I Leaked All Over Colorado's Face!

[LaOutbackTrail]

A fun title for a seriously good time! Three off hwy mountain passes, three quarts of power steering fluid, and three of my favorite girls!
The scenic beauty of Colorado has more than astounded my wife's and my expectations. We had a grand, short adventure that didn't nearly satisfy us. We will be back soon!

Sorry for the Delay-

Day 1:
I'll keep the words down for day once since I had already typed it out and lost it all. Very aggravating. Not that there was much to see or report about since we drove straight through to Colorado from the Dallas area.

“I've got my eyes big to see the mountains!” 30 minutes from home.

And within the hour…

Bella, not enjoying being away from the family. She was the lucky-ish one to be chosen for this trip. The other two dogs were boarded/left with a friend.

Looking for mountains.

Enjoying the……

Scenery

Red River

And a bit of navigational help before….

I am the only one still conscious-ish.

Hey whats that?!??! Looks like a very early 40. One day, I will have another one of these. (empty nest in 25 years?)

Yeah, daddy's singing isn't the best.

A lot of this.

A wind farm near Dalhart, TX

And turning into the wind.

Some rain we managed to avoid near Tex-Line, TX

Tex-Line is where I caught up with these guys, some folks I've ridden with before during a couple of Eastern Texas dual sport rides, they are heading to the Telluride area.

The very first of the mountains.

And how often do you get to drive by a volcano??

And little momma feels the need to tan her back side….

I took this one thinking of you, Ru55el

Hey look, “large black animal with long antler crossing.”

Hey look, “black quadruped with round bottom and no head ornaments crossing”.

The start of this trip really started for me when we get off the HWY north of Trinidad, passing through the town of Aguilar on our way to….

Spanish Peaks

 

[Hill Bill E.]

Very nice!! And it's whetting my appetite for Colorado!!

Only 9 more days, and my buddy "Pappy" and I are headed for CO for 2-3 weeks!!:wings: Also hitting SD, WY and hopefully a day or two in Moab, UT.

But mainly CO. Going to run Black Bear, Engineer, Imogene and a few others.

I also have been invited to do a run with the 'TrailDamage' crew!:coffeedrink:

I can't wait!! So far, my exposure to CO has been following the interstate through on the way to Moab. It's time to do some real exploring!:victory:

 

[1leglance]

Ok I am ready to hear more...
nice pics in a beautiful area

 

[KSJeep]

Looking forward to the rest.............

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I just had day one written out and because of the stupid photo quantity limit....... managed to delete EVERYTHING I just typed up...... I guess it'll wait till tomorrow......

Teaser pics from Day one......... will work on it again tomorrow.

 

[rdraider]

Those are some really good pics! What did you take them with?

We're practically neighbors, i'm in Mineral Wells. I grew up in Lubbock and for quite a few years, i went camping in Colorado. I miss it so much, i haven't been in 12 years! There's a dirt track up a canyon that leads to Cripple Creek that's an easy trip. That's probably pretty tame for this forum, but i found it all on my own in 92, and it was a good time then. I'm building a camper to go next summer can't wait!

 

[Haggis]

Alright, you've successfully grab our attention with the excellent pics...Now get a working on that report! No more excuses as we're looking forward to the whole deal. :elkgrin:

 

[Mr. Leary]

Alright, you've successfully grab our attention with the excellent pics...Now get a working on that report! No more excuses as we're looking forward to the whole deal. :elkgrin:

He's got like 1250 photos to sort through... hopefully it will not take too long! :sombrero:

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Alright, you've successfully grab our attention with the excellent pics...Now get a working on that report! No more excuses as we're looking forward to the whole deal. :elkgrin:

That's why I didn't post any pics or thoughts of my trip until the report was done. It took me 6+hrs to put together over 4 days.

He's got like 1250 photos to sort through... hopefully it will not take too long! :sombrero:

No excuse, I had 1100+ to look through :snorkel:

 

[Mr. Leary]

No excuse, I had 1100+ to look through :snorkel:

I'll throw sheep at him! :costumed-smiley-007

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Alright, you've successfully grab our attention with the excellent pics...Now get a working on that report! No more excuses as we're looking forward to the whole deal. :elkgrin:

Heh. Did I mention I work nights..... plus drove 6 hours to get to work.......
We went to junk yards today. Ill be working on the truck in the morning, maybe tomorrow evening I'll work on the report....

I'm usually the first to have a report up after a trip... like same day. Different circumstances this time.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Those are some really good pics! What did you take them with?

Howdy from Denton.

I'm using a Canon SD1300. A $170 camera. Love it. Great pics for a P&S, you can change settings (like I needed to in the last shot of the Spanish Peaks) to get that great shot.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I replaced the power steering gear box that I blew on Hermitt Pass this morning.

Day 2 to follow!

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I left you guys off without finishing day one. The scenery got more and more interesting as the sun went down. Unfortunately, as you can probably figure out... photos were short while we rushed to find a suitable camp.

Shortly after the turn off to head up Cordova Pass, in a meadow across the small valley we were following, was a herd of elk. The most I have ever seen at one time. I was so excited, that the tone of my voice startled my wife.

A few miles snaking through the valley, heading into the sun and unable to see, I took a second to take in one of the prettiest valleys of the trip.

Pardon the inappropriateness of this photo (I've seen similar here) but this is allllll part of the trip too!

The first indication that we were well into our adventure.

Some interesting, things...

I gave Mr. Leary a call immediately after the photo above, checking weather and letting him know how the trip was going thus far.

Thats day one.

 

[Hltoppr]

Nice trip! Looking forward to more!

-H-