Scott B.
Adventurist
One wonders what I was thinking, given the expression on my face...
DE 2023: Colorado Bound!
- Thread starter Scott B.
- Start date
One wonders what I was thinking, given the expression on my face...
Hun
Adventurist
one of his newly found superpowers - relaxing!
Last edited:
Hun
Adventurist
High clearance required
Wednesday Sep 6
Great Sand Dunes NP to Medano Pass
Oh, it was so nice to wake up and not have to bundle up to get out of the teardrop trailer. The air was clear and cool, with a lovely breeze. Oatmeal and coffee were a great start to the day. We dropped the trailer at the horse trailer lot and headed out towards the dunes. The sand dunes are massive, some as high as 750 feet, and also beautiful to behold. The dunes looked to be mostly smooth with razorback ridges from the wind’s action. The park is 33,000 acres and the dunes cover a great portion of the park. We passed the sign ‘Point of No Return’ signaling 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicles required. Medano Pass road started out at the base of the dunes, and then climbed up through a canyon in Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The trail was sandy at the base of the dunes and sometimes very soft making it difficult to traverse.
When we started the climb, the trail turned rocky with some tight passages through trees on either edge of the path.
We also crossed water, none too deep, nine times on our way up.
It all made for a gripping ride! Maybe the most challenging of the trip. At the summit of Medano Pass, 10,000’ elevation, we found out that early explorers in 1806-7 had beat us here. Lt Zebalon Pike brought a team through the same passage funded by the US Army to explore the new southwest boundary with New Spain. We crested the top and started the descent which was again rocky.
The challenges became more interesting, luckily we had gravity on our side. We finally got to a smoother passage except for the washboard effect. We reached pavement at SR 159 but only for a few miles when we turned back west onto dirt at CR 550. We passed several spacious cattle ranches, careful to slow down for washboard sections. When we got to SR 160 we had a smooth ride back to the Great Sand Dunes. We retrieved our teardrop trailer and settled into our reserved campsite overlooking the magnificent sand dunes.
The wind picked up in the evening which made for a precarious shower situation in the pop up tent! The water was refreshing nevertheless and the tent held up in the gusty wind. As the sun sunk beyond the horizon, the sky lit up with an abundance of twinkling stars, even the Milky Way was visible beyond a doubt. We laid back in our chairs speaking softly in the night air and watching more and more stars appear with the ever darkening sky until it was time to call it a night. As I drifted off to sleep comfortably tucked in, I could faintly hear Scott and Frenchie reminiscing about past adventures with a hint of sadness in their voices reluctant to call an end to our expedition.
Wednesday Sep 6
Great Sand Dunes NP to Medano Pass
Oh, it was so nice to wake up and not have to bundle up to get out of the teardrop trailer. The air was clear and cool, with a lovely breeze. Oatmeal and coffee were a great start to the day. We dropped the trailer at the horse trailer lot and headed out towards the dunes. The sand dunes are massive, some as high as 750 feet, and also beautiful to behold. The dunes looked to be mostly smooth with razorback ridges from the wind’s action. The park is 33,000 acres and the dunes cover a great portion of the park. We passed the sign ‘Point of No Return’ signaling 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicles required. Medano Pass road started out at the base of the dunes, and then climbed up through a canyon in Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The trail was sandy at the base of the dunes and sometimes very soft making it difficult to traverse.
When we started the climb, the trail turned rocky with some tight passages through trees on either edge of the path.
We also crossed water, none too deep, nine times on our way up.
It all made for a gripping ride! Maybe the most challenging of the trip. At the summit of Medano Pass, 10,000’ elevation, we found out that early explorers in 1806-7 had beat us here. Lt Zebalon Pike brought a team through the same passage funded by the US Army to explore the new southwest boundary with New Spain. We crested the top and started the descent which was again rocky.
The challenges became more interesting, luckily we had gravity on our side. We finally got to a smoother passage except for the washboard effect. We reached pavement at SR 159 but only for a few miles when we turned back west onto dirt at CR 550. We passed several spacious cattle ranches, careful to slow down for washboard sections. When we got to SR 160 we had a smooth ride back to the Great Sand Dunes. We retrieved our teardrop trailer and settled into our reserved campsite overlooking the magnificent sand dunes.
The wind picked up in the evening which made for a precarious shower situation in the pop up tent! The water was refreshing nevertheless and the tent held up in the gusty wind. As the sun sunk beyond the horizon, the sky lit up with an abundance of twinkling stars, even the Milky Way was visible beyond a doubt. We laid back in our chairs speaking softly in the night air and watching more and more stars appear with the ever darkening sky until it was time to call it a night. As I drifted off to sleep comfortably tucked in, I could faintly hear Scott and Frenchie reminiscing about past adventures with a hint of sadness in their voices reluctant to call an end to our expedition.
