Sat, 8/22/09

San Luis Lakes State Park, Mosca, CO, to KOA, La Junta, CO: Left this morning at a little past nine. I drove first heading south on 150 and then northeast on 160. Drove over La Veta Pass and then downhill into Walsenburg, CO. We’re now out of the mountains. In Walsenburg we stopped at a little café and had some breakfast and then Mike started driving. Out of Walsenburg we headed northeast on Rt. 10. There is absolutely nothing on this stretch of road except large ranches. Nothing but grass and sage and cacti with a few buttes here and there. Just outside La Junta we started seeing a more agrarian landscape with fields of corn and other crops. Pulled into the KOA at about 1:00 and got set up. When we were hooked up to water and I turned on the faucet, sand came out. An “ah ha” moment. That’s why our pump wouldn’t work. So, Mike drained the fresh water tank and replaced with new water. It’s pretty warm here. We’re not used to the heat since we’ve been in the high country for so long. Think it hit the low 90s today down here. We’re here to see historic Bent’s Fort tomorrow.

Great Sand Dunes with Sangre de Christo Mountains in the background

Fri, 8/21/09

San Luis Lakes State Park, Mosca, CO: Well, we survived just fine last night with no running water. We drove over to Alamosa and had breakfast at a neat little café there. The food and service were great. Then drove back to Great Sand Dunes National Park which we can see from our site. This place is pretty incredible. The dunes formed in a curve in the Sangre de Christo mountain chain. The dunes are the tallest in North America (the highest is 750 feet) and comprise more than 330 square miles. The dune area is surrounded by two streams which some say are the lifeblood of the dunes system. The streams bring huge amounts of sand down from the mountains and then the wind blows it back into the dunes. In the spring there is also a phenomenon called “current surge” where the shallow, swift streams form waves which occur every few seconds. This phenomenon occurs only in a couple of places in the world. The huge valley we’re on sits at about 8000 ft This high valley is the most arid in the nation. Left the park and drove back to our site and relaxed the rest of the day. We leave tomorrow for La Junta, CO, and we’ll have running water—hurrah!

Our site

Thu, 8/20/09

West Fork NF CG, Pagosa Springs, CO; to San Luis Lakes State Park, Mosca, CO: Well, it started out a good day. Morning dawned sunny and bright. We decided not to top off our water tank before we left so we wouldn’t have the extra weight. Left at 10:20 and headed back over Wolf Creek Pass. After going over the pass we followed the Archelata Creek for quite a while. An absolutely beautiful drive. We went through South Fork, which is a cute little town, and Del Norte. Then we’re basically back in the desert on a high, wide valley sitting between the San Juan and Rocky Mountains. Guess it’s a big potato growing area. Made it to the San Luis Lakes State Park which is in the middle of nowhere. The campground is all sage brush and sand but we have a beautiful view of the Sange de Christo Mountains. It’s really quite pretty and not very hot. The campground is quite nice. We have electric but no water. Thought we could fill up the water tank at the dump station on our way in, but they didn’t have potable water there. Mike is starting to get ticked off at this point. So, after we got set up we filled up our totes at the faucet in our loop (four trips) and transferred to the holding tank. It took five six-gallon totes to fill it up. Mike went and sat at the picnic table relaxing (glad that job was done) and I went in to turn on the pump. That’s when our day went to hell. The pump didn’t sound quite right and no water came out. I had washed my hands just before we started filling the tank and it worked just fine. So, after ranting and raging for a while Mike called our RV dealer in St. Louis. They walked us through how to prime the pump, but still nothing. Can’t really believe it needed to be primed anyway. We discussed our options. Mike wanted to pull out tomorrow and drive down to Alamosa and find an RV dealer hoping that they could fix. I said I’d rather stay here two nights like we planned. The rest of the trip we’ll be on city water anyway. So, we filled up the stock pot with water to use for washing, etc. They do have showers here also. That was our wonderful day. Tomorrow we’ll drive over to Great Sand Dunes National Park—just up the road. In the meantime, we have a full fresh water tank but can’t get to any of it (sigh)..

