Saturday, 9/18
Blueberry Pancakes this cool 42 degree morning! We head back to 285S and over Monarch Pass to Gunnison. Look at that blue sky!!
We'd read about a Farmer's Market on Saturdays so headed there first.
A lively spot this beautiful morning! Had to smile, as some local kids played in a fountain (you had to pump the water to make the spray) in swimsuits while I was hugging my sweatshirt! Nice small market where we bought a couple of local peaches and a bag of salad greens, both of which were excellent.
Chatting with the man who sold greens, he mentioned Taylor Canyon as being a nice place, so we decided to give it a look. Just north of Gunnison we took Taylor Park Dam road which followed the Taylor River through beautiful wooded canyons and hills to Taylor Reservoir..
The Dam catches and stores snow melt for irrigation in the Summer.
It is at 9500' in the Sawatch Mountain range. Many signs advising to watch for cows on the road - and we saw a few! Also saw rock climbers with their gear - look closely there is a guy standing atop this rock wall.
As we've seen often, the meadows in the valleys between mountains are beautiful. Cattle, hay fields, small farms and more. Lots of golden grasses and hay.
I believe it is trout season, as these fishermen will attest. Looks like the quintessential Colorado picture to me.
Back down the canyon and we turned north towards Crested Butte and Kebler Pass. But we took a different turn than last time, which apparently bypassed most of town and Lake Irwin. Darn - it's a beautiful place. Didn't realize it till we had gone some distance, dodging sheep and more traffic than we expected. A big white dog was watching these sheep and trying unsuccessfully to keep them off the road.
The aspen are beginning to change color making for some gorgeous scenery. We had read about dispersed camping across from Lost Lake Road, so headed that way. First we drove back to Lost Lake and it's campground, which was insanely crowded. It IS Saturday.
Back out to check out the dispersed camping, only to find that the road quickly became impassible to us - a jeep or 4x4 maybe, but not us. So we continued on Kebler Pass road. The dispersed sites we saw were occupied. But, winding down off the pass we came to Erickson Springs Campground, another Forest Service spot that was kind of tucked away and not very busy. We actually drove past it, then went back to have a look. There was a stream and a busy trailhead nearby, but the campground was quiet (after a neighbor with two barking dogs left - yeah!) and only half full. Perfect! They were getting ready to close for the year, but a ranger drove through and said hello.
Fettucini (from the freezer) and salad for dinner. Light rain sent us inside early and continued on and off during the night.
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