Update 5: The Rocky Mountains

Its been a while since the last update and we’ve had quite a few ups and downs. We’ve dodged a forest fire, camped at both high and low elevation campgrounds in Colorado,  and endured the loss of our cat Lucy. We’ve had very limited access to an internet connection, which has been both good and bad. Where to begin?

 

The drive from Roswell to Albuquerque was exciting. We finally started to drive up some large hills and we almost called them mountains. I haven’t been to Albuquerque for almost 10 years. It was the first site I traveled to for work, and I have looked back on my time working here with a lot of pride. I was new to my career and to the flight simulation industry and I was very lucky to travel and be on a team with so many experienced, genuine people. I’ve always continued to learn throughout my career, but its almost as if those series of trips to Albuquerque was where I was “born and raised” in a professional sense.

We arrived at a crowded KOA just north of Albuquerque in the shadow on Sandia peak. I looked up to the summit and remembered a decade ago driving to the top and hiking down and then back up the 5,000 ft mountain with three coworkers. I think its safe to say we underestimated the challenge at the time and I laughed to myself. I also did not appreciate what hiking at altitude meant. Albuquerque sits around 5,000 ft above sea level, and the overshadowing Sandia peak is over 10,000 ft.

Kristen, Evelyn, and I hopped in the truck and drove up the mountain to see the views. We considered riding the sky tram that takes visitors from the base, but the prices were just a bit higher than we’d like and we had plenty of time. The drive was beautiful and it was exciting to put the windows down and feel the temperature drop as we ascended. It was over 100 degrees down at the campground and the summit was in the mid 60s with a cool breeze blowing. We found some hiking trails along the ridge at the top and spent a few hours hiking the 3 mile round trip from the summit to the sky tram station. It was a great hike, all over 10,000 ft altitude so our legs and lungs burned going up otherwise simple climbs.

During our two night stay in Albuquerque, with laundry and grocery shopping done, it was time to head north to Colorado. This was the part of the trip we were most excited about. The temperatures had been in the 90s and low 100s throughout our trip so far and the drive up to Sandia peak was only a taste of the cooler weather at higher altitudes. We looked online for a place to stay and after a quick Google for “Colorado high altitude camping” we found our town: Silverton, CO. The altitude is about 9,300 feet and the weather forecast showed 50s-60s, SOLD! A bonus was that is was in southwest Colorado and showed only about a 4 hour drive.

We loaded up early the next morning to head out. After hitching and doing our customary blinker/brake light checks on the rig, I entered the destination in Google maps and was hit with an 8 hour estimate! Where did I go wrong? I checked the route and it went about 4 hours around the entire region we were headed. Google maps reported the road (550 N) was closed north of Durango to Silverton. This 45 minute leg was replaced with the 4 hour detour loop. We researched a little and found that the forest fire in the area was right along the road and it was closed. A little dejected but still excited to enter Colorado, Kristen called the campground to ensure our later arrival would still be OK. The campground manager informed us that we could still go up 550 N, but would have to get a police escort to pass through and that his wife had just come up that way. A little hesitant about how that would work, we proceeded against the Google maps advice.

We stopped at an Apache reservation for gas at a casino in northern New Mexico and excitedly entered Colorado! Almost instantly we were impressed with the green hills and snow capped mountains in the view. It reminded me of Switzerland and the Sound of Music. I later learned that area is nicknamed “America’s Switzerland”, I still claim credit for this observation.

A short while later, we could see the smoke in the distance from the fire. There were plenty of cars and RVs on the road, so we at least had company along the drive as we approached. We passed through Durango and the smoke intensified. Eventually the traffic got less and less dense until we were along a one lane road and passed the flashing signs about the road closure. I could see a chain of helicopters on the peak to my left fighting the fires and the traffic ahead of us was at a complete stop with the flashing lights of police and fire crews. There were two lines of traffic, one for those passing through the towns north of Durango and the other for people trying to get back to their houses after evacuating. The fire has burned and passed the area as it spread west, so the police escort was really to prevent looters from entering the area following the evacuation. We were 4th in line for the thru traffic and after a short smoky wait, our convoy moved north (in style!)

After about an hour, we descended the mountain into the picturesque town of Silverton, Colorado. It reminded me of a small Alaskan town from TV. One main street and a few dirty off roads busy with ATVs and Jeeps. Parked snowmobiles and sleds decorated the front yards.

We were excited about our 4 night stay and were instantly greeted with a chilly rain shower. I climb the ladder to the roof of our RV every time we park to run the ethernet cable up to our Wifi extender and the view has never been this breathtaking, what a place! All directions were surrounded by 14,000 mountains and long range views.

We opened all the windows and let the fresh crisp breeze in. We have one set of blinds on the kitchen window and hearing the rattle as they blew against the window frame brought back memories of Lexington, Kentucky as a kid when we could open the windows for a cool breeze.

