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Finally making my run towards the Tetons and Yellowstone.  Left out of Granby and headed towards Steamboat Springs on US40.  Let me just say, this has to be one of the most beautiful and most interesting drives in the country.  I have traveled many roads and highways, through mountains, and alone the seashore, however, for shear diversity, I have never seen such variety.

Starting in Granby, you drive leisurely through rollings hills and wide-open ranches, with snow-capped mountains in the distance.  The railroad parallels the highway to the south, and you gradually catch up to the Colorado River as well.  As you enter Hot Sulphur Springs, the road starts a gradually descent and you enter into a canyon, were railroad, river and highway all converge to run side by side through some extremely picturesque scenery.

As you emerge on the far side, you once again enter into open plains, with an obvious obstacle to the west.  As you cross these high plains, and view hundreds of wild flowers blooming roadside, as the Colorado lazily leads the way.  Shortly, you begin to climb.  An as you gradually gain altitude, the landscape undergoes a definite transition.  Going from open plain, to dense forest of evergreens and aspen.  Then snow begins to appear road side as you climb closer to the sky.  Suddenly, as you round the bend, there is a sign just as you cross through Rabbit Ears Pass.  It’s the Continental Divide.  Here at 9,426 feet, the snow is nearly three feet deep.

You continue to climb and head upwards toward the tree line.  Suddenly, there is movement on your left.  Off in the snow field to the left, is a lone figure, trotting across the  snow covered meadow.  Then you notice just up the hill, a second similar shape just up inside the trees.  It’s a brace of coyotes attempting to cross into the wooded area to the north of the road.

You spend a very brief moment above tree line, and then clearing the second half of Rabbit Ears Pass, you begin an immediate decent.  The grade is 7% and is a downhill run of about nine (9) miles.  After you enter back into the tree line there is a mile or so of slow sweeping turns on a very wide road.  There is a break in the trees, and you get a view into the valley below and can see for miles and miles.  Beautiful lakes and meandering streams.  Seems like you can see clear into Utah.  What an amazing view.

As you nurse the brakes and try to maintain speed and not lose control of the rig, the road levels off into rolling terrain once again and begin to see the signs of civilization near Steamboat Springs.  Entering this tourist mecca, and good old cowboy town, you discover that the folks are quite friendly and helpful, and not at all pretentious like some of the other tourist destinations in the area.  I enjoyed a very nice stroll downtown, which by the way, IS US40.

The remainder of my afternoon was spent driving up into Wyoming.  I continued west on US40 into Craig CO, then turned north to find I-80 in Wyoming an almost 100 mile run.  Only one town this entire stretch was Baggs WY, right on the border with Colorado.  A quick tank of gas and a soda, and off I went to find the KOA in Rawlins.   Along the way I spot two more ‘wildlife firsts’ or life listers as it were.  I see my first Pronghorn Antelope and a rather good sized Golden Eagle.  He was quite stunning.

One last observation as I turn onto the entrance ramp to I-80 east for my run to Rawlins.  You know you are in the boon-docks, when you enter the ramp,  you must cross over a cattle gate.  Yes, I said a cattle gate!  For those of you not familiar with the term, this is a device placed in the road bed that is constructed of a series of pipes, much like a sewer grate.  This allows traffic to safely cross, while discouraging animals, mainly cattle, from crossing over.

A cattleman’s opinion of a fence by the way, is not to keep the animals within a certain area, but to keep them OUT.  An important distinction if you think about it.  Think open range . . .

For my good friends Chuck and Betty Wilson, a bit of cowboy wisdom.  Please excuse me if you used this one in your BLOG last year.

‘Don’t kick fresh manure on a hot day!’
   

The last couple of nights it has been quite cold.  Well down into the lower 30’s.  So cold last night that I dug out a flannel sleeping bag and used it as a comforter.  As hot as I sleep, that is an unusual occurrence.

Rained more on than off yesterday, so I wandered through Grand Lake and had a look at the shops and restaurants of which there is an ample supply.  All of the western home decorating stuff as you can imagine, loads of knotty pine, black bears of every shape and size, as well as all of the accouterments to outfit your favorite cowboy.  I’ll bet this place is hopping in winter time.