Really enjoying this good old fashioned trip report. We ghosted some of your journey on our way back from Utah. We came through Route 160 from Durango, stopped at the Great Sand Dunes and then worked our way through the San Jauns. You guys are pushing me to get started on our report.
WashingtonTaco
Adventurist
Hun
Adventurist
Eastbound
Thursday Sep 7
Great Sand Dunes NP to Oklahoma City, 560 miles
The morning greeted us with cool, crisp air and a colorful sunrise. We lingered at the campsite eating an easy breakfast of yogurt and oatmeal and soaking in the last of our views of this grand landscape. We packed up for the journey home and headed south out of the national park, then east on SR 160 to I-25 south.
At the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, we passed by the Ludlow Massacre Memorial just outside of Trinidad CO. Ludlow, a ghost town today, was the site of the 1914 Colorado National Guard massacre of a coal miner tent city to break a strike. Men, women and children lost their lives and the 10 day battle that followed had a significant impact on the improvement of working conditions of coal mining, a turning point in our country’s history - working man against business tycoons.
Just into New Mexico we stopped in Raton to exchange warm hugs with Frenchie agreeing to meet up east of the Mississippi in the coming year. As we made our way to Amarillo Tx, we were looking forward to slow smoked brisket at Tyler’s BBQ. In Texas, we came upon a road closure, a rerouting onto dirt, and alas, an end in the road in the middle of a spacious cattle ranch.
We got ourselves turned around, made our way back onto pavement, and found a way to Amarillo and Tyler’s BBQ. The restaurant had moved to a building about 4 times bigger than the previous site, a sign of good BBQ! The slow smoked brisket was as we expected, tender, juicy,and flavorful! There’s just nothing like slow cooked Texas brisket.
We found our way to I-40 Eastbound after having our fill of bbq and put on the audiobook Apollo 8 by Jeffrey Kluger to hear the amazing account of the mission that took astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders out of low earth orbit to circle the moon ten times and safely returning to earth in 1968. That mission, the first crewed spaceship to reach the moon gave us the now famous Earthrise photo.
Having driven 560 miles, we stopped for the day at a campground just west of Oklahoma City. Back down below 2000’ elevation in the Great Plains, the air was hot and stuffy. We put away the wool blanket and fell asleep on top of the bedding with the fan drowning out outside noise and providing a much needed breeze.
Thursday Sep 7
Great Sand Dunes NP to Oklahoma City, 560 miles
The morning greeted us with cool, crisp air and a colorful sunrise. We lingered at the campsite eating an easy breakfast of yogurt and oatmeal and soaking in the last of our views of this grand landscape. We packed up for the journey home and headed south out of the national park, then east on SR 160 to I-25 south.
At the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, we passed by the Ludlow Massacre Memorial just outside of Trinidad CO. Ludlow, a ghost town today, was the site of the 1914 Colorado National Guard massacre of a coal miner tent city to break a strike. Men, women and children lost their lives and the 10 day battle that followed had a significant impact on the improvement of working conditions of coal mining, a turning point in our country’s history - working man against business tycoons.
Just into New Mexico we stopped in Raton to exchange warm hugs with Frenchie agreeing to meet up east of the Mississippi in the coming year. As we made our way to Amarillo Tx, we were looking forward to slow smoked brisket at Tyler’s BBQ. In Texas, we came upon a road closure, a rerouting onto dirt, and alas, an end in the road in the middle of a spacious cattle ranch.
We got ourselves turned around, made our way back onto pavement, and found a way to Amarillo and Tyler’s BBQ. The restaurant had moved to a building about 4 times bigger than the previous site, a sign of good BBQ! The slow smoked brisket was as we expected, tender, juicy,and flavorful! There’s just nothing like slow cooked Texas brisket.
We found our way to I-40 Eastbound after having our fill of bbq and put on the audiobook Apollo 8 by Jeffrey Kluger to hear the amazing account of the mission that took astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders out of low earth orbit to circle the moon ten times and safely returning to earth in 1968. That mission, the first crewed spaceship to reach the moon gave us the now famous Earthrise photo.
Having driven 560 miles, we stopped for the day at a campground just west of Oklahoma City. Back down below 2000’ elevation in the Great Plains, the air was hot and stuffy. We put away the wool blanket and fell asleep on top of the bedding with the fan drowning out outside noise and providing a much needed breeze.
