September 23, 2012, Fisher Towers Utah

I guess I realized this years and years ago but it seems as though when you live somewhere you tend to forget to explore your own back yard.  Maybe that isn't true for everyone but it certainly has been for me. 

The point is that people, certainly me at least, tend to get comfortable in their day to day lives and don't really get to know where they live like they should.  The visit from our Dutch friends this summer stirred these thoughts back up in my mind. I realized again that I don't explore like I really should.

Edward (one of our Dutch friends) is an explorer.  He reminds me in some ways of Bilbo Baggins from the Tolkien Hobbit series.  (Ed, being a Dutchman however, is much taller than Bilbo could ever have imagined to be of course, but I digress.)  Bilbo was an explorer at heart.  If my recollection serves me correctly it took a great effort to get him to go anywhere on a whim but he studied maps profusely.  Ed is very much like that except with Ed it is all you can do to hold him back.  When there is someplace or something to be explored you have to get up pretty early in the morning or you'll miss him. 

When the Ed and Margo go anywhere you can be assured they have studied their maps, researched their destination and know exactly what is where, what they are going to eat, where they are going to eat it and what they are going to explore and when they are going to explore it.  I admire the two of them but that is a different story all together.

All of this rambling is leading to one simple point....

We accompanied Ed and Margo to southern Utah when they left our house to begin their west coast explorations. I have been to southern Utah several times over the years.  I truly believe it is an area that contains some of the most spectacular geologic scenery that exists anywhere in the world. 

I like to take Utah route 128 south from I70 into Moab.  It's not the fastest route but it is certainly the most spectacular.  Highway 128 follows the Colorado river as it winds its way to the Grand Canyon many miles south.  I've been on the route many, many times before but it took a visit from Ed and Margo to  point out a place on that road where we needed to take a side trip.  Why the heck didn't I know about the place before I will never know.

You get to Fisher Towers by taking a side trip off of 128 just about 20 miles before you get to Moab, assuming of course that's the direction your heading.  The road to the parking lot is mostly gravel but there is a medium sized parking lot about five or six miles off of the highway.  The trail head to the towers starts there.

That's Pam with the Towers in the background behind her.

Mostly it's a very easy hike but you need to make sure you take plenty of water.  We did this in late September pretty early in the morning with overcast skies so it was quite nice for a hike but southern Utah can get brutal in mid summer and in the heat of the day.

There's Pamela again on the left.  She looks like she is walking on the side of a cliff. 

If you look at the photo on the right you'll see she was.

Beautiful place to explore.  Talk about sandstone sculptures, wow!!

And then there are the die-hards.  Take a look at these two photos.  Look real close.....

Do you see the spires in the background?  Those are the Fisher towers.....

Now look at the photo below.  Just a little closer look at the same towers at a slightly different angle.  See the climbers on the top?  Could be a hoot I suppose if I were 30 or 40 years younger but I don't think so, not anymore anyway.

 

There are several more photos of this often overlooked place in Utah at: Fisher Towers Utah

 

 





September 20, 2012, Guanella Pass in the fall

Ed and Margo Molenaar are friends from The Netherlands that come over to visit every couple years.  They came over again this year with the plan to spend eight weeks touring around the United States.  Ed loves the mountains of Colorado and since the leaves were turning in the Colorado Rockies the two of us took a day trip just up the road over Guanella pass. 

It was only a few years ago that the road over the pass from Georgetown to Grant was all gravel with limited vehicles.  Now pretty much the entire route has been paved except for the last few miles on the Grant side.  It's and absolutely beautiful road.  In some ways I was disappointed to see that it has been turned into such a nice road.  That means that it is prone to have more tourists and traffic and the isolation is gone.  I suppose in the big picture of things though it is ok because now more people are able to experience the beauty.  There are still plenty of other places that are still gravel and isolated so I will have to simply learn to share.

Georgetown just as you head up the pass.

The Aspen on the top were in their full glory.

