Family Trip Colorado July 2013

[unabashedpraise]

I started planning this trip last January, posting a thread here on expo. I had a lot of great info and advice.

Plan was leave KC on a Sunday and return the next Sunday. We did everything we planned, well, mostly. One of the reasons we were going was to see some of the different areas of the state to determine where we may possibly want to move within the next 3 years. We found so many beautiful areas that we are going to have to come back during the winter months to see how the areas fare. Another reason was to see how the ZJ handled the drive and terrain while loaded to the gills.


Here is the route and highlights of the trip. on with the pics.

Day1: KC to Colorado Springs. Fairly uneventful, avg 14.75 mpg.

Day 2: SOMEONE forgot her rain jacket and shoes. A couple hours and a trip to REI later we were on our way to Medano Pass. Unfortunately Medano Pass Road was closed because of all the rain had washed out part of the road. We were already en route when we found out and it was too late in the day to worry about finding another route. So, we finally decided to just go as far as we could and camp.

I was having a hard time finding the 'actual' beginning of the trail. I knew it crossed the Wolf Springs Ranch, but it was further south than the main ranch entrance.


This was about as far as we could go.


So we headed a short way back down the trail to this campsite. It was beautiful, quiet, and chilly! We woke up to 30° temps inside the tent. Hot coffee and hot oatmeal while tearing down camp warmed us up.




There was only one obstacle that required a little care, this was the easy side of that. I want to come back and do the whole road.


She enjoyed driving us back down.


View while I aired up.


After leaving the pass, we headed south to make our way around the Sangre De Cristo's to reach the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Tbc

 

[NMC_EXP]

On this leg did you go: CO Springs => Canon City => US RTE 50 up Bighorn Canyon => CO RTE 69 => Medano Pass road?
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If so, Bighorn Sheep Canyon is scenic. On RTE 69 the trip thru the Wet Mountain Valley with views of the Sangre de Cristos is jaw dropping.
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The valley floor is about 8,000 ft. and the Sangres go straight up to 13-14,000 ft without foothills. Don't know of a view of a range like that anywhere else in CO.
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Shame the Medano RD was out. It is a fun drive over to the Sand Dunes.
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Regards
.
Jim

 

[unabashedpraise]

We went from Co Springs to Medano Pass via 115, 67, 96, to 69 through Florence, Wetmore and Westcliffe. Is the portion on 69 thru the Wet Mountain Valley just south of 50?

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 3: Great Sand Dunes to Lake City

The sand dunes were much bigger than we anticipated and enjoyed the area a lot. We were a bit dissapointed in my lack of research when we found out that the NATIONAL CAMPGROUND didn't have any showers! I guess it makes sense for the remoteness and the geological makeup of the area... I guess.



These kids loved the sand, especially my oldest. I had a hard time keeping up! We didn't bring a sled, but we did some makeshift sliding and bounding down the steep sides. I only wish I could have taken the day to hike to the tallest dune, but with the wife and kids with me that was way outta the question. (I wasn't going to carry those kids back!)




Since we couldn't take Medano Pass over to the sand dunes we had to go around. I liked the drive, it was peaceful and beautiful, but it added more time to the drive than planned. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to spend here and had to get going.


We took hwy 112 to 160 to 149 up towards Lake City. Along the way we "stumbled" on some elephant rocks. There were some roads that looked like they went for miles, but we were low on gas and time so we only drove around the main part a little bit.





Then we came to one of our favorite areas, South Fork. In South Fork we stopped at The Malt Shoppe and it was wonderful! Beware, the fries are a little spicy for kids, which means you have to eat theirs AND yours! The food was super good and the people were very nice, but no place to eat indoors, it's all outdoor sitting. We had to grab and go. They even pointed out some places to stop to get a mattress for the wife to put under her sleeping bag.


The Rio Grande. I'm from Texas and know some of the history of this river and the relationship with Mexico, especially in the 1800's. Following the river to the headwaters was pretty awesome. We also saw some amazing homes in this area...



In South Fork, despite our help from the Malt Shoppe, we were having an issue finding a couple of fleece jackets for the kids. However, www.docsoutdoor.com sporting goods store had just what we needed. In fact, the guy working even stayed open late just to accommodate us, Thank you! Turns out the owner, Doc, is a Dr. from Texas. That explained the Don't Mess With Texas t-shirts that seemed out of place.



