Tolsons' Discovery Travels

Monday, September 23, 2013

Mancos, CO

Sun 22 thru Tue 24 Sep 2013: We left Silverton this a.m. and moved on to Mancos, CO, which is where Mesa Verde is located a mile down the road. Going into the park tomorrow afternoon for some sightseeing. It's pouring here now. We've done our Wal Mart run in Cortez and are in for the day. This Mesa Verde RV Resort (site #40) www.mesaverdervresort.com is wonderful and has great WiFi too! Flash flood warnings around us but we are on high ground. We're so glad we moved on to Mancos instead of Durango too because they had a bad hail storm yesterday afternoon! Heading there tomorrow am so we can take the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge train at 8:45 a.m. on Wed. Hope the weather co-operates!

Mesa Verde:

Silverton, CO

Thu 19 to Sun 22 Sep 2013: We are camped at the Silver Summit RV Park in site #7. We are facing the train tracks so that we can watch the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge train arrive and leave several times each day. This time of year the train brings passengers up from Durango and either buses them back to Durango or they take the train back. We stayed at this same campground back in 2009, but now it is a Good SAM Park.

View from the Coach Driving Up the Million Dollar Hwy to Silverton

3 Red Mountains on Million Dollar Hwy

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train

We've eaten in a couple of places in Silverton that I would recommend:

Handlebars www.handlebarsco.com, Grumpy's Saloon at the Grand Imperial Hotel www.grandimperialhotel.com and The Stellar Ristorante (Italian including pizza).

Handlebars Saloon and Restaurant

Check out what is on the menu at Handlebars

Didn't have them this time as we had them back in 2009 when we were here last!

Jeeping the Alpine Loop (Up to Animas Forks and then taking Engineer Pass to Lake City and then back via Cinnamon Pass)

(Here's a great video of the Million Dollar Hwy out of Ouray and the Alpine Loop):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILkoes1PmeU After watching this, you'll know why I like to jeep when there aren't a lot of people to pass because there aren't a lot of good places!

We rented jeeps from the campground today where you get a $10 discount if you are also staying there. Our first stop was Animas Forks where we took the Walking Tour. This town is at 11,200 feet and began in 1873. They are repairing several of the buildings that still stand in this mining ghost town. At one point 450 people lived here, but most moved to warmer climates in the winters. Here's someone elses' YouTube Video of Animas Forks that is informative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owgsrhFTu6o

There's Some SNOW on the Tops of the Mountains!

Animas Forks, CO

Animas River Dam that has been partially destroyed.

This river flows down from Animas Forks thru Silverton

From here we started up to Oh Point and Engineer Pass at 12,800 ft. We had a wonderful sunny cool day for our trip. Marmots were visible several places on this trail and one even posed for pics up almost to Oh Point.

Marmots on Engineer Pass Trail

Up Up to Oh Point! Hellrung's Photo of Us

Here We All Are at Engineer Pass

Patty and Larry Hellrung

We found a beautiful area for our picnic lunch before heading into Lake City.

The Aspen are Beginning to Turn Yellow!

Old Hundred Mine Tour http://minetour.com/history.php

Highly recommend this mine tour. Our tour guide was so informative and answered all of our questions.

Heading into the Hundred Mine

Our Tour Guide

Ouray, CO

Sat 14 - Wed 18 Sep 2013: We are camped at 4J+1+1 RV Park and Campground in Ouray on site 6P, where the Hellrungs are in 16R.

Local Brew with a View from the Roof

Patty and Larry Hellrung and Chuck Enjoying a Local Brew

Telluride: As we headed out of Ouray toward Telluride, we saw this elk and his ladies. It is bow hunting season here and this big boy was smart to bring his ladies down out of the mountains for safety in a rancher's pasture.

Hugh Elk in Rancher's Pasture Just Outside Ouray CO

The Above Elk had 14 Ladies with Him

We drove thru Telluride and out and up to view Bridal Veil Falls where we had a nice view of Telluride. It was an off again/on again rainy day again. During a sunny spell we walked the busy town (Sunday and a music festival in town). Had a great lunch at the Appaloosa Trading Company with a window seat so we could people watch. Here's some of the characters we saw:

Downtown Telluride

Ophir Pass, 11,789 ft:

We left the campground in our rented jeeps (Colorado West Jeep Rentals) at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Drove up the Million Dollar Highway to the road to Ophir Pass. Along the way at one of our stops, we saw a chipmunk at the very top of a pine tree taking the little pine cones and throwing them to the ground. All of the pine trees have lots of pine cones all at the very top. Hope no one was below stealing them from him/her!

Chuck and Donna Tolson - 3rd Time Over Ophir Pass

Larry and Patty Hellrung - 1st Time Over Ophir Pass

Hellrungs Jeeping Down from Ophir Pass

Tolsons Jeeping Down from Ophir Pass

Beautiful Aspen Grove Near Ophir CO

We stopped in downtown Telluride for coffee and a bagel before heading out for Imogene Pass. It was a beautiful sunny day so far.

Imogene Pass, 13,114 ft: Someone elses' YouTube Video of Imogene Pass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzCZu01shuM

Tolsons Jeeping Along the Ledge Going Up to Imogene Pass

Hellrungs on Rocky Trail up to Imogene Pass

Donna and Chuck Tolson - We Made It Up Imogene for the 3rd Time

Yes, it was cold!

The View from Imogene is Spectacular!

The Clouds are Rolling In and Rain is Coming!

Hellrungs and Tolsons Jeeping thru a Stream Coming Down from Imogene Pass

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Gunnison, CO

Tue 10 - Fri 13 Sep 2013: Today we traveled to the Gunnison Lakeside Resort (Good SAM) http://www.gunnisonlakeside.com/index.html about 12 miles west of the town of Gunnison. We are enjoying the beautiful Aspen trees in the campground, though they have not turned yellow yet. A local said that the trees are 2 weeks behind schedule for turning. They have had a lot of rain this summer. There are a lot of Hummingbird Moths here around all of the flowers.

The Campground Store

Our Campsite

Campsite Aspen Two Days Later

(There's hope yet that we will see yellow Aspen!)

Campground Flowers with two Hummingbird Moths

We have enjoyed some really nice eating places in Gunnison too: The Bean http://www.thebean.com/store_gunnison.aspx for coffee and bagels; Mario's Pizza and Pasta http://mariosgunnison.com/ for pizza one night; Gunnison Brewery http://www.gunnisonbrewery.com/ for their micro brews; The Gunnisack http://www.thegunnisack.com/ for lunch and dinner where we discovered their wonderful bread bowl of Jalapeno Beer Cheese soup, which was just spicy enough.

Patty H Enjoying Soup at the Gunnisack, Gunnison, CO

Jalapeno Beer Cheese Soup at the Gunnisack, Gunnison, CO

We had an off again/on again rainy day, so Patty and I walked the town of Gunnison and did some shopping. There are a lot of local artists selling their wares, jewelry stores and a lot of consignment shops. I've been looking for a large photo of Aspen trees to hang in our family room, but haven't found exactly what I'm looking for yet.

LarryH took this pic of the sun setting as seen from our campsite in Gunnison, CO

Today we drove up to Crested Butte, CO, which is just north of the town of Gunnison. It's a very artsy town with a ski resort at the top of the mountain. Patty and I enjoyed all of the art galleries and jewelry stores. I've been in search of a large photo of a close up of aspen trees but not a fall pic. Didn't find it there. The guys checked out the local rum distillery - Montanya - and bought some rum.

Beautiful hanging baskets along the street in Crested Butte

Downtown Crested Butte, CO

Montanya Rum, Crested Butte, CO

Montanya Rum Distillery

We had a great trip over to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison today. Weather was great too! Along the way we passed the Blue Mesa Reservoir and took some pics of the beautiful scenery.