Even though the main road over the pass is completely paved there are still side roads that most people would hesitate to take.  The Leavenworth Creek road toward Argentine pass and Mt. Edwards and the Santiago and Waldorf mines is one of them and once you leave the main road the only people you run into are the serious explorers.

 

 

There is a lot of beautiful country to explore up Guanella.  Here's some more if you are interested:

 

http://photosbygeorge.smugmug.com/MountainStates/Colorado/Autumn-in-Colorado/

 



 

August 31, 2012, Family photos

Getting together for a memorial service for a family member is a difficult thing to do.  Everybody has to do it in their life at some point.  I don't know how you can get away without having to experience it.  Times like these are difficult.  It's terrible to lose someone that you love. 

It may sound cruel and heartless but these are also the times when families get together.  All too often these are the only times that families get together.  I stay in touch with my brothers and sisters all of the time but only thanks to the technology of the times.  Telephones and the internet have made the world smaller indeed but there is nothing quite like seeing one another in person and that is what family memorials do. 

It had been years since all of my siblings were together in one spot.  It was very nice to sit around and visit after all of those years.  It is also nice to be able to take photos of all of us together again too.

From left to right these are my siblings: Susan, Dewey, Dixie, Jon, Tammy and me.  Aren't we a handsome crew!

August 30, 2012, Road trip to Wyoming

We weren't in a great rush to get to the funeral we had to go to in my home town of Evanston, Wyoming, we had plenty of time.  Rather than take the freeway all the way we decided to take some secondary roads we had never traveled before to there.  The reason for the journey was a sad one but the trip itself was good.

I wish I could tell you where this ghost homestead is.  Honestly I don't know.  Somewhere on Colorado 318 between Craig and the Utah border.  It was just kinda there.  We had to stop and take a look at it even though we didn't know what it was we were looking at.  We didn't have a map that said anything about it so I suppose it is just another place in the world that has lost its value and identity.  Sad how that happens.  Dreams come and then they go just as quickly.

Montana calls itself the Big Sky Country.  That always bothered me some.  I don't think they had ever seen Wyoming when they came up with that slogan for Montana.  Sure, Montana is a beautiful state, I know that because I lived there for several months before I was drafted but when it comes to the sky Wyoming has the lead. 

Have you ever been somewhere where you could stand on the ground and see the curvature of the earth?  Somewhere where you could see the clouds meet the horizon? A lot of people I have talked to over the years complain about driving across the plains of Wyoming.  They say things like "It's boring, there's nothing to see".  They're missing the beauty.  Too bad for them.

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August 27, 2012 A chill in the air 2

Well, the full size top is back on the Sammi. It's been a little nippy in the mornings driving down the hill to work. I kinda hated to do it for a few reasons: 1) It just isn't the same to drive 2) It's just a little too small so it's a pain in the &$=@! to put on and 3) It kind of marks the end of summer and I'm not a winter fan any more than I am a football fan which also marks the end of summer.
I hope it doesn't mean the end of this years adventures. I was looking forward to a trip to Taylor park this coming weekend but that isn't happening now. I have to instead drive back home to Wyoming to bury a cousin of mine who passed away unexpectedly. That's not something I am looking forward to but it is much more important than an outting in Sammi. The mountains and trails will wait for me. Maureen can not wait.

August 24, 2012, Zukiworld

I rediscovered zukiworld.com the other day.
When I first bought the Samurai I had a few minor issues with it for which I turned to the internet. I found some very helpful people with the answers I needed on that site and then, after thanking them for their knowledge, I forgot about the site and didn't visit it again for months.
The other day I was looking for a local group of Samurai enthusiasts and bumped into the site again. Turns out they had gotten together on Taylor Park Colorado this summer for some trail riding. I was bummed to hear about it two weeks after the fact.
At any rate I added a profile to their forum, introduced myself and started looking through their roster for members in the Denver area. I found a couple Suzuki drivers pretty close by and sent them an introductory email. One guy, about my age has already replied but is off to Arizona for the winter (I don't blame him). Maybe we'll get together next summer.
Maybe this will be the start of a new friendship.

