High Altitude

Currently In:  Bayfield, CO outside of Durango  - we will be here for 2 weeks!
Next Up: Antonito, CO
Then on to Questa, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM


Hey all!
I know I have been MIA on the blogging for a while, but hoping to catch up while we have a longer stay here in beautiful and cool Bayfield, CO.

First off, I want to acknowledge the horrible wildfires that have taken place here in the West.  Johnny and I spent some time in Redding, CA and found the people there to be absolutely lovely and sincere. Our hearts and prayers go out to all those who are suffering right now.

Our week in South Fork, CO (altitude of 8200') was busy and fun!

Johnny did a little fishing - didn't catch anything so I didn't catch a photo - along the South Fork of the Rio Grand right behind our RV campground.  On a couple of days, I had lunch looking out the back of our site.

We took another look at the Rio Grande on a drive to Wolf Creek Pass.  The small canyon is impressive and can be seen from the road.

Treasure Falls was another roadside stop beyond the Wolf Creek Pass.  Kinda cool  - especially the pool that the falls dumps into.

Right at the Wolf Creek Pass is the Continental Divide Trail.  10,857' in elevation!
The trail starts in Mexico and goes all the way up to Canada and follows the actual Continental Divide a good part of the way.

Here are a couple of views from Logan Pass at the part of the Trail that we hiked. You can see all the pine trees that have been damaged by the kill beetle.

And we're off!

The trail was narrow, windy and next to a cliff in some areas.

There was, of course, beautiful and interesting scenery.

Including some wildflowers.

We also did some off roading in the Jeep with some RV friends that we met over a year ago in Tennessee.  First, Grayback Mountain - elevation 12,616'!

We saw a marmot (actually a few) and some sheep along the way!

Spectacular panoramic views.

And there was a huge rock cairn.

Mark, Tim and Johnny were enjoying the views.

Here's the whole gang at the top of Grayback.  Jenny and Tim, Johnny and me, Lauree and Mark along with their granddaughter Willa.

Time to go back.  Willa is riding on top!

The trip to Grayback was just a warm up to the real adventure... the Alpine Loop!

Naturally, we got to see many views of Colorado mountains, trees and other beautiful scenery including a waterfall!

We made it to Cinnamon Pass (12,640')...and lunch! That was one high elevation meal! But so far, so good.

We even saw some snow.

Right after lunch...uh oh.  Johnny and Tim worked as a team to get the flat tire changed.

And we made it back on the road in no time!   The red and blue cars in the photo below are on the road we took.

The road was narrow and the switchbacks were nerve wracking..

But the view was worth it.

We made it to Engineer Pass!

On the other side of the loop we saw this house with a bridge over a valley that leads to the front door.  Crazy!

One last waterfall at North Clear Creek Falls - not really part of the loop.  This one was so unusual with the way it fell on the rocks.  And of course the river created a canyon right in the middle of a field.

It was a long day filled with fun and adventure and a few skipped heartbeats.  We celebrated our success with a beer!