Speaking of cold and rain, when they get together it turns into snow, and above 9,000 feet that is exactly what they got.  Started late Wednesday afternoon and closed up Trail Ridge Road which is the route I took to get here Wednesday morning.  Had I waited, I would have either had to go around the long way, or more likely follow a different itinerary.  It was still closed as of about 5p today.

I mentioned how crazy the tourists were on the other side of the park in a previous post.  Folks are much nicer on this side.  More pleasant to be around and much more helpful.  Of course, there is not nearly as much traffic.  Not even close.  Still, both sides of the park have definite scenic advantages.  Nothing over here can compare to Bear Lake and Sprague Lake for scenery.

Kawuneeche Valley will definitely give Moraine Valley a run for it’s money.  The river, formerly known as the ‘Grand River’ runs right through it.  Lot’s of Elk, Moose, and Mule Deer.  I could see why the settlers chose this area to homestead.  Very picturesque.  Just not very productive as far as raising cattle and crops are concerned.  Kawuneeche means Coyote.  And the Grand River, you may know by it’s more common name, the Colorado, whose headwaters are just 10 short miles from the top of the valley.  10 miles down, 1390 more miles to go . . .

While in town, I was able to street walk the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) which passes right through beautiful downtown Grand Lake.  It was raining quite hard but fortunately a lot of it is under cover of the overhangs on the store fronts, so I only got half wet.  Followed it for a good 3/4 mile or more.

This afternoon, I wandered back up into Rocky Mountain NP and picked up another section of the CDT.  Walked that in about a 1-1/4 miles.  Met up with a very nice gentleman on the trail and started a conversation.  Turned out he was ‘commuting’ home on the CDT.  Turns out he is a park ranger, and was on his way down from Flattop Mountain where he had been checking back-country campsites today.  Most of them were still snow covered.  I was the most ‘traffic’ he’d hit all week.

I now know what I want to be when I grow up . . . .

   
    
  Okay kids, time for another interactive round of Wutsthis?!?  Should be a little easier this time.  My first guess was darn close.  I basically had an either or, and the either was right, the or was a bit more off.  Select comments below and place your bets.  Don’t forget to sign your name if you are using the generic login.

Moved from the eastern portion of the park over to the western side today, taking the Trail Ridge Road.  This route is extremely scenic with lots and lots of highlights as it crosses through and over a couple of different Eco systems.  Without getting into too much detail, this trip was a climb from an elevation of about 8000 feet, to over 12,000.  The road was not all that narrow, but no guard rails.  My little rig and I were above tree line for the very first time, up into the tundra, pass snow drifts taller than my little camper which stands at 10′ clearance, and back into the trees and valleys on the other side.

Of note today, for the very first time in my 49+ years, I have crossed over the Continental Divide.  Never in my life have I been this far west.

Of course, I could not resist stopping at nearly every overlook, and every historical marker and take it all in.  I went from a very comfortable but cool morning, to below freezing temps with very high and gusting winds and then back into a more temperate climate.  Of course, I did over do things a bit while at altitude hiking, walking and taking lots of pictures, so I paid the price later in the afternoon and into the evening with some mild but obvious issues possibly associated with the altitude.  Dinner did help me recover somewhat.

Besides the memorable crossing west of the Continental Divide, I also saw for the very first time a Marmot  and some American Pipits at the top of the Trail Ridge Drive, then as I was exiting the park near Gandy Lake, I saw a good sized herd of Moose right next to the road.

Spending the next couple of days, dry camping at Sunset Point campground in the Arapaho National Recreation Area.  The campground is fairly new, is not all that big, and currently has only three campers including me!  My site sits overlooking the lake and the camper is facing to the southwest, so I get a little afternoon sun.  This is advantageous as it is supposed to be down in the lower 30’s tonight, with a possibility of 1″ to 3″ of snow.

      Okay kids, time to make this Blog just a bit more interactive.  Look closely at this last picture and tell me what this is.  In all honesty, it took me two days and I had to read about it somewhere.  Just select on comments below and provide your best guess.  I will e-mail the correct answer to any one who submits their best guess in a week or so.  The rest of you I will have to keep in suspense . . .

