 and perhaps 532, as well. The views of Bristol Head Peak are magnificent. I do want to come back this way next year and spend a couple of days exploring this area.

Bristol Head seen from the Silver Thread Byway

Creede

I learned the name Bristol Head and about the Spruce Beetle at the ranger station in Creede. I had just driven on by this old mining town on my previous trip up 149 earlier in the year. I drove through downtown this time and saw for the first time the dramatic canyon just north of the village. I asked the nice lady at the station about that, too, and she told me about the scenic loop through the old mining area. She marked it on their vehicle use map, which she gave me, and said the Chamber of Commerce could provide more information ˗ See Bachelor Historic Tour on this page.

You may, or may not, recall that I live near the Rio Grande just outside Albuquerque. The river at home is wide and always muddy, and sometimes barely flows at all. So I enjoy seeing The Rio in its upstream incarnations. Beginning west of Creede, 149 follows the Rio Grande to its end (the route, not the river.) I didn't take photos of Wagon Wheel Gap, where the river and highway, squeeze between the canyon formed by Blue Park and McClelland Mountain, as the light was poor and my photo earlier in the year is still online (scroll down this page if you're interested.)

Palisade of the Rio Grande

Day-use area of Palisade Campground along the Rio Grande

The cliff along the edge of Blue Park is called the Palisade, and on my previous passage, late in the morning, I'd driven through Palisade National Forest campground which is between the highway and the river.

The Palisade for which the campground is named

It was a small, very pretty, wooded campground. I was fascinated that several sites were right next to the clear, rushing Rio Grande and thought at the time that it might be fun to camp there sometime. This would be that time. It was only 4pm, but I'd driven late the day before and if I passed this site there would be no others for many hours.

A campsite along the river, though I ended up choosing another site.

The Rio Grande River seen from my eventual campsite

My campsite seen from where I took the previous image.

There were no other campers, just one family having a picnic gathering, so I had my choice of sites. I chose one, walked around taking photos, them moved to another site with a better view of my river. I felt very lucky for several reasons: the campground was beautiful with views of the Palisades and many cottonwoods and willows in their autumn colors; the campground was indeed still open – it doesn't have a gate, and is low enough in altitude, that I suspect it remains open year around; there were no screaming kids or barking dogs; and as a bonus, the forest service had removed the cash box, so camping was free.

I love vanishing-point photos

An additional “feature” of the campground is a train track running through the middle of it. The first time I saw that I thought, yikes, but as it is only used for the Denver & Rio Grande Scenic Railroad between South Fork and Wagon Wheel Gap, I was not worried about noise. It runs Tuesday through Saturday, but only though October 5^th.

An old boxcar used for storage and a maintenance car of some sort.

I was intrigued by the latch on the boxcar door - old school tech.

The tracks leave the campground, headed down river toward the station at South Fork.

I carry a small battery/crank-powered radio which includes the weather radio channels. Most of the time when I'm back in the mountains I cannot pick up a station. As the weather seemed to be closing in, I tried again this evening. I was able to pick up the station for the San Luis Valley to the east. The forecast was for rain tonight and tomorrow with snow at elevations and travel advisories for tomorrow night. So I put aside thoughts of camping in northern New Mexico and planed to head directly for home the next day.

Thursday, October 9^th

I woke in the night to the sounds of rain. It was raining in the morning, too, and naturally that was when I ran out of propane in the bottle to which I was connected. The temperature was mild, so I wasn't worried about the furnace, but to be unable to make coffee, that would not do. I waited a few minutes for the rain to lighten up and slipped on my wind breaker, the closest thing I had to a raincoat, and stepped outside to swap the hose to the other bottle. That was the last break in the rain, so I wrapped my cameras up in plastic, gathered everything I needed to move to the cab, and prepared to get wet breaking camp.

Well, the thing about the aluminum camper roof is that it makes a light rain sound like a torrent. I was able to pack up, lower the roof, and hit the road without getting very wet. I knew though that I'd need to raise the camper top at home, when it was dry, to keep mold and mildew from forming on the sides.

South Fork – Homeward Bound

It rained all morning. I stopped briefly in South Fork, the end of the Silver Thread Byway, to take photos out the truck's window of the D&RG RR station to illustrate this blog.

Train station at South Fork

Engine and caboose parked next to the station.

