August 5, 2023 - OFF ROADING!

Temperatures:

Exterior: 42*

Interior: 49*

Time to go off roading! We took Rd. 39 right at our campground entrance. It’s a narrow gravel road that turns into Hermosa Park Road.  This road heads up the mountain following Barlow Creek. Beautiful! We passed Barlow Lake which was more of a marshy area now. I’m sure it’s much fuller during the spring snow melt. 

At the point we saw the sign that says ‘High Clearance Vehicles Recommended’ we decided to turn around. (10,000’)The road appeared to get much narrower and you would definitely need a Jeep or a side-by-side for the rest of the way. 

If we would have continued we would have passed Hermosa Peak at 12,520’ elevation. Then down the other side to Hwy 550 (Million Dollar Highway) near Pergatory Ski Resort that’s just south of Silverton. A short cut! This is why in the past we could never make that day trip from Durango or Silverton to Telluride and leave Jett behind for a long day. Two and one half hours one way! But it’s right there as the crow flys!! 

(The gravel road we were on connects the blue dot with the red pin in basically a straight hairpin line LOL)

On our way back down we had beautiful views of Mt. Wilson. It stands at 14,252’ elevation. Then we decided to go back onto Hwy 145 (pavement) and onto another gravel road. We didn’t stay on it long. It was a much narrower gravel path and this diesel truck is too big. Hard to pass another vehicle. Most times someone had to backup to a wider spot. When we finally got to a hairpin turn that we could turn around this now put us on the outside edge to pass anyone. I literally had to stick my head out the window to tell Tim how many inches he had to move over. We passed at least 12 other vehicles this way. Done! 

Back at camp we went fly fishing again. Tim and I had lots of hits. Even hooked a few. However I only landed one. Catch and release! We both absolutely love this area and especially love fly fishing here right from our campsite! 

Dinner was a one pot sweet Italian sausage dish. It was delicious. This new recipe will be a keeper and I forgot a picture. Tomorrow we plan on heading to town (on a paved road) to explore and possibly take a hike somewhere. 

Bedtime temperature: Exterior 54*

August 4, 2023 - HAMMOCKS AND HUMMINGBIRDS

Morning Temperatures:

Exterior: 46*

Interior: 51*

Our morning was another lazy one. The Airstream Bubble couple stopped on their way out to ask a few questions and say their goodbyes. We finished our coffee and thought we would go fishing. 

As I went to take Jett on a final walk before going fishing I looked at my phone, that’s on airplane mode to save battery, and I had a voice message. How did I get that? Anyway we had received a message from our next location that a river front site had opened and I needed to call them right away. 

Our options are to either drive 22 miles north to Telluride for cellular coverage or drive 6 miles south to Rico for coverage. We drove to Rico. This is how much we are in the boondocks. I love Rico! So excited to go back there. Settled in 1879 as a mining town. The area was known for its silver, gold, iron, copper, coal, manganese, zinc, bismuth, pyrite, and molybdenum deposits that seemed to promise an unending supply of minerals. Population after electricity came to town and during one of the mining booms was over 4,000 people. In 2021 it was just a population of 347. Now it’s a sleepy little town with modest summer tourism. 

Once we finalized our new campsite and had returned to the Airstream I hung my hammock and we watched the hummingbird feeder that we had put out yesterday. We knew that there were a lot of hummingbirds here so we came prepared. Now we realize that we have created a war zone for them as they are territorial. At least six hitting it all the time and chasing each other away. 

With all the commotion today we had had breakfast but missed lunch. I had set out some sweet Italian sausage for dinner. So knew we were set there. This afternoon we both went fly fishing from our campsite. It did not take long for me to catch a nice rainbow trout then Tim caught a smaller one right after me. Normally we are catch and release but with us catching two so close we immediately decided that we were having fish for dinner tonight. The sausage will wait! 

With no flour, why I don’t know, Tim just pan fried them in butter with some garlic salt. Delicious! It doesn’t get any fresher or better than this!! I wonder what we will do tomorrow?? ;-)))

Bedtime temperature:

Exterior: 59*

August 3, 2023 - FULL DAY OF NOTHING

Morning temperatures:

Exterior: 46*

Interior: 52*

Elevation: 9,340’

No matter how hard we tried to do nothing today we still managed to stay busy all day. This morning was the first morning in a while that we were not on a schedule and could just be lazy. Slept in. Drank coffee and had our biscottis until almost lunch time. Hiked the park with Jett. Realize we missed breakfast and just moved straight on to lunch. 