We truly enjoyed this drive up 149 to Lake City, absolutely awesome. We will definitely be camping in the South Fork region next trip.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 4: Lake San Cristobal and Wager Gulch

Day 4: We stayed the night at the Hinsdale County Wupperman Campground. There aren't any signs for Wupperman in the area, it is listed merely as "Hinsdale County Campground". Wish I would have known, would have saved us a bit of driving...



Really is a beautiful Lake.


On the way to Cinnamon Pass I spontaneously decided to drive up Wager Gulch which is rated as a 3 on traildamage.com. It was a rough logging road that emptied


While we were trying to take some pictures of the family using the camera's timer, an older guy from an atv group went out of his way to look for us. When he approached us he said that he remembered having young kids on vacations and how hard it was to take pictures. He then proceeded to take a bunch of pictures with our camera, posing us in the buildings and trying his hardest to get the kids to smile. It was super nice and we really appreciated his help. Then like a whirlwind they all hopped back on their atv's and flew up the mountain.




We took the trail up to the pass. At one point while heading up to the high point the inclinometer (?) on the phone stated we were at a 44° angle heading up. Sheesh! That was fun!








Going back down, wait, where is the road?!

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 4, part 2: Lake San Cristobal to Ouray via Engineer Pass

Day 4 part 2: After Wager Gulch we continued on Cinnamon Pass. Shortly after the trail started to climb and get narrow, we had a traffic jam. Apparently a 'pretend' 4wd jeep of some kind had just dropped a wheel off the edge of the shelf road and no one could get it back on safely. They were waiting for a 'recovery' vehicle and no one knew how long it would take.

We were camping in Ouray that night and it was going to take 3.5 hours via highway and about the same time via Engineer pass, so we opted to take the pass over. We stopped in Lake City for some ice and liquid libations and headed for Engineer Pass. It was beautiful weather at first, then ending in dark clouds and rain as we descended into Mineral Creek Trail.




Is this really Hwy 20? I'm skeptical. Our GPS did have outdated maps, which caused a couple of problems, but this as a hwy?














The girls did great, but Mineral Creek trail was too much for my 2 year old who ended up getting carsick. We were changing clothes and cleaning up vomit while in the middle of the trail. Not for the first time I'm grateful for the zj's hatch opening vertically to give us a little protection from the rain. We didn't get many pictures of this area as we were in 'get there' mode and our main camera battery was dead. We descended for a long time without seeing anyone and were hoping we were on the right trail. It was a welcome site to see the highway and the tunnel and on to Ouray Amphitheater Campground.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 5: Ouray, Ridgeway State Park, Telluride

Day 5: Ouray, Ridgeway State Park, Telluride

Setting up camp in the rain at the Amphitheater Campground. No pics of daytime camp for some reason. Luckily the rain started after the tent was up. The sites were nice, our giant Mountain Hardwear Casa 6 fit perfectly on the site pad.



And of course we had some genuine rocky mountain brew. I prefer O'Dells, but this really hit the spot.


The tarp/awning definitely came in handy for cooking and eating our dinner.



This is the void in pictures area of the trip. We woke early to head to a shower, but everything in Ouray was closed. I decided that since we needed to wash clothes in Ridgeway, we might as well go to the State Park and use their showers. When we approached the front gate we had to pay a daily fee of $7. No big deal, that is cheaper than other shower rates we had found. Then we found out that they had laundry services in the same building as the showers, score! We had a lot of pee pee clothes and the vomit smelling car seat cover to clean thanks to the youngest and our lack of a normal routine.

But then the world went dark and the next few hours are nothing but a haze of frustration. Let's just say some of the campground attendants are plain rude, others kind. Some of the places have laundry soap, some don't. Some campgrounds have showers included in the price, others charge $1 for 4 minutes in the shower. Here in the Midwest I've never had so many campgrounds without showers or those that charge a fee per minute, definitely not used to that. The wife had to wash two kids in those showers and I can only imagine the frustration dealing the poor water pressure and not being able to control the water temp. Almost $30 later we had two loads of laundry clean, four clean people, and a cleaner jeep. I think it was worth it....??

I'm also glad we did not decide to camp here as there was practically no shade whatsoever, but the place looked very clean.

The only saving grace was running into a 'local' also doing laundry. We talked for a while and he said if we didn't have any plans, we should go to Telluride for the day, explaining a bit about the area. Sounds like a plan! The kids need the break from rougher roads after the long day yesterday.

