It was 4 degrees outside this morning, no running for this fair weather slow runner/jogger/wimp.
Back on the Peter Brown sightseeing tour of Colorado and we are giving him the thumbs up. The drive today was unbelievable. The landscape changed so many times that just as we thought it couldn’t get any better we would turn a corner, descend a mountain, climb a mountain and there it was, more beautiful scenery.
I am not sure if my iPhone will hold 4 months of this beauty.
And, can we note that Pete’s driving today was amazing on a very challenging drive up and down, twists and turns, winding around and around the many mountains, the Rocky Mountains.
I also got, lots and lots of photos stops today.
Another note, please excuse the large bug splat in the pictures taken from the motorhome, it chose to kamikaze in a very unfortunate spot.
We started today leaving South Fork through the Rio Grande National Forest, winding around the mountain roads, passing through small alpine towns.
Our first stop is the gorgeous town of Creede. This was a recommendation from our RV hosts last night. Creede was an old silver mining town but now it comes alive during the summer season for vacationers wanting to fish and hike. We met a man named Terre Jones while having a coffee and hot chocolate, who had done his own sole, 4-month tour of the country, taking in 19,000 miles and creating a photography book by the finish.
Back climbing the Rocky Mountains and the alpine landscape was stunning. We passed lots of Ranches, small towns, into the Gunnison National Forest we went, across the Continental Divide of the Americas (Great Divide), onto the Slumgullion Pass (one of the highest mountain roads in Colorado, 11530 ft), through the San Juan Mountains and then down to the small old town of Lake City, in Hinsdale County.
We parked the motorhome, had some lunch and then a lovely walk around the old town which has the largest collection of preserved buildings from the 1870’s.
On the road again and through the winding mountains, following the Gunnison River. After Lake City, the landscape became a lot more rugged but the Ranches were still nestled in between the San Juan Mountains, snow capped in the distance.
A wow, wow photo stop at Lake San Cristobal.
More photo ops at a marker honouring the People of the Shining Mountains (Native Ute), at one time this was their land, before gold was discovered in the San Juan Mountains.
As we passed through the mountain Ranches we thought that it was strange that a lot of them had boats, even sailboats in their yards, what would they need them for in the middle of the mountains?
After making the long descent we hit the Lake City Bridge and the Iola Basin of the Blue Mesa Reservoir. It is the largest artificial lake located entirely within the state and was created by the construction of the Blue Mesa Dam. Another wow moment and an a-ha moment, the boats at the Ranches completely make sense now.
Just as we thought we couldn’t be wowed anymore we looked to the right and there were the Dillon Pinnacles in full view. Stop the bus, both Pete and I wanted to get out and have a look AND take some photos.
We followed the huge Blue Mesa Reservoir and Curecanti National Recreation Area until we turned off and then passed the small town of Sapinero, Cimarron Campgrounds and river, towards tonight’s final destination Montrose and our campsite Montrose/Black Canyon National Park KOA.
Out for dinner down the road at a local family Mexican Restaurant and then back to the motorhome.
The Peter Brown Road Trip of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado was an A+, Brilliant!
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