We caught a handful of over-the-air channels, including FNX (First Nation Experience). I’ve come to really like this channel. Its a channel by and for Native Americans and has some really fascinating and intriguing shows. Evelyn felt more like relaxing in the RV, so Kristen and I took the short walk into town to scout it out. With wifi, Evelyn can call and text us so from her Ipad so its easy to check in and make sure everything is OK. Kristen and I walked around town and eventually agreed to split a pizza and sample a local beer at a cool Colorado diner.

The next day, the three of us made the drive up an old abandoned mining road into some rough country. We did about 7 miles an hour due to the rough ride, but after about 45 minutes we past some abandoned mines and found a cool trail to climb. Like most things, pictures just don’t do it justice. The chilly weather made hiking really enjoyable. We climbed the mountain side of the road and found a old mine shaft, which was gated.

We found a larger abandoned gold mine along a river and walked along a side stream until we found a rocky cove!

Back in Silverton, we used the heater for the first time in the RV as the overnight temperatures dropped to the 40s! Evelyn loves collecting rocks, and she found a lump of old coal along the railroad tracks.

After our stay in beautiful Silverton, we looked for a State Park. We found there is a three day lockout on making reservations at state parks online, so we decided to spend one night in the ski town of Ouray, about 45 minutes north, and we also reserved a 5 night stay in Ridgeway State Park, only 20 minutes north of Ouray.

Our night in Ouray was nice. Its more densely packed and paved than Silverton. Its nestled very tightly in the mountains and feels like being an ant in the bottom of a tall drinking glass made of rock. we stayed at the only campground in the town, right on the edge of the stream the flows through. We walked around town and ate a delicious lunch with a view.

After Ouray, we made the short 20 minute drive to our new campground in Ridgeway State Park. Its situated on a large reservoir and the drive was so short we had to wait about an hour and a half before we could check in. Luckily there was a hiking trail around the welcome center so we had plenty to do after our picnic.

We had most of the park to ourselves the first day, since it was a Tuesday. After setting up the RV, we went into town for groceries for the next 5 nights.

When we got back, we noticed our cat Lucy was sleeping in her litter box. She had done this every now and then and we had thought she did it when she was cold or not feeling well. We kept an eye on her behavior for the next day and she seemed to not be eating. She came out of her box to drink water a few times, but other than that she wasn’t very responsive. The next morning, after seeing she was still sleeping in her litter box, we tried to get her out and moving. Kristen picked her up and took her outside to play. Lucy collapsed wherever she was put and let out a few long groans when moved. We knew something was wrong and headed to the nearest veterinarian in town. Lucy has always been pretty runty and underweight. She’s only had the use of one eye since Kristen got her as a kitten back in college 12 years ago. Knowing she was getting older and that this could be pretty bad, we braced ourselves emotionally as we drove to the vet. After a quick inspection, the doctor said her kidneys had failed and the kindest thing we could do for her was to put her down. Kristen and Evelyn said their emotional goodbyes and Kristen took Evelyn for a walk outside. I stayed with Lucy while the vet put her down. I’m not sure why I wanted to do it, but for some reason I felt the need to be there. Lucy never moved from the time the vet lifted her from her carrier, inspected her, and laid her back on the table. the only movement was the tip her her tail wagging happily back and forth when I would pet her and whisper that we loved her and it would be over soon. I knew she was hurting, and her wagging of the tail was her way of telling me it was OK. That she was ready and not to be sad. As the vet put her down, it was like time froze. Her tail wagged one final time as she exhaled and in an instant, I could see she was gone. The vet nodded to me and gave me a minute to say goodbye. I could see how peaceful Lucy was. We’ll miss her and her absence is very noticeable, as she and her large double-decker crate took up about half of our RV living room/kitchen.

Back at the RV, we spend the rest of our time hiking and grilling. Evelyn practiced riding her bike without training wheels, tying my shoes, and bravely swam in the snow-melt fed reservoir.

Leaving Ridgeway State Park was a weird feeling. We somehow felt we were leaving Lucy behind, but knew she was in a better place. We headed towards Denver for a quick stay before planning the next leg of our journey. All of the state parks and RV campgrounds in the Denver area appeared to be booked solid (and very expensive). We eventually called around the morning of and Kristen found a spot in the city where someone had left early. The drive seemed to take forever going up and down the mountains. We stopped on a side road pull off for lunch at 11,400 feet, and after 7 hours we made it into Denver and set up at the campground. The campground was one of the most expensive and worst ones yet, but we were happy to have a place. We made plans the next day to meet some old coworkers of mine who had moved to the Denver areas a few years ago, so we went and met them at a German style beer garden. On the drive there, we hit some rain, followed by heavy heavy rain, followed by greenish skies and hail! It was so weird to go from 60s and sunny to 40s and snow/hail everywhere. Supposedly this is the Denver weather as the mountains nearby make weather predictions very unreliable.

After a brief stay in Denver, and a trip to Casa Bonita, we packed up and headed east!

To be continued…