Telluride was nice and we enjoyed the town. We also took advantage of the free gondola rides to Mountain Village. Mountain Village was a bit deserted and the shops were too expensive to let a 2 and 5 year old into. I mean, a sale rack with a t-shirt for $72?










While we were eating some great pub food at the Cornerhouse Grill, I noticed a newspaper stating that there was a mudslide last night, trapping 20 cars. I asked the waitress, who confirmed that the road had only been opened that morning. We drove right through the area to get there, oblivious that anything had happened. This is what the highway looked like.


On the way back we witnessed a lot of law enforcement vehicle with lights on warning people of large rocks in the road. We also witnessed the remnants of what was most likely a "nice" hail storm.






We ended up going back to camp and sitting in the tent in the rain. After about an hour the rain let up and we went to the Ouray Hot Springs Pool for a few hours. It was probably what saved the day, 100° water in 60° weather. I hugged the hot water vent the whole time and the girls had a blast. My wife had to practically drag me away. No pics.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 6: Yankee Boy Basin, Drive to Canon City

Day 6: Yankee Boy Basin, Drive to Canon City

The local in the previous post stated that the one can't miss trail was Yankee Boy Basin so we struck camp, grabbed coffee, and headed to the last trail we would have time to do. I let the wife behind the wheel to drive up to the pass. We took some photos and overall enjoyed the nice drive.





















There is a bathroom on the way, right before the harder section. That "bathroom" is by far the FOULEST smelling thing I have EVER come across. I couldn't even stomach it and waited till we got back down. I've been around some smelly stuff, and have used a lot of vault toilets in my day, but WOW. Be warned.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 6, part 2: Yankee Boy Basin, Drive to Canon City

Day 6, part 2: Yankee Boy Basin, Drive to Canon City

After Yankee Boy we headed to Ouray Brewing Company for some lunch. It was very crowded and the wait for the food took awhile, but it was good and the Cherry Saison was surprisingly good (not into fruit in my beer). We then took a few more pics and visited some shops. The Gator Emporium had some really nice owners and actually gave my daughter a doll sized rocking horse because it had a broken ear.


Amphitheater Campground Lookout




She can't get in by herself.


They like these hats!



We then headed towards Canon City going through Montrose and Gunnison. It was fairly uneventful with only a couple of emergency pit-stops on the side of the road for my 2 year old. Good thing I had that portable toilet! Overall we enjoyed the drive with very scenic areas.




Blue Mesa Reservoir looked really low.




Is this were we are supposed to move? Only if there is a pot of money at the end.


The Arkansas. There were a lot of parks along the river and many of them were very nice.

 

[Chili]

Sounds like an awesome trip!

 

[unabashedpraise]

Sounds like an awesome trip!

It was! If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change much, mainly just the shower issue...

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 7: Phantom Canyon Road, Victor, Cripple Creek, Garden of the Gods

Day 7: Phantom Canyon Road to Victor, Cripple Creek, Garden of the Gods


Having driven from Ouray to Canon City, most of it in the mountain rain (I'm not complaining!), I managed to pick up a large bolt in my driver's rear tire. It looed like a large frame type bolt, the head being a torx and at least a half inch in diameter. I had some plugs, but felt this called for alittle more substantial repair efforts. I took it to a local tire shop and for $15 they put a plug/patch combo on.

Since we couldn't do what we planned at the Royal Gorge due to the devastating fires, we opted for the Phantom Canyon Road up to Victor for their Mining Days event.


Phantom Canyon Road. Definitely not an off road trail, I grew up with local gravel roads worse than this, but not nearly as scenic. This was a nice, quiet, pretty drive. We kept joking about western outlaws jumping out at any given corner.






Me and the girl climbing a 'mountain'. She was nervous but we had fun.


The wife's expression while we were climbing. It wasn't that high! Although the girl was wearing flipflops...


Random well? Death's depth? Pit of Hell?? "Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit." Rev 9:1 Who knows! I should probably google it...


Town of Victor



This was some sort of drilling contest. It was actually entertaining and interesting, although we didn't stay for the whole thing. It was a timed event where they had to pick up the drill, put the bit on, carry it to the rock, drill two holes inside a grid, and then drag the drill back and lay it down. Looked pretty hard, these miners are tough dudes.


Tallest mountain in the area was the tailings (?) from a local mine all piled nice and neat. They actually had quite an operation going on, with about 20 vehicles of all sorts moving around.


