Dutch George Campground
Roosevelt National
Forest, CO
Toys, toys, and more toys!
The weekend has
arrived and traffic is very heavy going up the canyon. There is every vehicle configuration
imaginable. Trucks pulling 5th
wheel trailers, toy haulers, horse trailers, camping trailers, popup trailers – some with pontoon boats, motor boats, OHV/dirt
bike trailers, or some other “toy” attached behind the second vehicle as they
snake their way up the canyon. The truck
campers are trailed by all the same afore mentioned toys. There are motorhomes towing Jeeps or small
cars (Toads); Jeeps, cars, and SUVs pulling popup trailers or camping trailers. Vehicles with motorcycles, dirt bikes,
bicycles, kayaks, canoes, and inner tubes attached to the front, back, and top
with every kind of rack and strap and gadget you can imagine. Whew! I
try to take some pictures of all the crazy rigs, but they are flying by too
quickly to catch any good shots. We decide
to just sit by the river and watch the world go by.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Dutch George Campground
Roosevelt National Forest, CO
Artisian Spring – The Fountain of Youth?
We’re off in
search of the Artisan spring that our camping neighbors told us about up
Pingree Park Road (63E) near Bennett Creek (139). It seems people have been making their way up
into the high country for years to collect this precious commodity – for
free. Icy cold water literally gushes
out of a pipe installed by the NFS.
Fountain of youth? I doubt
it. But, it’s probably cleaner that the
bottled water y’all are drinking and spending your money on every day.
High Park fire
of 2012 still impacts the area.
As we travel
along Pingree Park Road the devastation of the High Park fire last year still
lingers – as it will for many years to come.
We notice that the forest fire burned right up to the road but didn’t jump
the road and continue up and over the mountain deeper into National Forest land. We wonder what stopped it – surely the winds were strong enough to jump the road and keep moving upward.
A stop at
Arrowhead Visitor Center puts our curiosity to rest. A fire break was set up along Pingree Park
Road as the last good road access to stop the encroaching blaze. Had they not stopped it at this road, it
would have burned many more thousands of acres of forest land to the west. What an amazing job our forest firefighters
do. We can never thank them enough for
risking their lives to preserve our wild lands.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Dutch George Campground
Roosevelt National
Forest, CO
Big Thompson Canyon, Estes Park, and Rocky
Mountain National Park.
Today is Jack’s
birthday so we’re off for a day of celebrating.
We decide to take a trip to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park
via Big Thompson Canyon.
Big Thompson on the fly.
I snap a few shots as we drive through the canyon. There's not many turn outs so we keep moving.
The signs tell us to watch for bighorn sheep. We watch, and watch, and watch - to no avail. No sightings today.
First stop – Estes Park shopping & lunching.
As we park in
the middle of town and step out of the car we are greeted by a beautiful bull
elk. He is magnificent – looking rather
statuesque.
He turns, tromps through some flower beds ...
Checks traffic before making his decision ...
And off he goes, heading right down the center line of the street ... turning into a complete blur in his hurry to escape my camera.
We wonder around town. Jack tries on a few silly hats in a shop. I suggest the "I have lots of hair" visor, but Jack seeks out a great fly fishing shop and picks up a few new flies and little
“do-dads” that are meant to enhance his fly fishing experience instead. (Birthday shopping made easy!) We enjoy a nice lunch and head for the
entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
RMNP – You take the high road and I’ll take
the low road.
No, let’s both
take the low road. We head into Rocky
Mountain National Park. Jack gets to use
his Golden Access card – free entry into national parks. Oh, the advantages of being a Senior Citizen! Neither of us is inclined to make the drive
up Trail Ridge Road – we’ve both been there many times. We opt for a drive through a lower part of
the park. We check out the campgrounds
for potential future sites. Not many
sites that can accommodate our rig, but it’s still a very beautiful drive.
Horse and rider crossing sign in the campground. Have you figured out I like crossing signs?
REDRUM!
REDRUM!
Sitting above
Estes Park is the Stanley Hotel of the movie fame “The Shining”.
Remember a wild-eyed Jack Nicholson axing his
way through the bathroom door saying, “Honey, I’m home!” Or his son riding his tricycle down the hotel
hallways saying, “REDRUM, REDRUM!”
(MURDER spelled backwards.) OOO-EEE-OOO!!!
It doesn’t look spooky in real life.
There's a display of old fire engines outside the Stanley Hotel. Beautiful with the backdrop of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Birthday celebration at camp!
We arrive back
at camp to birthday balloons and cupcakes.
We celebrate with our neighbors, Ray & Marie, and campground hosts,
Everette & Mary. What a great way to
end a birthday. What great friends we have made at this campground!
The sun finally sets on July.
The sunset as we drive through Fort Collins on our way back to Poudre Canyon. A great way to end the month of July.
We had no internet service while in Poudre Canyon; therefore, I am busily trying to catch up and get this blog current. I'm going to speed through August as there are so many great pictures I'd love to share with you. See you soon.