August 23, 2012, There's a chill in the air!

I guess winter is coming. I drive the Sammi back and forth to work every day but the ride back up the hill last night was way on the cool side. It almost felt like snow was in the air. I hate to think about putting the fill size top back on it but that is coming sooner than I would like.
The family is planning one more trip to Taylor park on the labor day weekend so maybe between now and then I will just have to wear a coat.
I'd hate to be running around in Taylor with the full top on. We'll see if I can make it that long without giving in.
I don't like winter much...

I suppose I live in the wrong part of the world to say that.

Neverthless, here's Sammi, cleaned, polished and ready for her next outing.

August 18, 2012 - Return to Chinn Lake

The last time we were up here we were just passing through but we noticed the fish rolling in Chinn lake as we stopped for a short break.  We all agreed that we had to come back and do some serious fishing.

Although this stretch wasn't bad at all there are some pretty hairy places along the road but nothing the Sammi couldn't handle.

It's all BLM land so it's first come first serve for places to set up camp but we found a great spot right by the edge of the lake.

There's nothing like sitting around an open fire having a bratt and a beer or two.

It has probably been 20 or 30 years since I last slept under the stars but that's what we did Saturday night.  When you get away from the city lights the sky is spectacular.  There is nothing like it.  It's absolutely beautiful. 

Everybody needs to sleep under the stars once in awhile.  You don't realize just how small you really are until you lie there in wonder at the vastness of the universe.  I made myself a promise that I can't wait that long to sleep under the stars again. 

The lake is about 12 or 15 feet lower than normal this year it looks like.  But then maybe it rises and falls that far from spring to late summer every year.  I certainly don't know.  This is a photo of our camp from water's edge.

As usual it was a great ride with no problems at all along the way.  Of course I always take my tools with me just in case because you can never tell when a Jeep is going to need them.

August 12, 2012 Webster Pass returning home

After several hours of exploring Peru Creek and Chihuah Gulch we could have simply gone back the way we came and returned home but we elected to make a day of it and return home via Webster Pass.  Coming down from Red Cone pass on the ATV trip we did in 2011 dropped us onto the top of Webster pass.  The scenery from the top is spectacular and we had been telling people about Red Cone for a year.  Jaime, Jered, Brandon and Jeff had heard so much about it that they wanted to see it for themselves.

Returning via Webster Pass would mean we would have made a loop: I-70 into the area from the north and back out on Colorado 285 from the south.

After coming back down from Chihuahua gulch we headed through the town of Montezuma and toward Webster pass.

The ride from Montezuma to the top of Webster is classified as 'Easy' and it is. The road is gravel all of the way with only a few areas of roughness but a simple road to navigate and awesome scenery pretty much the entire way.



The panaramic photo above doesn't do it justice and it's probably hard to see here but this is the top of the pass.  The valley to the left is the valley we came up from Montezuma through.  The dirt trail headed up from where the vehicles are parked is the final stretch of Red Cone.  You can't see it but just to the right of the viewpoint here is the beginning of the one-way stretch from the top of Red Cone down to here.  It's one of those decision points you sometimes hit while going through life.  Once you start down there is not turning back.  If you look back in history a little bit in this blog I have an entry about our 2011 trip to the top of Red Cone.  I'll certainly never do it again unless of course if I have wings in my next lifetime or come back as a mountain goat.

The road along Handcart gulch.  With mine tailings along the stream.



Continuing on toward the south other than the first mile or so coming off the top (which can be a little frightening for those that don't like riding on a one lane dirt road that hangs onto the edge of mountain through a land-slide area with a sheer cliff just outside the drivers door) the rest of the trip to the bottom and highway 285 is another wonderful ride.  The road goes through Handcart gulch and follows along a river that seems highly poluted from the minerals running out of the old gold mines up-stream. 