Gallowbraid
Adventurist
Hun
Adventurist
Homeward bound
Friday Sep 8
Oklahoma City to West Memphis, 520 miles
We started the day with breakfast at the nearby Cherokee Restaurant looking to make our way eastward. We drove across the high plains of Oklahoma and planned for a meal and a walk when we got to Fort Smith. Upon reaching Fort Smith, we enjoyed Mexican street tacos at a local restaurant in the historic downtown and then spent the afternoon perusing the newly opened US Marshall Museum, a welcoming walk from our days of driving. Back in the vehicle, we put on a new audiobook, Ignition about the long history of discovering and optimizing liquid propellants for rockets. As we travelled through the heavily forested Arkansas, Nick’s BBQ showed up in perfect time for a dinner break. We made our way to Tom Sawyer campground on the western bank of the mighty Mississippi River. The night was cool enough to fall quickly asleep.
Saturday Sep 9
West Memphis to Home! 450 miles
We awakened in time to watch the sun rise over the Mississippi River, a colorful burst to the day. Cracker Barrel, one of our favorite travel restaurants was just a click north of camp so of course, that was our breakfast of choice. We headed east on I-40 into Tennessee to head home on the final day of our journey. Shortly thereafter, we were startled by two bangs on the windshield - rocks likely kicked up by the truck in front of us. The hits were hard enough to crack the windshield in 2 spots along the right and left edges. We watched the left side crack, which started out a couple inches in length, slowly lengthen to 3 times the size by the time we reached home.
At lunch time we tried a new bbq joint in Murfreesboro TN, Single Tree BBQ, opened in 2020. The restaurant was bustling with patrons, always a good sign, and we got our fill of pulled pork and iced tea. We took a stroll through the nearby Outpost Armory, in a brand new building since our last visit, complete with indoor range. Finally back in Georgia late Saturday evening, we left the interstate traffic at Dalton and meandered through the north Georgia mountains. And we rounded out our trip by trying a restaurant not far from home that we had not been to, a nearby treasure that we’ll be adding to our list of favorite eateries. We arrived home safe and sound, thankful for the freedom to roam and the treasure of friends willing to journey far to explore this vast country of ours.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
Friday Sep 8
Oklahoma City to West Memphis, 520 miles
We started the day with breakfast at the nearby Cherokee Restaurant looking to make our way eastward. We drove across the high plains of Oklahoma and planned for a meal and a walk when we got to Fort Smith. Upon reaching Fort Smith, we enjoyed Mexican street tacos at a local restaurant in the historic downtown and then spent the afternoon perusing the newly opened US Marshall Museum, a welcoming walk from our days of driving. Back in the vehicle, we put on a new audiobook, Ignition about the long history of discovering and optimizing liquid propellants for rockets. As we travelled through the heavily forested Arkansas, Nick’s BBQ showed up in perfect time for a dinner break. We made our way to Tom Sawyer campground on the western bank of the mighty Mississippi River. The night was cool enough to fall quickly asleep.
Saturday Sep 9
West Memphis to Home! 450 miles
We awakened in time to watch the sun rise over the Mississippi River, a colorful burst to the day. Cracker Barrel, one of our favorite travel restaurants was just a click north of camp so of course, that was our breakfast of choice. We headed east on I-40 into Tennessee to head home on the final day of our journey. Shortly thereafter, we were startled by two bangs on the windshield - rocks likely kicked up by the truck in front of us. The hits were hard enough to crack the windshield in 2 spots along the right and left edges. We watched the left side crack, which started out a couple inches in length, slowly lengthen to 3 times the size by the time we reached home.
At lunch time we tried a new bbq joint in Murfreesboro TN, Single Tree BBQ, opened in 2020. The restaurant was bustling with patrons, always a good sign, and we got our fill of pulled pork and iced tea. We took a stroll through the nearby Outpost Armory, in a brand new building since our last visit, complete with indoor range. Finally back in Georgia late Saturday evening, we left the interstate traffic at Dalton and meandered through the north Georgia mountains. And we rounded out our trip by trying a restaurant not far from home that we had not been to, a nearby treasure that we’ll be adding to our list of favorite eateries. We arrived home safe and sound, thankful for the freedom to roam and the treasure of friends willing to journey far to explore this vast country of ours.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
4x4x4doors
Adventurist
We got a souvenir like your special one on our trip from Alaska, after we had returned to the lower 48 and felt like we had "made it" unscathed.