A walk in the Wilderness

 The Weninuche Wilderness to be precise, and the walk was more like a hike. This adventure took me into the wilderness along the Vallecito River. I only had a few hours to get as far in and back out as I could, as this was a last minute decision.

 The trail takes you up very quickly along switchbacks on the west side of the mountain.

 The trail circles round to the east side of the mountain with more switchbacks and then on a more gradual decent towards the river. The river from here is still 500' down this Cliffside.

 The first view of my elusive prey.

 Once at the river, the trail follows pretty close along it's banks. I followed it for a mile or so in hopes of finding a waterfall, but alas none were to be found. However, what I did find was a wild and beautiful Rocky Mountain River.

 I stopped at various spots along the river to photograph it.

 Some were a easy step off the trail to the rivers edge and some were a scramble down a 50' ledge.

But after all the shots were taken, I was able to just kick back on a boulder in the middle of the river and enjoy the scenic beauty for a bit before heading back out.
The Weninuche wilderness is approx. 500,000 acres in the southern San Juan Mountains of Colorado. I must say the area is beautiful and very rugged as you would expect. The trail was quite rough and almost did me in, and that was only a 6 or so mile hike. I guess the fact that I haven't really hiked a trail like this one in almost 7 years and just being a tad (or more) out of shape didn't help matters any. However, it was well worth the physical struggle to see such an amazing place!!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit and we'll see you here again.

Durango Farmers Market

 It's been a few days since posting, guess I've just been a bit lazy and enjoying the great weather and being here in the mountains. Now that doesn't mean we haven't been doing anything and I'll catch up with that in the next post or two.  Saturday we went into Durango for the weekend Farmers Market and we were pleasantly surprised at how large it was and the variety of booths. It's been quite a while since we've seen a good farmers market, La Veta had a small one, but of course it's a small town. It was nice to pick up some fresh veggies and the taste is so much better than anything you can buy in the supermarket. Wish we could run across more of these local stands in our travels.

 Stands selling all kinds of things, from clothes to meats and pizza to trinkets, but mostly farm fresh veggies, yummmmmmmm.

 Sheryl closing the deal on some fresh tomato's.

This morning we awoke to a nice light rain, looks like we are catching the tail end of the Southwest storms. Scrappey goes in for a grooming this morning, he's beginning to look like a little orphan puppy and we just can't have that. That's all for now from S.W. Colorado, so we'll see you back here again soon.

Staying Another Month

 Yesterday we took a ride down the mountain to Bayfield and spent the day with Sheryl's cousin Lillian. She showed us around the backroads of the area and also to visit her brother down by the New Mexico border. It was an enjoyable day as most are here in this beautiful area. Speaking of beautiful areas, we decided that we like it here so much that we extended our stay for another month!!! The weather is perfect and we are in no hurry to get down into the desert heat of Monument Valley (our next stop along the way).
Below are a few more reasons for our decision to stay a bit longer.....enjoy.

 Of course I had to sneak in a shot of my beautiful bride amongst the high mountain wildflowers.

Storm a brewing over Vallecito Lake

A short entry with a few shots just to say we are staying put. So until next time, We'll see you back here soon!!!



Vallecito RV Resort, Colorado

 Our retreat in the mountains for this week is the Vallecito Resort at Vallecito Lake. The area is 18 miles east of Durango at around 7500'. The park is heavily wooded and all sites are gravel. The park is well kept with most of the RVer's here for the season.

When we called there were only 3 sites available, we were lucky and got one of the site on the perimeter.

We look out over the mountains with sparse woods and meadow for a view, beats staring at other peoples rigs.

A short 50 yard walk directly in front of use reveals a beautiful mountain river.

We are enjoying our time here and just want to give you a quick glimpse of where we are staying. So now Sheryl and I are off for another adventure, so we'll see you back here before long!!!

Exploring Middle Mountain, San Juan N.F. Colorado

 We made it into Vallecito (18 miles East of Durango) on Tuesday and yesterday headed into the San Juan National Forest. Todays adventure was to explore the Middle Mountain Trail, the Forest Service Road climbs 13 miles into the mountains with some pretty good elevation gains and amazing views.

 Aspin Stand

 

 Mountains to the West

 

 High mountain meadow

 

 Wild Flowers along the trail

 

 East Mountains

 

High mountain stream

 

 

We have really been enjoying our time here in Vallecito, the weather is great (ok maybe a little cool in the mornings) we awoke to 38 degrees this morning. That being said, we'll take highs in the 70s all day long compared to the hot August days at the lower elevations!!!

That's it for todays adventure, we'll see you again soon from the Colorado Mountains!!!

Exploring The Cordova Pass, CO.

 The other day brought a trip over the Cordova Pass in the Spanish Peaks. The road is 35 miles of dirt and gravel and can be quite rough in places, and connects the town of Aguilar on the east side and CO 12 on the west side of the pass.

 The views along the 11,248' pass are amazing.

 The Apishapa Arch was built by The Civilian Conservation Corps when building the road in 1933. The road was built through a rock outcropping making the arch.

 Mountain Wild Flowers.

 Views along the East side of the Pass Rd.

 The are many old and abandoned structures along the Rd.

 These are old Coke ovens along CO 12 in Cokedale. Coke is made by removing the moisture, sulpher and phosphorous from coal and is the preferred fuel for smelting iron. In 1909, 350 of the ovens were in operation.

Mountain lake along CO 12.

Our time here in La Veta is up in the morning, and we'll be making our way to the Durango area. We have reservations at Vallecito Lake Resort RV Park, up in the mountains Southeast of Durango. We'll be staying there for at least a week (maybe more) while we explore the San Juan Mountains. We have really enjoyed La Veta, it's a great little mountain town and we highly recommend you visit if you are ever in the area. It's alittle off the beaten path, but that's what makes it a gem of a place.
That's all for now and we'll see you soon from Lake Vallecito.

Spanish Peaks Area around La Veta, Colorado

 Sheryl and I ventured out the other day to explore the Spanish Peaks area just outside La Veta, and just down from the RV Park. We spent about 2 hours out and about to get a feel for the area. Above is the view from the road up to Bear Lake.

The wall as seen from CO 12.

 

 Mountain Stream

 Meadows and Mountains

 

 Flowers by the Stream

 

The Twin Peaks or as the American Indians of the area call them "The Breasts of the Earth"

We have been enjoying this area and the Small Town of La Veta. It is your standard little mountain town with a short but lively main street. Yesterday was Farmers Market day, we took advantage of the fresh grown veggies for last nights pasta dish, it's amazing the difference in taste compared to supermarket veggies. Town is just a couple of blocks down from the RV Park and I have been enjoying so much  forget to take the camera to get shots of the town. Oh well maybe next posting.
Not much else going on, just exploring the town, area and enjoying the weather, August and the high so far has been 80. So, until next time.......................see ya then.