The original plan was to spend 6 nights in Colorado, but the possibility of snow storms brought about Plan B. (2 nights at Lamar, 2 nights at Alamosa, and 2 nights at Montrose) We skipped the 2 nights at Montrose and boogied to Utah, in what we hoped would be ahead of the freezing rain, snow and below freezing temps.
So this post is a summary of some of what we saw in southern Colorado while driving to out of the way places to find a geocache in a new county.
this is the CO county map prior to our trip
These photos are most likely not in order of our traveling days, but they will give an idea of the variety in flora and fauna, as well as our geocache finds.
interesting cemetery family plot
including a mural painted brick wall
not a bad view for a final resting place
again, one of those places we found not knowing its significance
June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983
Jack Dempsey
"William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey, nicknamed Kid Blackie, and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926.~ Wikipedia"
our view one morning at we headed north into the mountains
gray skies, but beautiful fall colors
mountain peaks above the low lying clouds (fog)
a bison
A sign several miles down the road advertised meat for sale: beef, elk, rabbit, bison, deer, etc. Buses and RVs welcome. Oh, and jerky for sale. We passed.
a marker honoring The Old Spanish Trail
and the first settlement in western San Luis Valley
a water tank along the train tracks for filling
the ol' steam locomotives (South Fork CO)
a passenger train car, also in South Fork
windshield view on the way up to Wolf Pass
no photos on the way down
Chimney Rock on our way to the UT border
a small herd of 5 deer on the sidewalk of one of the
communities we drove through
they even posed for the photo
We had hoped to get those nine counties in the southwest area, but alas, the weather...I guess we will just have to come back another time...Thirteen new counties on this trip. Not bad for 5 days and about 1000 miles.
We are now in Utah. Winter has come to the area, but it will be a passing through in a day. We can deal with cold. We left SD so we would not have to deal with snow!
Looks like we need to combine our Colorado county maps. I've got all of the west side but still need the east side.
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