Another trip out CO/UT way....biking/MILD wheeling/a hike
 

Yep, another vacation to Colorado and Utah, with too many pics...

After an all night drive, a couple hours sleep in an unfinished subdivision and a scenic drive towards Buffalo Creek we rode Baldy to Gashouse Gulch trail...
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an interesting trail, part of which was through a burn area.

Afterwards was something for the 4 year old, a trip to.....
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Yep, Casa Bonita. Thank goodness we showed up at an off time so there was no wait and it wasn't crowded at all. It was really hard to take pictures in there...
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The boyo liked the cliff diver and the monkey but he said next time we see a sign that says something might be too scary for 1-5 year olds we'd better PAY ATTENTION TO IT!!! So much for the haunted cave. :D

We may never be forgiven.


Well, after a weird lunch it was off to Winter Park for a little free camping...
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I was hopeful for a fellow 4runner visitor but it turned around where the trail got a little bumpy. Ah well, a quiet evening alone. Nothing wrong with that.
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Most of the roads around here were pretty smooth....darn!
The next morning we did the Tipperary loop, phew! That was a lot of climbing. I managed to make all but two of the switchbacks, not bad for a tandem with a nearly unweighted rear end. The descent was worth it, the boyo yelling YAY!! with every whoop-de. A nice 20 mile ride.

After that it was over to Fruita. I took some gravely road as a "short-cut". Neat views but not that exciting. I did get a rock chip from some arse passing me doing around 50 mph. Ah well.

Fruita was nice. After a night on public lands we explored Dinosaur hill and for the first time the Dinosaur Jouney museum. Lots of cool fossils and bones though the place wasn't very big. Interesting exhibits such as..
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Apparently it's a dino eat dino world out there.

A big hit was the robotic dino that you could operate the controls of...
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It took some convincing that the thing wouldn't eat him, but after a talk about how safe it was:
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the boyo finally worked up the nerve and took the controls. After that it was hard to get him away from the thing.

After Fruita came Moab. Camping up near Slickrock. Yotas everywhere!
We rode Klondike Bluffs:
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Where we saw dinosaur footprints:
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and had a nice bumpy ride:
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That's the Super Rocket Booster Power Stoker boyo on the back of the tandem. Great views after a decent climb and a fun downhill that I took at a moderate pace due to my passenger.

Then we checked out Gemini Bridges. I was hoping for something a bit more challenging than the road we encountered at the top:
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but the views were incredible.
We found this plaque up near the bridges:
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and later found he'd dropped off this bridge and dropped around 150':
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which is a sad thing indeed.

The way down from the bridges was a little nicer. No real challenge, but still more fun than the previous road on top:
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Back to Sand Flats for more camping. Oh so many yotas. :) :) :)
Next day the hubby did Porcupine Rim while we explored Negro Bill Canyon. It was a lot better hike than I'd expected with arch and little pool of water, lots of interesting flora too:
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Camped just north of Silverton, drove to Durango the next day and rode Dry Gulch instead of Hermosa Creek because we didn't want to tax the boyo too much. It was a good trail.

Finally, after that I got to play a little from Silverton to Lake City via Engineer Pass. One of my favorite points:
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Which I had to back up and get a little straighter and a better line to make it up:
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Love that spot.
And another view:
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Camped at Gunnison's Hartman's Rocks, next day moseyed over to Tin Cup/Cumberland Pitkin and beyond.
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Again great scenery, but tame.

Then the hubby directed me onto Tomichi. The most fun I've had in the truck all week. :) :) :)
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Child's play for some of you I know, but for this old stock thing (and my stock truck) it was fun. Was a bit worried about getting though the mud hole in one section that looked like it had part of an old bridge, but highway tires and all we got through just fine. What fun, what fun. :bigok:

Camping on old Monarch Pass and biking the Monarch Crest trail the next day....one of my favorite trails and a first attempt doing it with a tandem.
That was hard work!
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If you look closely you'll see the most likely youngest rider ever to 'bike' Monarch Crest. :D He did the whole thing, had a great time and tells me he's ready to bike the Berryman trail (mo) now! Again, YAY! on every Whoop-de. What a kid. :bigok:

Camping at Coalbank, I think it was called, then over to the Royal Gorge. On the way we spotted this lovely specimen:
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(Watch it, I've got a Bronco Also.....and I like it. It's grey, though...)

Well, the Royal Gorge was $23 per adult and I think something like $16 for the kid. Since $72 bucks for standing on a bridge seemed more than a little nuts to us we did the little trail just off to the east of the main deal, and got a decent view for $0.
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After that we headed towards Kansas, stopping at Pueblo Weisbrod Air Museum (drool!):
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I don't care. It's a Willys and I'm infatuated.
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I love the older planes. It was better than we expected and we spent a couple hours just wandering around the place.

Back on track we stopped by the Colorado Green wind farm, 5th largest in the world as I understand it. Impressive.
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Over towards Greensberg, KS, where we'd camped at the fishing lake there last year. What a shock we got!:
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Apparently an F5 tornado and a couple of its friends took out about 90-95% of the town this spring. All the houses we'd seen last year, as you can see here, are gone.

And one last KS shot before MO, Mexican Villa Burritos and home.
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That's it.

I saw a lot of Yota's all over, some I recognized from here, like the red 1st gen by Hell's Revenge. Mine was the only Azure Blue 4Runner this time, but we did see one of those light green ones. I saw I think a second gen runner (it was kind of far off) on the baby lionsback near the end. I'd sure like to know if it made it down that back part. Saw a group of newer FJs out on the slick rock. There was a really cool old mustard FJ outside of Pitkin. And got a friendly wave from a guy just outside Pitkin in a Silver....uh oh, I've forgotten if it was a taco or runner. Well, nice to see so many great vehicles of all different ages.

Looks like a great trip Hab!!!

We have to have a Casa Bonita meet and greet some time...

casa bonita!!! i could walk there from my house. lets do it!

Very, very cool. I can't wait for Pierce to be old enough to start taking on trail rides. That tandem looks like fun! He's just turning three in a week here, but I'm thinking in a few more years he'll be ready for it!

Great scenery up there, too... :great:

Tis great scenery. I started the boyo on the tandem at a couple weeks before his 4th birthday in May. He's put in over 1100 miles these past 4 1/2 months, starting with pavement and graduating recently to dirt. There are some things he makes me walk, but not many. The hardest part is dealing with 80# and a nearly unweighted rear wheel when going up loose stuff. If I put into 2 low and crawl up I can usually make it. Any power behind it and we're stopped. Every kid is different, but I'd have never imagined when he turned 3 that he'd do so well on the bike. He's got a hamburger bell and an alligator horn and a camelback on the handlebars. The burger he was ringing when he thought I should be working harder. A lot.

(And it gives him the giggles when the naughty thing runs mama into tree branches or kicks rocks or throws mud at us. That time I scolded the bike for unauthorized trail leaving I thought he'd fall off for laughing so hard.)

Great looking trip! I may have to take my moutain bike as I head there next week (ouray). Girlfriend doesn't have one so I will need to start thinking of excuses. Honey, you make breakfast while I go ride. No thats bad...
Your pics got me all excited!!

Make a few side trips along the way......Hermosa Creek in Durango is on the way.......Monarch pass, there's this certain kind of bread you have to have - and it happens to be in Salida.......

Well, you get the pic. Oh, and don't forget you have to drive the Alpine loop to get there!