Don’t forget to sign your name!  If you use my generic login to access the site, I would have no other way of knowing who you are.

Spent the last two days exploring the eastern segment of Rocky Mountain NP, hiking and taking lots and lots of pictures.  There is a museum at Moraine Park that has a lot of helpful information about the flora and fauna of the area.  There is also an art gallery and one of the artists represented is one of my favorites, Clyde Butcher.

I learned what a Moraine is and the different types of moraines from a very helpful Park Ranger.  Basically, it is what is left to the sides, front and deposits left from an advancing or retreating glacier.  I also read up on the history of the area and how it came to be a park.  Most of the RMNP was at one time either a ranch, a fishing and hunting camp, or a resort.  Lands were acquired in the early 1900’s and RMNP was established in 1915.  They continued to acquire lands well into the 1950’s.

In this part of the park, there are several different trail heads and a couple of mountain lakes.  Bear Lake at the top of the road was quite beautiful and still had about two feet of snow on the ground.  Sprague lake turned out to be a personal favorite.  There is a 1/2-mile loop trail around the lake that is fairly level.  The lake also supported lots of wildlife, especially birds and waterfowl.

This is my first experience at dry camping in earnest and it worked out pretty well.  My solar charger managed to keep my batteries at 2/3 capacity which is a good thing.  The hardest part was getting used to not having electricity to run and recharge PC’s, cameras and cell phones.  Also not having cell service or internet access has gotten me a bit behind on my homework.

Over the course of these two days, I took it upon myself to do a little camera work, mainly to keep my pace on the trails down to something a little more casual, and to familiarize myself with my new camera.  So, I managed to shoot over 500 photos, about 150 of which I have already trashed.  The remaining shots have to be edited and prepared for posting here, so look back later in the week.

A personal observation on my part about this park, or at least the eastern segment, is that the people here have come to get away from the big cities of Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver, but managed to bring it with them.  The folks here drive the mountain roads like they are 20 minutes late for work.  They act the same way while waiting for service at the ranger stations, the museums and the trail heads.  I could recite dozens of occurrences where I personally witnessed their rude and impatient behavior, but I must say that I have since validated my opinion with a number of other sources.

The Rangers here however, are absolutely fantastic.  Very helpful, very friendly, and quite knowledgeable.  Three of them had to suffer a number of newbie questions that I had on multiple occasions, and they did so with a smile and a thank you!

Several firsts for me on the wildlife life listings.  Had elk right in my back yard (Moraine Valley), Ground Squirrels, a Stellar’s Jay, and a Goldeneye (waterfowl).  Also saw some Mule Deer, Mallard’s, Chipmunks and lots of Robins.

Don’t forget to stop back by this date for gobs and gobs of photos . . . . and here they are !!!

Hey kids!!!  Drove up from Cheyenne this afternoon and got a site in Moraine Park Campground in Rocky Mountain NP, which was the lowest I could get elevation wise at 8200 feet.  I am going to sit here for a couple of days and let the body figure out how to deal with a limited oxygen supply.  Drinking scads and scads of water.  Plenty to see and do in the park, and can find several short, low exertion walks to help get adjusted.  I have already seen elk and prairie dogs (correction, Ground Squirrels) right from my campsite.  Check in after Wednesday for updates and I am pretty sure I will have lots of pictures.

Peculiar MO to Doniphan NE to Cheyenne WY

Before leaving Peculiar, I took advantage of an opportunity to drive into KCMo Thursday night and have dinner and listen to live Blues at ‘BB’s Lawnside BarBQ’.  The band that plays there on Thursday nights includes a guitar player, Bill Dye, who hosts the morning blues program on XM74.  They also had a young lady about 21, who made a guest appearance and she was just phenomenal.  Played guitar and lead vocals for the second set.  Her day job is as a concert pianist.  The BBQ Pork was quite good as well.