Cripple Creek, honestly it was nothing but casinos. I guess if we had money it would be fun, but we just drove around for a few minutes and left. They did have a nice playground at the park. No pic.


The only weed we got from Colorado. We think it is wild sage. We saw fields of it on our way from Phantom to Victor, stunning. I love this area.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Day 7 part 2, and Day 8: Garden of the Gods and Colorado Springs, Home

Day 7 part 2, Day 8: Garden of the Gods and Colorado Springs, Home

While in Victor I noticed that the one of the two bolts holding the stationary part of the tire carriers latch had broken off and the other was bent. I guess the washboard Phantom Canyon Rd was too much for the tire carrier. This wasn't good. I could secure it with a strap if need be, and the hinge pin wasn't going to let it open, but I wanted to fix it asap. Problem was the broken bolt was broken off inside the tapped hole and I would have to drill it out, but I had no drill.

We took the hwy to Woodland Park where I stopped at an O'Reilly's Auto Parts. Now let me tell you, that former military employee in there was THE most helpful person i have EVER come across at ANY auto parts store. I honestly can't say enough about that place. I have 4 major auto retailers within a 1.5 mile radius of my home and this place blew them outta the water. Anyways, while the employee was sourcing a new bolt to replace the one remaining allen head bolt that I had just taken out, it broke in two! Guess I was really pushing the limit! A short time later we had a grade 8 bolt holding the latch together, but were still unable to get the other out.

I then started towards Manitou Springs and used the Garmin to find someone to fix it...only it was saturday late afternoon. Every one I called was either a wrong number (remember the outdated maps?) or was closed. We eventually decided I would need to buy a drill and the parts to fix it the next day and headed towards Garden of the Gods, beautiful and free! While we were walking in I spied what looked like a maintenance type worker. I approached him and said, "This may sound strange, but do you have a drill and a screw extractor kit?" As I was explaining the issue I was worried because, honestly, the guy looked too 'managerial' to know anything about tools. Long story short, he pulls out a giant Ryobi drill, drills out the hole, taps it, and then places a new grade 8 bolt, with thread lock, into the fresh hole! SCORE!! Even better, he wouldn't let me give him any money! I thanked the nice guy immensely, feeling very confident now in a worry free drive back to KC. I then proceeded to spend way more than I planned in the gift shop and we then strolled around the park. Thank you Garden of the Gods!!!!!








We then headed to the Phantom Canyon Brewery for a good dinner.


The last night we stayed in an excellent Hampton Inn off of Geyser Drive in Colorado Springs. After a great nights sleep, a good breakfast, and a morning swim, we headed up to the mountains one last time. We went up to a spot we had been to 6 years previous when my wife was pregnant with our oldest, Helen Hunt Falls. Our now youngest was sleeping of course... Though they do have a nice visitor's center and some GIANT ruby-throated hummingbirds.


On the way back down....


While filling up, this guy never even said a word as I drooled over his Aston Martin. He didn't even say thanks when I told him he had a nice car. Guess the ZJ does not inspire conversations with "rich" people... Even though he seemed a ************, it was still a very nice car.



The last view, KC bound! The good side is we had an uneventful drive home and our beds were waiting when we got there.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Thought and Issues on the trip.

Total Miles were 2198, avg mpg per tank was 14 even. Best tank mpg was 16.10, worse was 11.43.

The only issues I can think of were:

Using a camera we don't like and were not used to. Made for some very bad pics.
The ZJ's map sensor kept going haywire above 12,000' feet.
The broken bolts on the tire carrier.
My table leg broke.
Didn't plan showers very well.
The two year old liked to pee at night and puke in the day. Not something we thought would be an issue. Live and learn I guess!
The vc in the transfer case seemed to get too hot on the drive back. It may be going out.
Never got the cb antenna installed before we left, though we didn't need it.



Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the trip.
We ate at way too many brewery's! I think I forgot to mention that Telluride Brewing Co may be small, but they have a delicious IPA.
Need to bring more money next time!
I shouldn't have forgotten the air mattress. Although, the ZJ's windshield reflector made a decent air mattress/insulator for my sleeping bag.
Don't watch the belly dancers at Victor, it's not what you think! I have pics, but felt bad posting them. Let's just say, they are not flattering and I was embarrassed for them!
I need to move to CO.
CO, get your laws figured out!