I played my ukulele after lunch. A lovely lady by the name of Fran came by and introduced herself. It was her birthday! She’s 82 and still loves coming to the mountains to camp. Just like my mom … I hope to be able to still do that at that young age. 

Then I did some fly fishing right from our camp site. While fishing our new Airstream Bubble friends came by. We gave them a tour of our Airstream. Tim also showed them pictures of our 1948 Airstream Liner restoration.  Both of us eventually wound up at their trailer for Tim to see. Even though they depart tomorrow we know our paths will cross again. 

Once back at our Airstream Tim started a camp fire while I made some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches & vine ripened creamy tomato soup. I served the soup in coffee cups! We sat outside around the fire to eat and enjoy the evening. 

On our last walk with Jett OMG the STARS!!! The best night sky we have had so far for stargazing. Not a cloud to be seen. Hundreds of stars in the small area that we could see the sky. We even saw one satellite. No Starlinks though as their paths were too low in the sky and blocked by mountains. 

Bedtime temperatures:

Exterior: 56*

Interior: 64*

August 2, 2023 - HOME OF THE DINOSAURS

Interior: 66*

Elevation: 5,530’

The full moon was last night … supermoon actually. We had heavy cloud coverage in Utah so barely saw it at bedtime. I had a better view of it at 3:05 AM when Jett needed outside. Jett happens! But was so sleepy I had left my phone inside having forgotten about the full moon. 

It was another travel day again. Where we land today we will stay put for about a week. Traveling south today through Utah, home of the dinosaurs, again the terrain changed constantly. We suddenly realized we were about to travel another bad road that we had traveled a few years back and decided to drive it anyway. It was either that or add a few more hours to our day. 

In the end it wasn’t so bad but we have now noted that route.  Actually I started a works in progress ‘Note’ of bad roads that we have traveled. This one has cattle grates, bumpy sections of road, damaged guardrails, areas of previous avalanches, rock falls and of course loose cattle. 

Douglas Pass! At 8,290’ in elevation it’s not an especially high summit. It’s got a 7* grade, narrow and some switchbacks. One place in the road looked like a big crack in the pavement and that at any moment it was going to slide down the mountain. Only about 1,000 vehicles travel it every day. Maybe that says something?!

When we drove through Montrose, Colorado it was 93*. Then in Telluride it was much cooler. The road took us through Lizard Head Pass at 10,260’ and by Sheep Mountain at 13,188’. It was then 75* when we arrived at our destination. 

Our destination … Cayton Campground in the San Juan National Forest. We are south of Telluride, Colorado and north of Rico, Colorado. LOVE it here! Have driven by here so many times just never into this campground. Our campsite elevation is 9,340’! Absolutely no cell service here. And Dishy is having a hard time with the clouds, tall trees and a cliff on the backside. Our campsite is right on the Dolores River and it’s so, so beautiful here. 

Approaching our campsite we immediately spotted this little beauty. Of course I went to tell them how much I adored their Airstream Bubble. And of course they were impressed that I knew it was a Bubble. I got a tour, then gave them an invite. They’ll be over tomorrow for a tour of our Airstream. We have so much information to exchange. What a super sweet couple! 

Bedtime temperatures: 

Outside: 57*

Inside: 68*

August 1, 2023 - GEESE, SNAKES AND SAGE

Morning temperatures …

Exterior: 50*

Interior: 53*

Elevation: 6,580’ 

Our departure was a little earlier than usual. We left camp at 9am. That’s early for us. Made a quick stop in Jackson, Wyoming for coffee and … wait for it …

(I did not chase the truck!)

Then we drove the Hoback Canyon south following the Hoback Creek. The diverse and beautiful scenery changed around every corner all the way into Utah. 

In Rock Springs, Wyoming we fueled up. The end of our drive today landed us in Vernal, Utah at Steinaker State Park. 

Once settled we had a few visitors. First all the geese. Jett sat and watched them so patiently in the reservoir. Never a bark or whine. Then not once but twice a Great Basin Gopher Snake came into camp. Tim said he was five feet long. I say ten feet. Lol The first time he tried climbing up on the underside of the truck! Noooo. I still have chills about that. Gzzz. 

Since we arrived early enough to enjoy the afternoon here we had time to walk the campground and check out the amenities. I even grabbed some sage to dry out. 

Tomorrow will bring another travel day!