Friday morning, I went on my way down the highway, crossing into four states in about 3 hours.  Sorry about all the text messages guys.  Went from Missouri, into Kansas, back into Missouri, up into Iowa, and finally Nebraska heading west.  As soon as I crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska I hit one of those concrete highways that I now call a Sh!tshaker.  Shook me up so bad that my ribs and lips hurt after about 30 minutes.  I had to slow to 40 MPH too keep it from scrambling my brains.  No way around it at that point.

As I progressed across Nebraska, I became less impressed by the hour.  Several sections of I-80 were classified as Sh!tshakers, so I eventually ended up on an alternate route (US30).  Stopped for the night Friday night in Doniphan NE at a KOA which was less than impressive.  Lots of monthlies taking up multiple sites with their trucks and toys and such.  Nearly ran out of gas in this same area, as the gas stations in Aurora were closed due to the tornadoes the night before.  Gas prices were as much as 15 cents a gallon higher here than anywhere else and Saturday morning my fill up was higher than any I have ever had since buying the Durango, $91.  When I got to Sidney NE Saturday night were I had planned on spending the night, I was so fed up I went on into Wyoming.

I did cross the 100th meridian in Nebraska, and according to the roadside signage, this is the point were west of this point, crops required some irrigation assistance.  I did see a marked difference in the landscape, including less crops (corn and beans) and more livestock.  I also first started seeing steers and even crossed paths with a tumbleweed or two.  Also of note, as I progressed across Nebraska, I steadily gained elevation.  From about 1200 feet or so, up to 6000 once I crossed into Wyoming.  It is not really noticeable without the assistance of a GPS, or at least by watching the tachometer as my little Durango tries to maintain some speed.

Wyoming was refreshing.  The roads were better, the gas was cheaper, and the weather was cooler. I also found an outfitter that has all of the gear I need for my sojourn into the National Parks.  The KOA here was in much better condition and under improved management.  IF I come back this way, I will definitely stay here.

So here I sit on the High Plains overlooking Cheyenne WY.  Moving out this morning around noon local time and headed south into Colorado.  Less than 100 miles from here is Rocky Mountain NP, where I hope to camp and hike for a few days.

Pictures are from my trip across Nebraska.  Enjoy what little scenery there is.  Damage shot is from the tornadoes that went through Thursday night.  Log cabin is a former Pony Express station, and of course, some more roadside flowers.
   

Had an off day today to wait for some packages and mail to catch up to me.  As I was on my morning hike through some nearby woods, I got an idea for a little project to keep me busy today.

On my most recent birthday, a friend took me on a wild-flower hike at CREW near the house.  Now I wasn’t exactly expecting fields of tulips like in Holland, but I was not prepared for what I was about to learn.  Many of the flowers we were shown were right along trail side, mostly insignificant, unobtrusive and some were so small we needed magnifying glasses to see them.  The amazing thing to me is that we frequently hike right by thousands and thousands of these flowers and never even notice them.

Kind of like life.  We are so busy flying down the highway, that we fail to notice the little things along the way.

So the following pictorial essay is for all of my hiking friends and those of you stuck in the office, or running around crazy keeping up with the kids.  Time to stop and smell the flowers . . .

Now here’s the thing.  I did not hike into the backwoods, nor did I climb some distant mountain.  Every one of these pictures were taken within 35 – 40 feet of a major 4 lane highway just south of Kansas City.  Without exception, every flower was roadside.

Makes you stop and think, huh?!?

Hang on kids, I am about to get philosophical on you.  We all move down the highway of our lives so fast, we forget to look and see what beauty we have all around us.  And I am not just talking about flowers . . . . that special person who sleeps beside you at night, your children, your parents, family and friends.

So slow down for me today; and take a look at who is sitting next to you at dinner tonight and take a moment to appreciate what you have nearby and not worry so much about moving on down the highway.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I’m in Peculiar MO, at the Peculiar Park Place RV Park adjacent to US71 south of Kansas City.  The name is real, you could look it up.  In fact, last night I saw a police cruiser pass through the CG.  Yes, folks, that’s correct . . . the Peculiar Police.  It’s a wonder they didn’t stop in to check on me.

