Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Heaton Bay Campground
White River National Forest
Frisco, CO
Finally, a few fun “fotos”
from Frisco finishing with a friendly face.
The colors changing in Heaton Bay Campground.
Heaton Bay neighbors. Now that's a different setup.
Frisco, Colorado - Entry to Main Street
Dining in Frisco - The Log Cabin's Patio
Dining in Frisco - The Boat Yard Patio
The network of bike paths through the area is amazing. Vail, Cooper Mountain, Frisco, Breckenridge, Dillon, Silverthorne.
More moose/meese/mooses.
And finally, a very friendly face.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Colorado River State Park –
Island Acres
Palisade, CO
Today we leave Lake Dillon
and Frisco behind and begin our journey to the Grand Junction area.
We climb over Vail Pass and
slowly wind our way down into the Vail Valley.
The Aspens are in the early stages of turning a golden yellow. But the congestion of homes and traffic –
that’s in full swing.
Leaving Vail we drive
through the Eagle Valley, Red Canyon, and Glenwood Canyon.
As we near Palisade, we
turn off at Colorado River State Park – Island Acres and nestle into De Beque
Canyon with the Colorado River and Book Cliffs just beyond our campsite. We quickly set up camp and head to Grand Mesa
for the afternoon.
Grand Mesa - The largest
flat-topped mountain in the world.
Towering 6,000 feet above the valley floor – 10,000
feet above sea level – Grand Mesa is a land of endless forests and over 300
pristine lakes. Great fishing, boating,
and hiking abound.
The Aspen trees are in
their prime. They are glimmering with an
iridescence that cannot be captured in a photograph. I’m so glad we are here today to experience
this wondrous sight.
Viewing the Grand Valley
from the mesa.
Looking back where we came
from.
Meandering back down the
mesa.
The sun sets over the Book
Cliffs.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
When you can’t get in the
front door – try the back door.
We won’t let something as
insignificant as barricades stop us from seeing the Colorado National Monument.
A ranger, who shall remain
nameless, tells us we can still see a portion of Colorado National Monument
even with the Federal Government Shutdown.
The east gate cannot legally be closed because it is a public highway
serving a community beyond the federal lands.
So, off we go in the direction of the east gate.
No barricades.
We twist and turn up the
switchbacks …
Between a cut out …
Through the tunnel …
Viewing Grand Mesa off in
the distance…
We approach “Cold Shivers
Point” overlook. STOP. NO ACCESS. Really?
Being the retired,
60-something, conservative-leaning, law breakers that we are … we process past
the No Access sign!
What an awesome view!
As we walk back to the
Jeep, more barricade-passing, law breakers approach.
We chat for a few
minutes. Discuss the shutdown. Everyone’s opinions are expressed. Finally, they ask if the view from the
lookout point indeed gives you “cold shivers”.
My reply, “No, but the Federal Government sure does.” On this point, we all agree.
I would have made a great
radical – a few decades ago.
We continue up the road –
deeper into forbidden land. When we come
to a “Y” in the road we must veer right on the public road and out of federal
land. Although we were not actually on “closed
federal property” as it were (except for the barricade episode), the fully
accessible public road doesn’t seem nearly as exciting. Hmmm? I think I would have made a good radical
sometime in my far past. I gotta tell
you, it was exhilarating crossing the barricades and breaking the law
today. I just didn’t know I had it in
me!
17-7/10. What in the world?
As we wind up the highway we
come across some strange road signs. The
Grand Junction area has a very unusual street/road naming system. Maybe the decimal system would make more
sense.
Back down the way we came –
through Colorado National Monument – just to spite all the loons in Washington.
Up next ... Utah awaits. See you soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment