Helen, GA - Forestry Roads - 2013/11/30 - Jeeping

Today was so beautiful we (meaning Vaughan) decided to take the Jeep deep into the GA mountains for a 3 hour drive on some narrow, woodsy, forest service roads just north of Helen, GA in the Chattahoochee Wildlife Management area.  Temperatures were in the mid-40s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

As you can see below there are still some remnants of the cold snap we had right before Thanksgiving.

There were some water hazards ---

and some wiggly roads ---

Westward 2013 - Part 2 (8/13 to 8/16: Bells, Pikes Peak, and the long ride home)

This will be my last post for this trip.  We just made it home after an 1,505 mile drive from Buena Vista.  Although being on the road is fun and exiting, there really is "no place like home", Dorothy.  I through that in seeing we just drove across Kansas for the first time.

Anyway, Tuesday was out last day in BV and we were able to drop in on our friends Bruce & Carrie Bell in Poncha Springs.  What a beautiful home they have here.  Carrie has an amazing eye for decorating and Bruce has made the outside into a park-like setting.  Dinner in Salida at one of their favorite river-side haunts was fabulous.  Thanks again - it was great to see you both.

Wednesday we started the long drive home.  We drove up to I70 which would get us most of the way across the country.  But, in order to get up to I70, we drove through Colorado Springs at the base of Pikes Peak.  We made a quick stop to leave the RV in a Walmart and drove to the top at 14,110 feet.  It was so cold at the top and such a long and scary drive.  The view and the famous donuts at the top made it all worth it.  

 Pikes Peak from below

 Yes, that is yet another a sheer drop 

 This is what the climb looks like.

This is also at the Summit - there is a cog railroad that climbs to the top.

Two hours later we were back on the road and headed to Kansas- and here is all we saw across Kansas...

Corn, corn and more corn.

We spent the first night in Kansas, the next night in Tennessee, and tonight we will be in our own wonderful home in Georgia - but not until after a fabulous dinner with Ray & Dale   

Westward 2013 – Part 2 (8/12 – Great Sand Dunes National Park)

Today we drove south about 100 miles to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  What a beautiful and unusual place to find out here in the mountains.  These are the tallest dunes in North America, rising about 750 feet from the floor of the San Luis Valley on the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, covering about 19,000 acres. The dunes were formed from sand and soil deposits of the Rio Grande. Westerly winds picked up sand particles and deposited them on the edge of the valley.

Lots of kids sand-boarding but I don’t have any pictures of them because Vaughan decided he wanted to climb to the top and took the camera with him.  Being smarter than he is, I decided to sit down on the top of a dune and wait.  He made it nearly to the top when the thunder started and he made the wise choice to not be the tallest thing around for lightning to hit.  Besides walking in extremely hot sand up hill is no fun anyway.

While driving out of the park we saw a coyote chasing a fawn and a minute later we saw the doe.  The fawn stopped to look at us (hence the picture) but I yelled at her to run.  She continued to stare – the young are so foolish at times.

By the way, Vaughan has been adding videos to youtube of many of his rides - go to www.youtube.com and search on ga308adv.

Normally all you see is the prairie and then the mountain - who dumped all that sand in between?

 Do you see the small dot near the middle of the picture - that's me.  Vaughan was about half way up when he took this.

 This is where I waited for him - he nearly made it to the top - the dune you see near the top of the picture.

 Run Sweetie, Run!!

The big bad coyote is on your tail!!

Westward 2013 – Part 2 (8/11 – Burro Racing, Four Mile Creek, Aspen)

Vaughan and Brooks decided to ride another section of Four Mile Creek today while I went back into town for more of the Gold Rush Days celebration.  The day started with Burro Racing, then a re-enactment of a shoot-out at the Lariat Saloon from 1882, then toilet seat racing (which I skipped).

We all (Brooks and Sally included) piled in the Jeep and took a drive over Independence Pass to Aspen to see Vaughan’s friends from the Colorado 500 (the ride he went on last year).  Had a nice dinner at the Hickory House before making it back through Independence Pass before dark.  You really don’t want to make that drive at night.  There are places it will not let 2 cars pass and a cliff on my side.

Burro Racing - the burros must carry a 33 lb sack filled with mining gear and the person must run along beside for 13.5 miles.

There were 48 entries but the race takes over 2 hours so I never got to see the winner.

The fellow in the middle next to the sheriff is the one they are going to hang.

 This is from Vaughan & Brooks ride on Four Mile Creek.

 and back over Independence Pass to Aspen.

 Who of you have seen Aspen without the snow?

and back off of Independence Pass at sunset.

Westward 2013 - Part 2 ( 8/9 to 8/10 - Westfest & Gold Rush Days)

Friday was the first day of the the Westfest ride - not very organized.  I'm glad Brooks came up to ride with Vaughan.  Everyone else was just milling around trying to find someone to ride with.  Brooks & Vaughan road some of the Four Mile Trail we scoped out yesterday.   It was pretty sandy with elevation changes, rocks, whoops, tight and open.  Although Vaughan took lots of videos with his GoPro, including one in which he fell, I accidentally deleted all but one of them before uploading them. Sorry, guys.