I noticed a big change along that river between the last time we followed it in 2011 and this time.  I'll have to investigate who is responsible I suppose but someone has been working diligently to clean it up.  Last year the water was running red from the iron and everything was dead that grew within several feet of it.  Although I wouldn't take a drink from it yet this year it was much improved.

August 12, 2012 Chihuahua Gulch

A nice little side trip off of the Peru creek trail is a short excursion up Chihuahua Gulch.

The terrain is a little bit rougher and the trail is considered to be moderate but the scenery and fun little water crossings makes it worth the extra hour's journey.  There were a few spots along the trail that reminded me that I have to consider saving my pennies for a lift kit, larger more beefy tires and lower gears for my transfer case.  Of course since I was driving and had to concentrate on getting over the real rough spots you won't find any photos of them here.  It's hard to take photos while your meneuvering around boulders and tight spots.

Brandon had the best seat of all of us.  Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Chihuahua Gulch is a side trip off of the Peru Creek trail

It's always fun to play in the water when you run into it

At the top of the gulch is a great place to get out, stretch your legs and play in the creek

August 12, 2012 Peru Creek

We added a few extra people to the exploration on the 12th.  My daughter Jaime, her husband Jered and their two girls joined us in their vintage 1980's something jeep. 

My brother in law Jeff Roberts and his son Brandon came along as well.  It was great to have them along.

That's Brandon riding lookout in the Sammi.  I think he loved the trip.

This journey started from Loveland pass off of I70 at the Eisenhower tunnel.  The pass is a paved road all the way and climbs to a breathtaking 12,000 feet (almost). (11990 according to the marker).

We stayed on the pavements all the way into the ski town of Keystone.  From there we wound around and made our way to Montezuma Road which we took only a few miles until we turned left just before the town of Montezuma on Forest Service road 260. 

For the most part the Peru Creek trail is considered an easy trail but the scenery is nevertheless outstanding.

One of the main reasons for taking these back country trips is to explore some of the old dwellings and man made structures that you find.  One of the places we were trying to get to was the old Pennsylvania gold mine.  In the photo below if you look real hard you will see two building off across the valley.  The large lower one is the Pennsylvania Mill where the rock was milled down to find the gold and silver ore.  The building up the side of the mountain, just at tree line is the mine.  There are ruins of an old tram that run between the mine at the top and the mill at the bottom.

We made our way over to the mill and did some exploring around it.  I've always wished I could somehow look through a time portal and go back to the time when these kinds of places were in operation so I could figure out what they did, what all the contraptions were for and see how life was when these places were at their prime.  Fun places to explore and wonder about.

After exploring the mill the next stop was up the hill to the mine.

If you look real close you can see a wooden tower just below the upper building.  There are ruins of a few of them between the upper building and the mill.  It looks like they were supports for a tram of some kind to get the ore from the mine up above to the mill down below.  But that's only a guess.  I don't have that time portal I've always wanted.

Actually, I'm not so sure what the building on top really is.  I don't think it is the actual mine, there is no opening into the side of the mountain there.  I'm thinking it was used to put the ore in to send it down to the mill.  Mayby a historian would know that answer.  To me it is a mystery I suppose but it was our next stop and the highest you can get with a vehicle.



The view down the valley from up here is something else.  I wonder what the winters were like though.  This is the edge of the tree line. Somewhere around 12,000 feet give or take depending on which side of the moutain you are standing on.  But tree line is usually caused by where the weather is too harsh for trees to survive.

There was one last stop on the Peru creek trail before we were done.  After making our way down from the top of Pennsylvania mine we continued to the end of the road up Peru creek to the Shoe Basin mine.  Very colorful, mineral filled water running out of the mouth of the mine makes it look like a very frightening thing to explore.  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.  I've seen too many movies of cave-ins.  Interesting to look at nevertheless.