It was still raining in Monte Vista. It was raining on and off by the time I reached Alamosa where I gassed up. It mostly stopped by the time I reached the village of Antonito, where I returned to the Dutch Mill cafe for an early lunch, a.k.a., breakfast.

It was overcast, but mostly dry as I continued south into New Mexico. I looked over to the west to the mountains where I had originally thought to continue camping and it looked like it was pouring down rain there. Turns out that Albuquerque had rain in the area, too, though it was pretty light. When I got home, the driveway was wet, but nothing was falling out of the clouds as I unpacked the truck and camper.

I think this was my most enjoyable camping trip of the year. The scenery was fantastic. The weather was great until the very end. I was lucky in finding good campsites. I had a little adventure that I escaped due to my foresight and even more luck. It's getting late in the season and with other unforeseen events, this might be my last trip for the year. If so, it was a good one. Thanks for coming along after the fact!

South Central Colorado (NM/CO) - June 2014

New Mexico and Colorado Trip - June 2014

I've broken this trip into two blog posts, which is not unusual. However, instead of doing this strictly chronologically, I have divided the posts into a New Mexico post (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, Thursday afternoon and Friday), and then this Colorado post (Wednesday noon to Thursday afternoon).

Remember, you can click on a photo to see them all in a larger size.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Alamosa, Colorado

I left Rio de los Piños, NM heading northeast on Los Piños Road and was soon in Colorado. I decided not to stop at Antonito as it was still too early for lunch and the one gas station didn't even post their prices, so I could imagine they were high. Instead headed north along US-285 to Alamosa. I don't think I'd ever been there and figured gas would be less expensive. I also found an interesting small, local place to eat, the Monterey Cafe. Though it was approaching lunchtime, they advertised breakfast all day and a lady at the next table was having chicken-fried steak and eggs. I asked her if it was good and she affirmed that it was, so that's what I ordered and it hit the spot.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Looking at the map I decided that rather than turning back to more familiar areas to the south, I would explore south central Colorado where I'd never been to before. As a New Mexico native, I'd never really felt drawn to go to Great Sand Dunes National Park, but as it wasn't very far away and I had my senior pass, I figured I'd check it out. First I drove north on CO-17, then east on Mile 6 Lane, then north on the turn-off to the park.

View of Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains behind irrigated fields from Mile 6 Lane.
You can just make out the Great Sand Dune to the right between field and mountain.

The terrain below the dune is grass- and shrublands. At a pull-out on Mile 6 Lane.

As those of you who have been there know, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve is actually a pretty cool area with much more diversity in landscape than I had guessed.

Near the park entrance: Sand dune with mountains.

Medano Creek

Sand sledders on the High Dune

Dune Panorama

I waded in the river with a bunch of other folks, then drove up the primitive road to the "Point of No Return." As is apparently typical of the National Park Service, the warning sign on that primitive road is quite dire in an attempt to turn back the unprepared. At the visitor center I talked with a ranger intern and she & her brother painted a less bleak picture, explained where the camping areas were up the road and gave me a map. The first five miles are very sandy and they recommend lowering your tire pressure. Sounds like a fun adventure perhaps during the aspen season.

View of the dunes from the primitive road

The Starvation Prickly Pear was blooming all around

Looking south from near the campground toward the dunes and Visitor Center

Afterwards, I headed south on CO-150 and connected up with East US-160, then south on CO-12. It goes through the town of La Veta, then up into the mountains of the Spanish Peaks.

Spanish Peaks

View of the Spanish Peaks from US-160

Past La Veta, as the road began to climb the wide valley, I stopped to photograph a dramatic rock formation. It looked like a granite wall sticking out of the hillside. Later there was another with a formal pull-out and an informational sign. These formations are "dikes" formed by molten rock filling cracks deep under the earth during the volcanic formation of the mountains. Over time, after uplift, the soil has worn away exposing the dikes.

Volcanic "Dike"

San Isabel National Forest

I continued up the valley, passing through the resort & summer community of Cuchara. From the map I could see that there was really just one road into the national forest before Cucharas Pass. I took the road which ran along side a rushing creek. The road was signed as only allowing camping at one of the two campgrounds. There were a number of fishing access parking areas along the road. It did look like good fishing.

I looked over both campgrounds and decided to stay at Blue Lake Campground. By the time I set up there wasn't enough time to do more than have supper and take a short walk around the campground.

