8-6-19 - (Day 13 - County Road 48 Dispersed Camping)

We loved the North Salida BLM Campground, but when the hummingbirds are buzzing you, maybe it's time to move on.

We went a little south today to Poncha Springs, to use the dump facilities and fill up with water then headed 48 miles North to County Road 48 dispersed camping.

We came here a couple of times and checked out camping spots.  There were 3 that we knew Rap would fit into and the solar panels would get optimum sun.  There were more campers here today, we did manage to get one of the 3 spots we picked.

We moved to an elevation at 9636 feet.  We have a view of the snow topped Mt. Massive through the Pinon Pine Trees with lots of wild flowers at our campsite.  We usually put out our big rug when we are going to stay for a few days, but not this time.  We do not want to cover up our beautiful wild flower garden.

Ferny Kat came outside for a while.  We have another Ferny Kat approved campsite.

We took a couple mile hike, (or stroll for us flat landers), and found lots of  big roomy campsites.  Only problem, you have to drive down a narrow road with a low hanging limbs.  There's no way we are pulling Rap down that road.

We lowered the back gate and rolled down the canvas so we could have plenty of fresh air and views.
Ferny Kat is loving her view from her ladder.

The campground land butts up to Mt. Massive Golf Course.  We have our golf clubs and just might check it out.

When we got here today, we saw a camper and truck that looked like one that was boondocking near us at our last spot.  Lauren went over to talk to them, and it was the same couple, Judy and Rick.
We enjoyed talking with them.

The temperature started dropping as the sun went down.  We built a small fire and grilled pork chops for supper.  We will put an extra blanket on the bed tonight.

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8-5-19 (Day 12 - Hanging around North Salida BLM)

We slept in this morning and didn't get up until after 7 am.  We sat outside, drinking our coffee and critter watching for a while.

We took off on Amber after our coffee and breakfast and checked boondocking spots toward Leadville.  Our first stop was Clear Creek Reservoir.  It was a nice campground, but not on the lake.

Our 2nd stop was County Road 48 Campground near Turquoise Lake. We checked this place out a few days ago, and this is where we want our next move to be.

We stopped at Crystal Lake and checked out the critters in the area.  We saw a weasel, ground squirrels, birds, and ducks.  There were plenty of fishermen fishing here today.

We got lucky with no rain on our ride today.

The solar panels soaked up the sun.  This is the first day we have gotten to a 100% charge.

After we got back we went to Wally World to stock up.

It has been 5 days of spit baths with no shampoos.  We got a can of dry shampoo and spruced up a little bit, then heated up some water we scooped up from the melted ice in the ice chest from days ago to soak out feet.  Ahhh!  the little things in life.

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8-4-19 - (Day 11 - Monarch Pass)

Ferny Kat was ready for us to get up at 6 am.  She walked on us in bed, played with the sink stopper, then banged the shade pulling it out so she could look out.  We finally gave in.

We did our usual sitting outside, waiting for the sunshine to come over the canyon wall.  We had 2 hungry hummingbirds that fluttered near by.  Every other time we have seen them, they left in a hurry.  They must have decided that we aren't going to move on, so they moved in.

We had steak and eggs for breakfast, then sat around until about 11 am and took a ride on Amber.  We rode about 30 miles to Monarch Pass.  There were campers with their boats and ATV's coming down the pass in droves.

We have been to Monarch Pass several times.  It has always been rainy and cold so we never took the gondola ride.  Today, it was cloudy with temps in the mid 50's.  So up we went.

We walked around for about an hour taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.  We headed down when it started raining.  The gondola shut down for lightning after we got off.

We went inside and ate our free popcorn and talked with some bikers from Texas waiting for the rain to stop.  After a little while, the rain stopped.  We put on our rain gear and headed down the pass without anymore rain.

We thought it's Sunday and it will be a quiet here at the BLM land.   We were wrong.  We had more people come in and turn around today, than the last 4 days combined.
The young ladies camped across the way hiked up the canyon and brought down big ole pieces of wood.  They played really loud, good music, sang, and danced.  They looked like they were really enjoying themselves and we were quite entertained by them.

