Need me some Elevation ... (1 Viewer)

[KOWBOY]

Followed the road down and then back up to the summit of Slumgullion Pass at 11530' ... and pavement at highway 149 and went north.

Came to a great viewpoint in a coupla miles that was worthy of a few pics.

The first one is the very rugged Uncompahgre Peak ... we had circled around it durin' the trip.

The second one is the reason for the viewpoint ... the world-famous Slumgullion Slide. Accordin' to the sign ... half the friggin' mountain done broke loose and slid down the valley in an "earthflow" 'bout a kerbillion years ago. Pretty cool stuff.

The third pic is lookin' back at the San Juans.

 

[KOWBOY]

Right on down on the highway to the turn off for the extremely scenic Lake San Cristobal. While easin' 'round it enjoyin' the views and lookin' at the not-so-attractive campgrounds ... we seen one that had a RV dump station ... with a water faucet.

Hooked my hose to it and gave Rubi and 'er Kamper a bath real quick and hauled ass.

Real low on fuel again so we didn't wanna go to far up the valley and got lucky and nailed down a real pretty spot in the Williams Creek National Forest Campground. We both enjoyed a nice conversation with the campground hosts ... that spend winters campin' on Lake Texoma.

Quick work got the tents up ... and time for some kabobs!!

I had bought this funky-shaped kabob deal as an internet special from Bass Pro Shops and Josh loaded it down.

Damn-fine eatin'.

END OF DAY 9.

 

[Aggie]

^^^^ Awesome Kabobs Josh!

The wife and I will be draggin our butts up to Lan San Cristobal next Saturday. Been camping and enjoying that area for the last decade and truly love it. Great write-up Sir, I am truly enjoying it!

 

[KOWBOY]

Day 10:

Lots and LOTS of pics for this very busy day!

Here's a nice mornin' shot of our lil' camp in the campground.

This was a our second ... and last ... paid night of campin'. All other nights were free in the various National Forests. America's a wonderful place.

 

[KOWBOY]

Packed up and backtracked 'round Lake San Cristobal and headed down to Lake City. Neat lil' town that was mainly rental cabins/houses/rooms/RV parks ... and there were alot of 'no vacancy' signs. Obviously a very pop'lar area.

We just stayed long enuff to buy beer and gas and then headed up Engineer's Pass.

First stop on the way up was the remains of the Ute-Ulay Mine. The first pic is the dam that's since eroded out at the bottom. The next shot is lookin' down the valley at the buildin's. The third shot is not Italian -friendly. Accordin' to the sign, the Italian workforce went on strike complainin' 'bout the mine comp'ny forcin' 'em to live in comp'ny barracks and chargin' the hell out of 'em for the privelege. Problem is the Italians failed to unite the other nationalities in camp ... who evidently didn't give a s*** ... so the mine comp'ny just got the State to send in troops. No more Italians ... no more problems. Even run 'em outta Lake City while they were at it.

 

[KOWBOY]

The next stop was the overlook for Whitmore Falls. Problem was that a Fella can't see 'em from the road ... gotta hike down a buncha steps ... and then back up.

Glad Josh did just that so all of us can see the purdy pic (top).

The next waterfall he was able to just point the cam'ra out the window of the jeeper. He liked that better.

The bottom pic has gotta be one of the finest private residences in the state!! It's right at treeline before ya start the switchbacks to the top. The suspension bridge over the canyon is the only way to get to the place. It was a newer place with a lot of solar panels. Way friggin' cool.

 

[KOWBOY]

Here's a pic lookin' up to the pass and one we had to take of Josh standin' in the snow. He had talked to Lily at home and she just couldn't believe that Uncle Josh was where there was snow.

 

[KOWBOY]

At the top, we got some fellow NE Texans that were there to snap a shot of the Adventure Duo in a classic Kodak moment.

Big vistas at 12,800 ft ... the middle pic is lookin' North.

Bottom pic is road just startin' down ... damn scary to the right. Other than lookin' down, this was a very easy pass to negotiate. Nice and smooth and plenty of places to pass traffic. Lots of traffic. Even a bone-stock fullsize, crewcab, longbed Ford SuperDuty.

 

[KOWBOY]

On down we go ...

Nice mineshaft you didn't have to hike far to get a pic ... Josh was done hikin'.

Lookin' down at the ghost town of Animas Forks. Buildings are incredibly preserved and a wonderful sense of history can be felt among 'em ... if'n ya can tolerate the hordes of tourists in rental jeepers that come over from Ouray and Silverton.

