May 5
Denver seems like a great place to live, especially in the northwest section up towards, and including, Boulder. One just has to remember that all big cities have traffic jams in the morning and evening on work days. After I arrived at Florissant three vans of high school students came for a park tour. No doubt they would see the large, petrified redwood stumps near the VC. Being teenagers, they probably felt like picking up anything they saw along the trails. But in the vast majority of our parks, visitors are not allowed to collect artifacts. Down by the Hornbek Homestead a large rabbit nibbled under a brush while I passed by. But the prairie dogs around the buildings went scurrying underground once I came through the gate. I give Ms. Hornbek a world of credit for raising four kids while managing the 160 acres she received from the Homestead Act. A quick glance back at Pikes Peak (still plenty of snow on top) and I was back on US 24 heading west to Curecanti NRA.
Six large Big Horned Sheep had me and another vehicle stopped for a few seconds while they crossed the US Highway. Thankfully we saw them and had time to brake, rather than plowing into them at 65 mph. Then a herd of about 100 Pronghorns (please note, Pronghorns are not antelope) was out my leftside window. After 2.5 hours, and a lunch break at the Safeway store in Gunnison, I pulled into the VC for Curecanti. Plenty of boats and boaters around. A “bathtub ring” was evident on the sloping banks of the wide canyon. Though California and Utah may have received record snowfall amounts, that may not have been the case in Colorado. The lake level is still way down. For most of the rest of 2023, US 50 is going to have alternating traffic direction. Plenty of repair work is needed just east of Cimarron. There may even be times the road is closed altogether to allow for crews to perform certain tasks. If you do make it to this park, be sure to turn off US 50 at Cimarron and head north to the Gunnison River at the Morrow Point Dam. A trail leads down to a footbridge which goes over the river. A great view of the dam can be had from the bridge. The engine display just before the parking lot makes on think about the effort it took to get materials down to the work site.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP has a South Rim Road, a North Rim Road, and an East Portal Road. A couple of surface trails are complimented by multiple viewing locations along the first two roads. If one has the determination, they can hike down from the south rim to the river… and then back up. I did this 30 years ago. I swore I would never do it again. Once I came across a five-page article by a man who had also accomplished this feat. I could never so eloquently explain the hell that one goes through to make the round-trip, so I printed the text and placed in my records. The East Portal Road is closed, for probably most of 2023. A ranger told me it was closed in 2021 due to major road damage, and the owners of the path did not want to spend any more monies at that time, so here we are two years later needing to do the additional work which could have been done in 2021. That means easy access to the Gunnison River in the park is out of the question. I met a wonderful couple from Florida who said the kind of weather up here is not found down their way. But they were loving the cool weather and fully enjoying their trip. I am an anti-humidity person, so appreciate the higher elevations out west.
Last comment for today. I am looking out the window of my hotel room and seeing 13ers and 14ers to the south, with snow galore on their peaks. Can’t get that in Ohio.