Some July 2019 day and overnight trips

Wed. July 3, 2019

On a cool, clear morning, we commenced a day-trip on the West Elk Scenic Byway, a loop along the West Elk Mountains and the north rim of the Gunnison Canyon. After coffee at Starbuck’s, we headed north to Delta and took Colorado 92, across the Blue Mesa Dam to US 50, then back west to Montrose.

At Hotchkiss (1881), a high, western-slope farm community, in the valley of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, we admired the trees, historic buildings, and the farm and ranch atmosphere of the area. The North Fork of the Gunnison River drains part of the southwestern flank of the Elk Mountains and the valley, with a temperate climate, is a center of fruit growing in southwestern Colorado. During spring runoff, the North Fork is also a popular river-rafting venue. It’s a picturesque little town and is becoming an attraction for tourism.

Next, we took a jaunt, on up the North Fork, northwest, to Paonia, to find some Colorado cherries. The North Fork Valley was inhabited by the Ute people until 1880, when the Ute Indian Reservation was closed by the federal government following the infamous Meeker Massacre. The peony roots that pioneer Samuel Wade brought with him to this place in 1881 inspired him to submit the Latin name for peony, Paeonia, as a town name. The post office wouldn't allow the extra vowel, so "Paeonia" became "Paonia". Post Office names have lots of interesting stories! We categorically found our Colorado cherries at the Stahl Orchards, on the river, just south of town. Five generations have been producing “Fruit of the Colorado Rockies” (cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, apples) on this farm. We enjoyed an interesting and informative visit with the Stahl’s and admired their farm scenes and structures. We were attracted to a huge old cherry tree, loaded with sweet, red, ripe cherries, so we made some pictures and enjoyed Mr. Stahl’s story about this archetypal tree, in his yard. What a great stop and visit! We took his card and promised to promote his orchard at Ridgway State Park. We brought away lots of samples!

Our next segment was back to Hotchkiss, where we continued on CO 62 to Crawford. This 1882 cow-town remains a cow-town, but adopted by Joe Cocker as his retirement home, of the late rock 'n' roll legend, put the place “on the map”. They developed a bar and restaurant for his memorabilia but when Joe Cocker passed, his wife, Pam, sold out for  $7 million and moved to California. Now, Crawford continues the “fame story” trying to stay alive with tourism. From the ornate gate, you can get a slight view of the famous property, set on 243 acres on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, and 15,873-square-foot mansion built to the couple's specifications which had been their home since 1994.

From Crawford, we drove to the north rim of the Gunnison Canyon, reached by taking a gravel road from Crawford. The rustic, remote North Rim Road provides access to 6 overlooks. The canyon walls on the North Rim are almost vertical, offering some of the most impressive views found in the national park. The overlooks, are situated on shear drops, straight down and we could hear the run-off roar of the river through the narrows, 2000-feet below. The north rim is high, remote, and unimproved, a strident contrast to the south rim. We loved experiencing the birds, wildflowers, Gamble Oaks, Junipers, Aspens, Pinion Pines, and massive rock formations!

Leaving the National Park, we recrossed the mesas and canyons, back to Crawford for lunch at the former Joe Cocker bar and restaurant. Crawford’s old buildings, trees, and streets remain like the 1880’s setting. Like going back to the “old west”!

Our next surprise was traveling east along the remainder of the canyon, which challenged us to navigate around steep, winding side-canyons and high mountain roads. The route was established in the 1920’s, paved by 1975 and the road is in good shape, just scary to drive, as it nervously emphasizes how sheer these canyon walls are. With cliff overlooks that drop several thousand vertical feet to the canyon floor and the roaring waters of the Gunnison River, which in this runoff season is as loud as a freight train. We now realize that the north rim is accessible for almost the entire length of the canyon and it’s all an awesome experience!

Continuing east, we began to drop-down to the Blue Mesa lake and crossed the dam over to US 50, and headed west to Montrose. Again, we were reminded of the scenic features of this route, along Colorado’s Cimarron River, over Cerro Pass, which divides the watershed of the Cimarron River to the east and the Uncompahgre River to the west, both of which eventually flow into the Gunnison River. This is a beautiful route for a US highway!

At Montrose, we shopped and then headed south, back to Ridgway State Park and a beautiful San Juan evening. A delightful day-trip!

Monday, July 8, 2019

Today we grocery shopped, did laundry, home chores, and had a leisurely day. Tonight, we went to the Wright Opera House in Ouray for the melodrama.

The Wright family built the (1881) Wright Opera House because the populace of Ouray needed to be provided with cultural opportunities to offset the influence of the dance halls, saloons, gambling dens, and houses of ill repute. They wanted to create a decent establishment that would feature cultural and educational programs of high quality for the entertainment and enlightenment of the young people and adults within the community. Today, it’s still fulfilling that role.

On arrival, we were entertained by the pianist, while we admired the very imposing hall, considered “a wonder of the time.” The prelude music reminded me of my Uncle Atlie’s music and style.

The program began with an amusing olio, followed by the comedy melodrama. It was loads of fun and lots of laughs. This is a nice attraction in Ouray!

Wednesday 7-10 and Thursday 7-11, 2019

We selected the “Grand Mesa Loop”, for a two-day sightseeing adventure.

From the Gunnison River Valley we followed Colorado 65, up Surface Creek and Surface Creek Valley. We bought fresh-picked cherries at Orchard City and ate delicious cherries, spitting pits along the stunning route.

