back at the ranch

Our campsite is so beautiful.  Toby loves it too .... there are horses in the field behind us, and deer that wander thru quite often, even in the middle of the day.

We can see this butte from our campsite (its about 6 miles away).  It is the entrance to the Mesa Verde area. If you use your imagination you can see the roadway going diagonally up the side of the mountain.

Once you reach the top of the Mesa, you can see forever ( this shot is said to be a view of 162 miles distance).  This area stretches to the southwest of Durango/Mancos/Cortez.  (the other San Juans are to the North).

This is Cliff Palace, one of the main dwelling ruins of the area. The villages are located just below the rim overhang of the mesa above.  There are hand and footholds which are presumed to have been their primary way to reach the mesa where they grew crops of beans, squash, and corn.

The architectural aspect of these structures is of course very fascinating to me.
Before we leave we are going back to this area to hike to some of the overlooks of additional villages.


Later, Marilyn

San Juan Skyway pictures

Ouray, on the way out (& up)

at least this one was paved

Iron Mountain -mineral content makes color (approx 11,500 ft)

Fall has "fell"

While we have been near Mancos, Colorado for five days now, .... Fall has arrived!  The trees have changed color, the air is crisper, the nights are colder .... it is invigorating!  The people who live here have said there will be snow by Oct. 1st ..... we are scheduled to leave Oct. 1..... hope we get all our sightseeing in.

Yesterday we drove the "Million Dollar Highway" and the entire 236 mile loop which is called the San Juan Skyway (Durango, Cortez, Telluride, Ouray, Silverton, and back to Durango).  It took us twelve and one-half hours at a leisurely pace, but we could have spent more time in  many places.  We did detour near Trout Lake to see a ghost town, and ended up driving 4 miles up a steep 'backcountry' road (gravel), and just as we reached the ghost town there were boulders in the road that would have required 4 wheel vehicles; so we parked and hiked probably 3/4 mile on up to find a lake that was said to be there..... but we gave out before the lake made an appearance.

Trout Lake

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Marilyn lags behind

I think if we can hike in this altitude as much as we have been able to, then we should really tear it up back at sea level!


no guardrails; one lane

 We saw the most beautiful sights I have ever seen!  ..... haven't I said that before?.... It just gets better.
More in a separate post.
Marilyn

staying put

We spent a half day at Mesa Verde, explored Durango Historic Downtown ..... and decided we need to spend more time here (in Mancos, Colorado).

The campground we are in is actually a dude ranch (resort) in season but it closed Labor Day. The campsites are spread over the rolling mountainside in the tall Ponderosa pines, with views of mountain ranges all around. Our site is up on a small hill at the top, with a huge horse pasture behind (8 horses who like to play a lot ... it is fun watching them run) and many deer who come into the field to eat with the horses); a golf course down the hill, and many trails to walk the dogs ..... and Beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the mountains. So instead of trying to squeeze Grand Canyon in before being back in Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival, we decided to just 'stay put'.  Besides, it is relatively cheap, as campgrounds go .. (of course we are in the off season now).

So we made a new list of the things we still want to do around here:
Back to Mesa Verde for some hiking
Drive the San Juan Skyway (including the Million Dollar Highway)
Hovenweep Pueblo
Jeep tour of the Ute Mountain Tribal Park (remote, backcountry roads to more cliff dwellings)
Anasazi Heritage Center
Hike Dove Creek

This afternoon I sat outside and started a watercolor of the San Juan mountains behind us .... this is the life!
Anyone want to come travel with us ? let me know.  Want to join us in Albuquerque and travel back to Houston with us?
It's just like anything that a person enjoys .... you always want to share it with friends/ family.

San Juan Mountains near Durango, CO

we found the Color !!

One of my favorite newspaper columns for many years was Leon Hale. Every spring he and an old friend would get in his pickup truck and head south to meet spring.  They would travel down the coast until the landscape started to look green, and then would be able to guage how long until spring would reach Houston.
Well, we have found fall .... and it is in Silverton, Colorado. We are staying in a campground near Durango, at elevation 7500 feet; (both Vera and I have experienced some symptoms of altitude sickness) but today we rode the narrow guage steam train up to Silverton (elevation 9300) and we found the aspens ... well into their transformation to golden mountainsides.
It is really something to behold !   God does a great job !
We are so-o-o-o impressed with this area.... just too beautiful to try to describe. Maybe tomorrow I will post pictures (I used up all my camera battery today).
Anyway, I'm not sure how long it will take fall to get from here to Houston.  I know Texas is really suffering. Wish I could just bring a busload down to ya'll.

Later, Marilyn

Ahh-h-h, Colorado !!

We left the high desert of northern New Mexico, and just slipped over the border (mountain passes) and into the southwest corner of Colorado ------ just exhilarating!  We are in Pagosa Springs for two days, to soak in the hot mineral pools and drive some of the mountain overlook roads ... maybe a short hike.  I just love this country (too bad they have winter).  We are just 60 miles east of Durango, which will be our next stop.

I still haven't gotten the hang of adding photos .... but here are two of the tent rocks back in Cochiti Lake area south of Santa Fe; and three of yesterdays hike in the Rio Grande Gorge south of Taos.

