Medano Pass 2021

 We made our annual trek to the Dunes and the Medano Pass Primitive Road a bit later this year.

The aspens were in fine form; we have rarely seen them 'ablaze' like they were this trip. The road was in fairly decent shape till the upper third, where there were some deeply rutted areas due to heavy rains earlier this year. Rangers or other travelers had cut some blowdown aspen logs to fill in the deeper holes, which made getting over them a lot easier.

We lunched just below the crest of the pass, at about 9900 feet MSL. It was cool but a light jacket was all we needed.

The sand down by the dunes was in good shape because of light rains the day before. 

We stopped at the San Luis Lakes SWA on the way back to Fort Garland. The reservoir, like most of the ponds on the eastern plains, was almost dried up. 

The next morning on the way back to The Holy Land, we bypassed the new pass for a trip over the old one. The burned area from the fire a few years ago is recovering nicely, with a lot of young aspens and gambel oak filling in.

At the turnoff from US 160 up to the dunes, for our obligatory shot with Blanca Peak. Sadly, Blanca was covered with clouds.

We lunched here in a dispersed camping site. Most of the dispersed sites were vacant.

Here's an easy stretch of the road, with aspens closing in. Up a bit higher, the aspens had taken on a flaming orange tint.

Leece white-knuckles it a bit, passing over one of the rougher spots.

This is from the San Luis Lakes SWA. Blanca is in the far background. The yellow bushes are rabbit brush.

Mesa Verde and Santa Fe

The first week of September we hied off to Mesa Verde, intending to encamp and explore for several days. Mesa Verde is one of our fave sites, not so much for the cliff dwellings, which are of course fascinating on their own, but for the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, which has a fine collection of contemporary fiber arts. Sadly, it has been closed through the pandemic, and remains so until further notice.

A winter storm moved in, cutting our visit short. We packed up and headed south for Albuquerque, spending one night there before moving on to Santa Fe, where we slurped high class chocolate, visited Museum Hill, and snuffled some good eats.

The campground is nicely done. Showers are available down the hill at the ranger station.

Smoke from the wildfires obscured a lot. It was not nearly as clear as in visits past.

Cordova Pass and Apishipa SWA

 In June 2020 we took a turn down through La Veta and over Cordova Pass. On the way home, we detoured off CO 10 to visit the Apishipa State Wildlife Area, which is some twenty miles south of the highway on the plains east of Walsenburg.