All for it's Sunday, it's gonna be quiet, cause everybody has to go to work tomorrow theory!

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8-3-19 - (Day 10 - Vail Loop)

Lauren and Ferny Kat got up and left me lounging around in bed.  Ferny Kat insisted that he give her running water to drink, so he placed her bowl under a trickling water faucet.  A little bit later, Ferny Kat turned on the kitchen faucet wide open and was lapping water from it as Lauren was scurrying around to turn it off.  She is done with this water conservation.  That Dang Cat!!

We had another enjoyable cool, pretty morning drinking our coffee outside, watching Ferny Kat plunder around.

We took off on Amber around 10 am and headed North.  We took a ride to Turquoise Lake and looked at some potential future boondocking spots.  Turquoise Lake is very pretty and we found some spots we may like when we leave here.  The roads were very rough in the BLM campground so a spot near the entrance is best for riding Amber.

Main Street in Leadville was closed for an event. The only sign we saw was an Ice Fishing Derby sign.  Not cold enough for ice fishing, we are not sure what was going on.

We took Hwy. 91 to check out our possible drive to Granby.  It was gorgeous going up, and gorgeous going down the pass with a 7% grade.

We got on I-70 and went through Vail, Colorado.  OMG, we avoid interstates as much as possible, but it was the most enjoyable ride on an interstate that we have ever rode on Amber as we continued down the mountain.

There were 100's of bicyclist riding on bike paths near the interstate and then on Hwy 24.  There must have been a marathon going on.  The lowest number on a bike that I saw was in the 800's, the highest number I saw was in the 1100's.  Those folks are in really good shape.   Lauren said it tired him out watching them peddle up the mountain.

We toured through Minturn then continued on Hwy 24 for our other route option to travel to Granby.  It was a narrow road with drop offs on one side and the mountain on the other side.  We will probably avoid this route with Rap.

We finally stopped 3 hours later for a picnic lunch at Camp Hale.

The afternoon thunderstorms usually get going around 3 pm.  We thought we would get home before they started today.  We thought wrong.  They started around 2 pm.  Although, the roads were really wet in spots and we saw heavy rain in the horizon, we only got in light rain.  Whew!

Our 1st campfire of the trip.

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8-2-19 - (Day 9 - Cripple Creek)

When we got up this morning, it was in the mid 50's.  We drank our coffee outside and watched the sun rise above the canyon.  Yesterday's rain plus a beautiful morning had the critter action going.

Ferny Kat even got in the action, leading us to a Western Tiger Salamander, (a vulnerable conservation species).

In about 2 hours the temperature rose 20 degrees.  Sunshine is a good thing when you are boondocking and using solar to run the camper.

We rode Amber to Cripple Creek to say hello to our friend Baxter at Bronco Billy's Casino.  We met Baxter many years ago when he worked at Isle of Capri in Natchez.  He is now the General Manager of Bronco Billy's.

We have always enjoyed touring Cripple Creek when we are in the area.  It made it more enjoyable to have a friend to go visit.

It was a beautiful morning, with blue skies and pretty scenery.  The beautiful skies made for a perfect scenery back drop for Trout Creek Pass Summit and Wilkerson Pass Summit.  It was a very enjoyable hour and a half ride looking at gorgeous scenery.

We gambled a little, won and lost a little, and ate a late lunch at Baja Billy's Mexican Restaurant.  Baxter recommendation for the entree was fantastic.

The weather was imperfect on our ride back.  We got our head, butts, feet, and pretty much everything in between, soaked about 5 minutes after we left Cripple Creek.  We got in  a horrendous thunderstorm with lightening, hail, and water rushing across the mountain roads.  I don't think there is any rain gear that could have kept us dry in this storm.

We got home safe, sound, and cold, about an hour and a half later.  We put our hiking boots and clothes outside to dry.  Ferny Kat came outside for a while with us, until she heard the thunder.  The thunder in the canyon definitely gets your attention.

We are in for the night listening to the rain peppering on the roof of the camper.  I have no doubt, we will sleep good again tonight.

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