Hate tourists ... we kept drivin'.

 

[KOWBOY]

The plan developed the previous evenin' lookin' at the maps was to head on down into the valley and camp on the Animas River for the night.

No bueno. Road in the valley was damn-near a highway and the place was packed out with RV's ... and it weren't all that pretty anyways. Damn tourists.

So we hung a left and headed up to Stony Pass ... the second 4wd pass of the day.

Listed in the guide book as the hardest "easy" trail. It was smooth but it was steep and skinny. We only met one group of ATV's on our way up ... which was a damn-good thang. I wish the State would make all them passes one-way traffic ... sure be a helluva lot safer.

Top pic is lookin' back down. Road gained elevation very quickly.

'Nother nice waterfall and cabin along the way.

A shot lookin' up at the summit.

 

[KOWBOY]

Gots to have the "money shot" so y'all know we ain't kiddin' that we was there.

12,650 ft this time.

 

[KOWBOY]

And down we go again ...

Here's a pic lookin' out over one of the switchbacks.

The second shot is another "earthflow". Real cool lookin'. Josh thought it looked like a heart. I thought it looked like a different part of the female body.

 

[KOWBOY]

It'd been a long day and we were definitely lookin' to get down in the woods and set-up camp. Just never know what the valley holds. But we come 'round a corner and I looked down and saw a perfect spot with a lil' 2-track road goin' to it ... right on a crick.

I climbed up the hill a piece to snap the photo as Josh saluted his beer.

But wait!! Look at the friggin' map!! That ain't no crick ... that's the friggin' Rio Grande River BY GAWD!!

JP ... y'all can cross the damn thang real easy up there.

Hope you ain't drinkin' none of the river water when you swim it ... you wouldn't believe what them cows do in it.

Burgers and beans went down real good with the beer.

 

[KOWBOY]

Sun just settin' down and we was windin' down when we heard quite the commotion on the road above us that we had come down. A real live cattle drive. No dude ranch bull**** here. Real American Cowboys. What a great way to end the day.

END OF DAY 10.

 

[KOWBOY]

Day 11:

Woke up to have frost all over ev'rythang.

It was cold ... damn-cold. Stayed in the sleepin' bag in my penthouse suite 'till there was sunshine in our camp.

Workin' our way down Stony Pass ... we figured out it's namesake ... stones.

All over the road ... bouncy, bouncy.

And some big'uns on the side of the road.

 

[KOWBOY]

Valley opened up into a wide flat with one beaver pond after another.

Here's a nice ol' house.

Ducks ev'rywhere in the ponds ... reckon they ain't scared of no beavers.

 

[KOWBOY]

Still followin' the Rio Grande down the valley.

LOOK JP!! No border patrol up there ... y'all can cross the damn thang all ya want.

 

[KOWBOY]

Is it a horse? Is it a cow? Is it a mule??

No ... By Gawd it's a friggin' moose!

Rare sight in Colorado.

 

[KOWBOY]

Another shot of the Rio Grande and some rugged peaks on the way down.

 

[KOWBOY]

Followed the road all the way down to pavement at highway 149 and headed to the mining town of Creede.

Really cool town. Wish we could of walked Main Street and gone thru the shops and bars but we had a plan. We was gonna be first-rate tourists! A few modern-day hard-rock miners had carved out an entire volunteer fire department, town hall, and a museum into the mountain at the upper edge of town.

7 bucks a head and ya get a CD player for a self-guided tour of the underground hard-rock mining museum. Very well worth it.

Whole town was packed out 'cause we happened to be there for the annual Rock and Gem Show!!

Amazin' ... none of the rocks were big enuff to drive over so don't know what the fuss was.

Great mine tour though ... plus there was a helluva thunderstorm the whole time we were in the mine.

Eased on down 149 to head up Pool Table Road to get back into the mountains and find a place to camp. Nice scenery with cows in the high pastures. Not much campin' opportunities though ... mainly access for huntin'. Turned on Adler Creek Road and kept lookin' for a spot to camp.

The map showed the road actu'ly followin' Adler Creek ... but map ain't a topo map ... so we couldn't tell we'd be on a narrow, bouncy-as-fawk, miser'ble, lil' road on a ledge 'bout a billion feet above the crick.

Tired of bouncin' and no hope of campin' 'cept in the middle of the road ... we kept goin' ... thinkin' we were s*** outta luck. But ALAS ... our luck held! Damn-near at the bottom, the valley widened out and there was a 2-track goin' into a grove of trees. Perfect.