Climbing Grand Mesa from the south through Gamble Oak, Aspen, and plentiful wildflowers, was a steep road with splendid views of the Gunnison River Valley. On top, the 10-thousand-plus-foot Grand Mesa, largest mesa in the world, is not really flat, it just looks that way from below. We drove the Skyline to Cow Camp and got my truck real dirty on the dirt road but we enjoyed a nice hike and bountiful wildflowers, lakes, large, scattered groves of Spruce trees, and old cabins from the pioneer days. Grand Mesa has lots of lakes and water AND lots of mosquitoes, this time of year. We managed with Deep-Woods Off.

Crossing the Grand Mesa, we followed Plateau Creek down its deep, winding, magnificent canyon to the Colorado River, on the north. We took a short-cut on CO 330 toward DeBeque and discovered that it turned to a jeep-road, not an unusual experience in Colorado’s high country. We back-tracked to the Colorado River and then made it to Rifle, where we spent a nice night at the La Quinta. The 1882 town is named after Rifle Creek which joins the Colorado River here. Yes, an old guy did leave his rifle on the creek, probably running from the local Ute Indians.

Fortunately, lots of Colorado hotels are dog-friendly and Daisy loves to be a hotel-guest. I usually bring her bacon from the breakfast-buffet and she loves bacon! We had everything we needed, within walking-distance of the hotel.

Following Thursday morning breakfast, we hit the car wash and cleaned the dirt off our truck, then Starbucks, and up the Colorado River to Glenwood Springs. We cruised Glenwood Springs and were amazed at how the area has grown. The old town was recognizable with the historic buildings and sites, and lots of tourists were in town. Due to the unusual winter, run-off is histrionic and the Colorado and all of its tributaries are swollen with snow-melt.

From Glenwood Springs, we headed up the Roaring Fork River to Carbondale, shopped for a picnic lunch, and then headed up the Krystal River to Redstone. Along the way, we could see several 14ers over around Aspen. Redstone is a late 1800’s coal mining and coke oven site, which has lots of historical structures and places. Millions were made here in the wilderness!

Due to the unusual winter, large boulders are falling and causing road delays for CDOT “rock mitigation” and repairs. Up the Krystal River canyon, we saw evidence of house-size boulders which fell from the canyon walls, tumbling across the road, into the river. They can leave craters in the road and we bumped over one today.

On up to McClure Pass, only 8755-feet but very vertical, we had an exciting ride. The south side has some very high, sheer canyon walls and rockfalls have been prevalent along this section. We jarred across a significant road-crater here.

Down the North Fork of the Gunnison to Paonia, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on the North Fork of the Gunnison. Afterwards, we stopped in town for ice cream at Ollies Ice Cream shop.

South of Paonia, we discovered the Escalante Dominquez route described in Escalante’s meticulous diary. The Domínguez–Escalante Expedition was undertaken in 1776 with the purpose of finding a route across the largely unexplored continental interior from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Spanish missions in Las Californias, such as the Spanish presidio at Monterey, California. On July 29, 1776, Atanasio Domínguez led the expedition from Santa Fe with fellow friar Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and cartographer Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco. The initial part of their journey followed the route taken by Juan Rivera eleven years earlier into the Ute country of southwestern Colorado. Three Ute guides led them through Colorado and Utah.

These Spanish colonists were the first European men to travel through much of the Colorado Plateau into Utah, and back through Arizona to New Mexico. During the course of their trip, they documented the route and provided detailed information about the "lush, mountainous land filled with game and timber, strange ruins of stone cities and villages, and rivers showing signs of precious metals. They made Catholics of some Utes but the Utes lost their religion during the imminent Indian Wars of the 1880’s!

Back in the lower elevations of the Gunnison River Valley, we were anxious to get back to our A/C. It was a very good trip!

Last updates on HP

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

After breakfast, the day became hot, so we decided to head to the high country. We choose to explore the (just opened for the summer) Owl Creek Pass, an old road between Ridgway and Cimarron. Owl Creek Pass in the Uncompahgre National Forest is a remote, rugged mountain pass above 10,000 feet in the shadow of 13,000-foot peaks in the Cimarron Range region of southwestern Colorado. The area incorporates not only turrets and hoodoos of wonderfully shaped massifs, but also reservoirs, rivers, creeks, and large aspen, fir and spruce forests.

John Wayne loved this country, and so did we! Scenes from “How the West Was Won” and “True Grit” were filmed along this magnificent route, winding through Uncompahgre National Forest and river basin country. We did encounter some fairly aggressive mosquitos.

The stunning peaks of Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain, on the Cimarron Ridge, pierce the blue Colorado sky, as you journey along this 1885 cattle-drive trail. Tall white-barked aspen trees, spruce and fir, rivers, reservoirs, and seas of wildflowers nestled among towering peaks is the setting for the Owl Creek Pass drive.

This route provides access to a variety of remarkable four-wheel drive roads and hiking/backpacking trails. We took a picnic lunch, binoculars, and a camera and enjoyed one of Colorado's most charming byways for rest and relaxation, western style!

A well-maintained gravel (but be prepared for dust) road (4 WD but we didn’t use our 4WD) will take you up and through the Uncompahgre National Forest, where you will crest Owl Creek Pass at 10,114 feet. There are some “OMG” sheer drops and narrow switchbacks but most of the time the wooded slopes would catch your fall. At the pass, we took pictures, waded with Daisy in the clear, cold, mountain stream, and visited with a couple from Ohio. Our next stop was at a high meadow (True Grit Meadow), where we enjoyed our private (except for the mosquitoes) picnic lunch. After lunch, we took another road and followed Cow Creek back down to Cow Creek campground at RSP.