A unique reference on the local news here is when the discuss some occurrence in KCK or KCMO.  Get it?!?  Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.  I was at a loss initially until I listened a little closer to hear what it was that they were saying.

Now that I have left the south, I would like to touch on a curious southern habit . . .

The Finger!

No, not that finger. I get that finger in Fort Myers all the time.  I usually earn it in some way.

When traveling in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas and passing an oncoming vehicle on two lane roads and service drives, I would almost always get the finger greeting.  Right or left hand placed at twelve o’clock on the steering wheel, index finger raised in greeting as in howdy, hey, or as they say in Alabama, ‘How are yoouuuuuuu?’

Even got the finger from a local Sheriff after stopping for gas in SW Missouri.

A very friendly greeting from some very friendly folks, indeed.  So here is a finger for you all back home . . . .

Did I mention that at this particular location, the Arkansas River makes a long slow turn and thus the name of the park taken from the name given to this area by the French.  Aux Arc means Big Bend.  You didn’t know that I spoke French, did you?

Rainy day today.  First one since I started out over two weeks ago.  The good news though, is that it has cooled things off a bit.  90+ degrees when I left home and was hoping to escape that.  Other than one or two days where there was enough breeze to make temperatures tolerable, it has continued to be every bit as hot each day since leaving Gainesville.  Given that there is little change in site, I have decided to head north tomorrow and see if I can get daily temps that are 5 – 10 degrees cooler for a change.

Found an inside activity for the day.  Just up the road a few miles is Altus AR, home of several vineyards.  Went off for the morning and did the wine tasting thing and picked up one or two or six bottles for consumption at a later date.  I am definitely not what you would call a wine expert, but some of these were quite good.  One of the vineyards had a cafe so lunch was convenient and a lot better than fast food.  Chicken salad sandwich was filling, and I only ate half.  I won’t have to worry about dinner tonight!

Spent yesterday lazing around camp, doing a little house cleaning and watching the car races on TV.  Got to sample some of Ronald’s cooking skills at breakfast with some venison sausage with milk gravy and at supper when he fried up some flathead catfish.  The sausage was forgettable, but that darn catfish was good.  Ronald’s coating recipe was as much a part of that as the catfish itself.  I watched the boy cook, and he doesn’t measure one darn thing.  It all just gets sprinkled on, or dumped in the pan.

Moving day today.  Looks like that might be my pattern for a bit as I am looking for some cooler weather.  Seems like 300 miles in a day is a good pace with a day or two of rest in between.  So far, you can see a change in scenery and ecosystems in that distance, yet it gives me sufficient time to stop and do some sightseeing along the way.  Even if it is just to stop at a road side park and have lunch.

Arkansas roads have been the worse so far in my short experience.  Four segments of I-40 is constructed of concrete rather than asphalt.  My little rig has a definite issue with concrete roads.  It gets into a rhythm with the expansions joints where you just get jolted up and down so violently that you can’t perform any kind of function with your hands, like changing radio stations or even reaching for the turn signal.  Don’t even think about taking a sip of coffee.  Newer concrete roads do not seem to have that issue.

I am headed to Ozark AR to camp at another COE Campground.  The young lady at the Welcome Center was very excited to hear of my destination and buried me in pamphlets and maps.  Apparently Ozark is a destination . . .

Camping at Aux Arc Park just across the mighty Arkansas River from Ozark.  As with all COE camps, this one is very neat and tidy with paved sites.  All sites have some kind of view of the river.  There is a dam and one set of locks here, and a double set of tracks just across the river.

Ozark has the #16 most beautiful bridge in the world.  I am not sure who the sanctioning body is for a thing like that.  It is striking at night with all of the lights.  Funny thing is that I had to cross it on my way to the campground and did not really realize that this was the bridge in question until I got here and looked through the literature.  Once I saw it at night I had a better appreciation for the local excitement.

Severe thunderstorms rolled in this evening and we took a major lightening strike here at the camp.  Popped several circuits, the GFI and my UPS/Surge Protector.  Took me a while to find all of the right switches and buttons and get everything reset and back on again.  I can tell you; it was loud!!!  Brought me right up out of my seat.