Rio Grande Gorge

Charlie on Rio Grande hike

Rio Grande

tent rocks

tent rocks

Later, Marilyn for the Three Travelers

Taos

We've moved up to Taos, NM; a really nice town.... I say 'town' because after having been in Santa Fe, this seems like a miniature Santa Fee, but much more relaxed and 'warm' to me.  Santa Fe had a lot of people, and seemed more sophisticated, more expensive ..... I like Taos better.

The mountains of this area are much more 'friendly' than say, Grand Tetons or Glacier.  Those high peaks covered with dense forests and snow capped are beautiful to gaze upon, no doubt about that.  These less 'craig-y' more erosion rounded (with magnificent red bluffs in some places), mountains are more inviting to me ..... I have a real desire to climb up into them .... not just gaze upon them.  I guess I just relate to them more.

Tomorrow we will do a 2.4 mile hike down in the Rio Grand Gorge .... I anticipate it to be a very beautiful place.  The Rio Grand in this region has carved out a 650 foot deep gorge thru the mesas that is very beautiful from what we have seen.  We were going to camp down along the river tonite, but discovered there was no internet service for Vera's teaching responsibilities, so we came 16 miles on into Taos.  We'll be here a couple of days.

Later, Marilyn

sitting still at Cochiti Lake

Vera is back and we are just enjoying this spot, taking a few day trips. We are 30 minutes south of Santa Fe; and 45 minutes north of Albuquerque. This is just a really lovely Corp of Engineers campground.

Today we went down the road thru the Pueblo de Cochiti and on to Tent Rocks National Monument.
We took a short hike of 1.2 miles BUT there was maybe a couple hundred feet elevation climb.  The cone shaped tent rocks are the result of numerous erosion processes in a 1000 foot thick layer of volcanic 'tuff' and pumice.  The ash layers are from a nearby volcano of centuries ago; they are very soft (ash) that is capped by a much harder layer of rock that serves to protect the layers below. But over time much has disolved away, leaving these cone shapes of very light colored tuff with one or more boulders balanced on top. The cones are very uniform in shape but range in height from a few feet to almost 100 feet .... all with big rocks balanced on top. When enough erosion occurs to unseat the top rocks, then the whole cone disintegrates into a mound of pebbles and sand.

Tomorrow we are going back into Santa Fe to explore the Plaza.
Later, Marilyn

wilderness suburb/ double rainbow

We (Charlie and I) have moved north from Albuquerque, about 20 miles south of Santa Fe.  We are in a very nice Corp of Engineers park, on a lake that the Rio Grande River flows thru.
The first morning here I awoke to the sound of silence (very unusual).  Very few human sounds, a few birds .... thats it.  So I sat outside enjoying this feeling of being in "the wilderness" .... reminding me of my childhood on a rural farm ..... everything so beautiful and peaceful.  
Then we decided to take the car exploring: .... lookout points, the dam, nearby Indian Pueblo .... and then about 5 miles from camp we came upon Interstate 25, with a sign "Santa Fe 17 miles".  What a disappointment to discover my 'wilderness' was just a suburb.

Late that afternoon there was a rain shower, and when it had passed on into the adjoining mountains, the most beautiful double rainbow appeared!   Did you know that the colors are reversed on the second one?  I don't think I've ever seen a double.  There were three things very unique about it. 1) It was very short/shallow, just along the river and into the lake, you could see both ends. I held my hand out at arms length and the lower band, which wasn't far above the cliffs on the other side of the lake, was the width of one finger.  There were six finger widths in the middle, which was a reddish gray color, and then the top band was also one finger width.  It looked so close I felt as if I could reach out and touch it.  2) It was absolutely glowing brightly; the yellow expecially looked as if it were illuminated/ light.  3) On the end nearest the lake, which was directly in front of me, you could see the cliffs and foothills on the other side COLORED by the colors of the rainbow.  There were distinct bands of each glowing color, thru which you could see rocks and trees of that color !!
It was a God thing.

We are relishing just sitting here doing nothing except gazing at the views.  We are surrounded by foothills, and in the distance, blue gray mountain ranges.

While in Albuquerque we went up the Tram to the peak of the Sandia mountains which are on the eastern edge of the city.  The peak was 10,600 feet; we traveled over the most gorgeous red rock formations on the way up!
When Vera gets back on Sunday we will head up into the Durango area for a few weeks, then come back to Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival.

Later, Marilyn

tick free !!!

I want to give a good news report .... we are finally tick free.   Now that may not sound like a subject to get excited about, but we have been thru about two months of constant effort and vigilance to rid our dogs and motorhome of the pesky critters.  We haven't found a live tick in almost two weeks, and a dead one in at least a week.  So, we think we are in control now; but we will continue to have tick checks routinely, because if they get a head start ..... it is misery !   This western part of the country seems to have them just about everywhere, even in green mowed lawns.  We know this because we found one clinging to Toby's coat as we brought the dogs inside after being out in green grass and bushes.

Albuquerque is basically an arid land, and isn't supposed to get much rainfall at all ..... but both days we have been here it has rained hard in the afternoons.

More later,
Marilyn