Wed, 8/19/09

West Fork NF CG, Pagosa Springs, CO: Not as cold this morning. Had our last camp fire and burned the last of our wood. Started getting pretty warm. Mike wanted to do part of the Archaleta Creek trail, so we headed out east on Rt. 160, going over Wolf Creek pass via a series of switchbacks. Not too scary. After going over the pass and heading down, we passed the Wolf Creek ski area (pretty nice), went through a snow shed and a tunnel, then turned onto a National Forest road up to Big Meadows reservoir and the Archaleta Creek trailhead. Donned our hiking boots and grabbed my trekking poles and headed out. The trail went along the reservoir for much longer than I remember. The last time we were here, I had a 30-35 lb. pack on my back and Mike had about 50 lbs. We wanted to hike up to the first camping area we stayed at back then, but when it started getting steeper and rougher (equestrian trail also), we doubled back and took the trail that goes all around the reservoir. Stopped in a little meadow and had snacks and then continued on. Passed a beaver pond. A pretty trail, but we hiked a lot further than we had planned. Drove back over the pass and back into Pagosa and had dinner and then back to our site. It was 85 in Pagosa and 68 up at Archaleta Creek. We leave tomorrow for Great Sand Dunes NP. We get to go over the pass AGAIN with the fifth-wheel in tow. Oh goodie.

Piedra River Gorge Trail

Tue, 8/18/09

West Fork NF CG, Pagosa Springs, CO: Not quite as cold this morning. We decided to do the laundry and grocery shopping today. So, we headed into Pagosa Spings and had breakfast first at a neat little restaurant in town. Sat out on the deck since it was such a pretty morning. We both had steak and eggs. While we were sitting there eating, all kinds of emergency vehicles headed out on the road to Chama with sirens blaring. It seemed like every law enforcement person in the area was out on this call. Would have been a great time to rob a bank or something. We heard there was an accident with a semi. Doesn’t sound good, but the ambulance did come back with someone in it, so at least they’re still alive. Scary. After breakfast we did the laundry. Checked out a model home a couple of doors down while our clothes were drying. Nice place. Then we did the grocery shopping, washed the truck, and then back to our site. We’re the only ones in here—us and a gentleman we met named Gary. He’s a few sites down from us. He’s from Columbia, MO, is a retired attorney and has been out here solo since early June. He doesn’t really look old enough to be retired.. He’s a very interesting guy. He has the means to stay at some pretty fancy resorts, but he prefers the National Forest campgrounds. I like that. He’s heading to Great Sand Dunes after here and so are we. So, maybe we’ll see him there. It started out mostly cloudy today, but cleared off by evening. 81 today. Supposed to go down to 40 tonight. Perfect.

Piedra River Gorge Trail

Piedra River Gorge Trail

Mon, 8/17/09

West Fork NF CG, Pagosa Springs, CO: Cold again this morning. It was 44 inside when Mike got up. Turned on the furnace and went back to bed until it warmed up. It finally warmed up enough to get up, bathe, and dress. Mike laid a fire and we sat around enjoying that for a while. Filled our water tank and Mike got one of the propane tanks filled. After finishing up those chores we drove to Pagosa Springs and had something to eat. Then drove back up the Piedra Road and the unpaved forest road and hiked part of the Piedra River Gorge trail. The trail follows the Piedra River up into this deep gorge covered with spruce and pines. I think it’s the prettiest trail I’ve ever hiked. After our hike we drove back up to Williams Reservoir. The views were spectacular. Back to our site. Sandwiches for dinner I guess. I’m still full from lunch. Hit the low 80s today and not a cloud in the sky.

Sun, 8/16/09

West Fork NF CG, Pagosa Springs, CO: Cold this morning. Mike had gotten up early and started a fire. So I got up, took a quick shower, dressed and joined him outside. Enjoyed the fire for a couple of hours and then we cooked up a big breakfast—bacon and eggs and biscuits. Delicious! After we cleaned up the dishes from breakfast, we finished up taking down and cleaning the rest of the mini-blinds. We cleaned all the windows on the inside also. Now we just have to get the outside of the RV washed. I’m so glad we got that lovely chore done—and without killing each other. After finishing the blinds we went and pumped water and filled our tank. The rest of the day we relaxed and read. The book I’m reading—“The Patriot” has been hard to put down. Will have to get more of his books. A beautiful day today, but on the cool side. The sky was a deep, deep blue with a few puffy clouds drifting around. Probably only in the 70s today..