My site at Blue Lake Campground

Thursday

Blue Lake

In the morning I decided to take the trail down to Blue Lake. The sign said 3/4 mile to the lake. I think it was a bit farther than that, but not much. It was an absolutely beautiful trail winding up and down around the hillside.

Trail from campground to Blue Lake

Lots of butterflies were enjoying the wild flowers

Wild Strawberry blossom

As a native New Mexican, I was in heaven with all this Colorado greenery.

Butterflies were not the only ones feasting on the flowers along the trail.
I believe this is a Broad-tailed Hummingbird female, but am not positive.

There were lots of blooming wildflowers with butterflies, a cascading brook, and then the crystal clear lake.

This cascade is wide enough you need a couple of rocks
to step completely across it.

Pretty, tiny geranium blossom.

Blue Lake - currently my favorite photo of the summer.

I took photos and talked to a couple of the fishermen. I then walked the short distance to Little Blue Lake where there were more wildflowers, but no one fishing.

There were lots of Shooting Star Columbines in the area.

Close up of Shooting Star Columbine blossom

Little Blue Lake

Returning to camp, I packed up, drove down the mountain, then continued on CO-12. At the pass I noticed a road to the left crossing a high meadow. I pulled over to let the truck behind me by, then reversed to the road. Looking at the NFS road sign, I didn't know if I wanted to take the dirt road all the way to I-25, especially after just bumping over some rough, rocky roads in New Mexico, but would certainly drive to the scenic overlook only a half mile in.

Cordova Pass Road

Gorgeous view of Colorado mountains and wildflowers.

This high meadow was full of flowers with a mountain top background and a view down the valley. I stopped at the overlook which had an informational sign for Cordova Pass Road.

Informational sign photoshopped to remove most bullet holes. Sigh.

I read about the road, the vista point at Cordova Pass which promised a 180 degree view, and an arch that had been constructed through one of the dikes for the road to pass through. I was sold, so I continued on the road, hoping it would be passible and not too rough.

Each time the road passed a turn-off for private ranch property, its condition deteriorated and I'd hold my breath, but never got very bad. I wondered what I'd find when I reached Cordova Pass. I envisioned a baren pass with maybe one other car, but the reality was very different. The pass was in a wooded area and there were at least 8 cars parked there. I realized this trailhead into the Spanish Peaks Wilderness must be popular with backpackers.

Sign at the parking area of Cordova Pass. Only one hole to patch on this one.

I gathered my photo gear and started up the trail to the vista point, which was supposed to be half a mile away (and was about half again as much.) They claim this vista point is handicap accessible - yes, maybe if someone carries you; no way a wheel chair could make it up that trail. The trail itself was quite scenic, passing through both woods and flower covered meadows, with views of West Spanish Peak as well as the lowlands to the east.

View of West Spanish Peak and the plains to the east

What a colorful butterfly!

The Rocky Mountain Clover was a feast for all the butterflies.

This black swallowtail was active right at the vista point

The view on top was indeed spectacular and even wider than promised. I took a pano with my iPhone and separate photos with my real camera to stitch together later. Turns out the phone photo in this case turned out very nice, so I never bothered with the other photos. I also had fantastic phone reception from there, so took the opportunity to check in with a friend.

Panoramic photo of the view from this vista point.

The road over the pass looked just fine so I continued on after my short hike. I'd realized I was out during a week leading up to a new moon. I had intended to try my hand again at star photos, but had been closed in by mountains all week. Looking at the map I thought I'd do something novel and drive out to the Kiowa National Grasslands in eastern New Mexico. Surely that would provide plenty of sky for photos. I thought ahead for once, and after finding the phone number for the grasslands headquarters in my Benchmark map, called to verify the campgrounds and roads were indeed open. Yes, they were.

Beauty along the roadside.
I took this one out the window of my truck, too.

I continued down Cordova Pass Road and then came to the tunnel through the dike, the Apishapa Arch.

The WPA built this arch through the volcanic dike

It was unsurprisingly hot by the time I descended all the way through the foothills and onto the plains and then south on I-25. I'd tried to take my time up in the mountains, but hadn't stalled enough and was afraid I would get to the grasslands while it was still hot. So, I stopped in Trinidad to kill a little time, getting an old fashioned root beer float at a small ice cream shoppe downtown.

I continued down I-25 and crossed into New Mexico at Raton Pass.

The narrative continues in the previous post.