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Eastbound out of Winter Park, through Denver, across Colorado and Kansas. After one trip down to the village for breakfast, the path began winding down through Berthoud Pass.  The weekend had come, a festival was planned, and traffic headed into the little mountain town with increasing frequency.  Our plans coincided perfectly with everyone else. A return to the harried civilization at the foot of the front range seemed not quite so pressing.  One last chance to enjoy peaceful solitude along the banks of a clear running stream stood more important as the trail turned east towards the chaos of the Interstate.   Denver offered the much anticipated increasing array of chaos until finally arriving in the northern suburbs.  A brief visit with comrades from that town found a continuation of a unique style of painting. The recent move to the mountains seemed to have changer the scale of the work though.  Some pieces were as much 2 meters long. Beyond the hust...

A pause in Winter Park to enjoy the summer solitude on and below the surrounding peaks. Rising relatively early and gazing out upon one of the goals for the day, we quickly ventured down  to the village along the Village Cabriolet for a quick breakfast.  The offerings were just as scant as the previous night. Sustenance soon appeared, after a little exploration, and our expedition to Colorado Mines Peak began. The journey started at the base of the peak at Berthoud Pass, zig-zagging to the summit in long, manageable switchbacks through the treeline.  A short conversation with others on the trail suggested a diversion towards Mount Flora and so it happened.  Reaching neither summit made no real difference.  The view from any angle proved astounding. With a storm similar to the prior afternoon threatening, we passed back down into Winter Park to take a look around.   A late lunch in town enabled conversation about the remainder of day.  It never di...

Colorado / Utah Road Trip Day 7: Vernal to Winter Park on the Victory Highway An early start on the eastward trail crossing eastern Utah into Colorado, the Uinta Mountains faded the rear view mirror.  Clear skies and a cool morning made easy travel of the short distance to the first detour of the day. A town just across the the state line, named for the extinct critters, hosted a visitor center and some intriguing wood carvings.  It was not much more than a convenience, prior to investigating other matters lacking as much.  It was a good thing too. The Canyon Area of Dinosaur National Monument, up to Plug Hat Butte from the highway, offers few conveniences.  The views are astounding though, without going any father than there, only about 7 km from the entrance.  A few minor hiking trails show off fantastic views across Colorado into Utah, and beyond.  Our timetable ensured a return expedition necessary to surveying this area properly. Clouds began choking t...

Colorado / Utah Road Trip Day 5: Around Vernal Starting the day relatively early, we followed in the 250 year-old footsteps of Silvestre Vélez de Escalante. Along with his superior Francisco Domínguez, he sought a route to Monterey in California from Santa Fe, New Mexico. This expedition only sought to uncover the secrets of ancient geology and ecosystems of part of that journey at Dinosaur National Monument.  Those secrets and many more were revealed right along side "those meddling kids." The sites proved much greater than time had been allotted for, but dazzled and amazed our exploration of the site.  The adventure began at the Quarry Visitor Center, meandered along the Fossil Discovery Trail, the full length of the Tour of Tilted Rocks, across Green River, and out to Box Canyon.  Nestled there at the base of that canyon, the final home of Josie Bassett Morris.  She established her ranch in this fantastical world back in 1913, remaining until her death in 1964...

CO-139 Northbound towards Rangely, CO Colorado / Utah Road Trip Day 4: Montrose to Vernal The planned journey for the day was only a bit longer than the previous two days, but still a relatively short hop, compared with the test of endurance in crossing Kansas that first day. The approximately 320 km trip from Montrose, Colorado to Vernal, Utah should have only taken about 4 hours. A couple of diversions, one somewhat planned and the other even less so, doubled that time as we wandered through a National Monument, a National Historic District, and discovered the odd beauty of the Uinta Basin. US-50 Westbound near Olathe, CO Leaving Montrose relatively early, under gradually gathering cloud cover, we made good time west across the Grand Valley. The scenery was mostly unremarkable and again, very Kansas-like, so much so that for one brief moment my heart skipped a beat upon seeing an exist sign for Olathe. If it were not for the town of Delta, and Grand Mesa consuming m...

Juniper at Dragon Point, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Colorado / Utah Road Trip Day 3: Gunnison to Montrose With only about 100 kilometers to cover, there was no particular rush to hit the road. We had an appointment to set sail at 1 pm. Nothing planned before, and only generalized plans for the time after that cruise downstream on the Gunnison River for a look around. We hit the road out of Gunnison rather early anyway, to ensure we had plenty of time for boarding. The skies were blue, with only a trace of the high cirrus drifting aimlessly about, and comfortable temperatures in the middle or upper 20º C. Entering Curecanti National Recreation Area on US-50 Following along Tomichi Creek, flat farmland quickly gave way to the foothills of the West Elk Mountains bordering Curecanti National Recreation Area. They sneak up on you too, attempting to hide their girth between breaks in the tree line. Mostly successful, you are certain that you are back in Kans...