Sally, Brooks' Yorkie, and I went to the Contin-Tail Rock & Gem show down at the rodeo fairgrounds.  Lots of rock hounds for me to talk to and real hounds for Sally to meet.  We later went downtown to Punky's for some BBQ.

Brooks joined us for dinner at El Paraisio's Mexican where we met a number of mountain men (turns out they are part of the Gold Rush Days entertainment this weekend).

Saturday, the guys went riding again while Sally and I went down for the Gold Rush Days festival in town.  There were lots of folks dressed in traditional costumes and lots of great music, including the Mountain Men.

(Vaughan here now)  Brooks and I planned a 60 mile loop covering 3 mountain passes with 12,000' elevations (Hancock, Cumberland, and Tincup).  Only really have picture of us at each of summits. Along the way we took a side trip to visit the "Alpine Tunnel" (now collapsed) but since it involved a 1/2 mile walk we didn't go all the way to the end of the trail.  Hiking in motocross is no fun.

I was able to take some great videos of the more difficult rocky climbs at Hancock and Tincup Pass along with more scenic videos of Alpine Tunnel and Cumberland Pass with my helmet cam.

Hancock Pass  http://youtu.be/tLO2ZaMUv5o

Alpine Tunnel  Alpine Tunnel Spur Trail

Tincup Pass  Tin Cup Pass

Later we went to the Westfest BBQ.  Lots of items raffled - we won a bottle of Deerhammer Whitewater Whiskey.  They had a nice band, Full Moon Float, but most of the riders didn't stay long.

 Buena Vista's town blacksmith.

 Buddy hiding from Sally in the towels - seriously? - he's twice Sally's size.

 Pictures from Vaughan and Brooks ride on Four Mile Trail - too bad I can't show you the videos.

Buena Vista Gold Rush days.

 This is the train depot.

 Story-telling at it's best.  By the way, he called Sally a "Grizzle Mouse" and said they go after grizzly bears by jumping in their mouth causing a huge hairball.  He also said he is not willing to give the bear mouth-to-mouth to get the dog back.

 Mountain men singing, playing the spoons, and drinking!

Sally, utterly exhausted and dreaming of grizzly bears.

Hancock Pass - Brooks & Vaughan

Alpine Tunnel Rail Trail

Road from Alpine Tunnel

Cumberland Pass - Vaughan

Mirror Lake near Tin Cup Pass

Tin Cup Pass - Vaughan

Westward 2013 - Part 2 (8/7 to 8/8 - Buena Vista, Mosquito Pass, Independence Pass)

Yesterday was moving day.  We made the nearly 200 mile trek from Ouray to Buena Vista.  No small feat seeing it rained the entire trip and we had to cross Monarch Pass - over 11,000 feet elevation. Yes, more cliffs and in a RV towing a Jeep.  Chug, chug, chug.  It stopped raining once we made it to camp but there is very limited internet and no TV - we're too close to the mountain behind us.  It turns out there are 15  mountains over 14,000 feet here in the Sawatch Range and we are backed up to 6 of them.  Seeing there is no TV we had a nice Mexican dinner at Casa del Sol.

Today we drove to Leadville, another mining town, in order to attempt Mosquito Pass.  I say attempt because the road was so rocky we were getting tossed about like a carnival ride.  Wanting to keep the Jeep in one piece and our bodies bruise free we turned around and decided to drive over Independence Pass instead.  The road was much nicer but the climb was up to over 12,000 feet.  There was still snow up there! On the way back we drove out La Plata Trail - another rocky Jeep road but along a beautiful creek.

After lunch we drove out on a Jeep trail called Four Mile Creek.  Vaughan was checking it out for possible motorcycle rides tomorrow.  His friend Brooks drove up from Ouray with his dog Sally to join the rides.  I'll spend the day with Sally while they ride.

Had to throw in this picture in for Vaughan's cousin Barb - when is the last time you saw a McDonald's sign with only one arch and Speedee?

This was the raining trip in the RV over Monarch Pass at 11,300 feet.

 Here is home for the next few days.

Snow on the mountains - but of course they are up at over 14,000 feet.

Two old abandoned mines.

This road to Mosquito Passmay look OK but believe me it's like travelling on a mine field.  At 2 miles an hour we would have taken all day just to go the 20 miles over the pass to Alma.

 It may have been rocky but there were wildflowers everywhere.

This is the ride back down off Mosquito Pass.  Glad to be out of the rocks.

 This is Twin Lakes at the beginning of Independence Pass - at the other end is Aspen.

 The view down from near the top.

and the top - the air was very thin, and cold.

 La Plata Trail over a scary old wooden bridge - just look at the pretty water and ignore the rotted wood.

Still on La Plata - lots of puddles - too much rain.

 A scene from Four Mile Creek Trail.

 A cute little speed bump.

Vaughan decided to check out this motorcycle trail on foot first before trying it on the bike tomorrow.