8/31 Steamboat Springs, Walden, Big Creek Lake, Check Engine Light!

 8/31 Wednesday

49 degrees again this morning as we head back towards Yampa and the short drive to Steamboat Springs. We do have to dodge a few cows who meander along the road, 

and we round one curve to find a large elk in the middle of the road!  She turns, stumbles a bit, but rights herself and bolts as we slow down - all in a few seconds time. Too fast for a pic.

This hot air balloon is drifting peacefully below the clouds as we approach Steamboat. Would love to be a passenger!

A little more road work before we head to Fish Creek Falls, just outside of Steamboat. 

We've read that we should go early,  as it is a trail that tends to get busy due to its proximity to Steamboat.  Good choice, as there are only two other cars in the large parking lot when we arrive.

There are signs here that the Summer is winding down, as flowers are past prime and these Mountain Ash berries are brilliant.

We first take a walk to an overlook.  The Falls are 165' tall and we can hear them well before we see them. Nice paved trails.  Nice view!

Next we take the Lower Trail which goes alongside a rocky stream to a bridge with a beautiful view of the Falls.  We take lots of pics, experimenting with exposure time and other elements. Love the musical sound of the water over the rocks!

We head back to the Trek and have some breakfast.  Many more folks arriving as we are leaving! 

This old tractor catches our eye at a turn-off to what we assume are some million dollar plus homes. We've looked at some real estate flyers in the area and it is crazy expensive.

Our next stop is the Yampa River Botanic Park, a compact but beautiful 6 acres near the middle of Steamboat Springs.  The flowers are still beautiful throughout.

There is a noisy osprey family which spends 5 months a year in the Valley.  This year's chicks are about to fledge, as they are making experimental forays into the park.

Beth strikes up a conversation with a man who is doing some maintenance.  He is Jeff Morehead, a volunteer who is responsible for one section of the park.  Before long he is taking us through a gate and onto his deck - this park is his backyard!  He shows us some videos of bears who have visited the Park, elk on the mountain where he hikes, etc.  One bear is trying (in vain) to access his bird feeder. 

The park was originally hay fields and he shows us some before and after photos of the park.  Seems in 1994 a very wealthy man gave the city the land along with an endowment to create these gardens (his wife was the gardener). Jeff volunteers part of the year and has a ranch that he rents out while he is here. He brought in huge rocks and planted a plethora of pollinator flowers. He is proud of what he has accomplished.  As for the bears, he says "we're in their territory, so folks just have to deal with it".

 Here are some of the flowers in "his" section.  Note the hummingbird moths which are about the size of a hummingbird. I've only seen 2-3 in all the time we've been in Texas.  We see a few hummers and lots of bees as well.

We find an Ace Hardware in town to purchase a small one-step folding stool, and a liquor store to refill our wine supply, then bid Steamboat farewell and head northeast in search of a ghost town called Coalman.  Our GPS takes us to a few buildings, 2 of which look old and unoccupied.  We walk a bit, take a couple of pictures, and find a few interesting rocks. 

 Then we continue towards the town of Walden, which is in an area of Colorado referred to as North Park - the Moose Capital of Colorado.  These cute signs are along the main street.

On the way to Walden,  the Check Engine light comes on.  Yikes!  We search for mechanics or car repair online and the first place it takes us to is a building with two trailers beside it.  No one around, so we continue into the small town of Walden - population 525!  There are two gas stations and a NAPA car parts store, as this is on one of few roads that head into Colorado wilderness and Wyoming. After inquiries, we go down a dirt road and find Mike at North Park Auto. He's a wiry 50ish man with a trim beard (every man we see in this town has a beard) and an open friendly demeanor.  His shop is a two bay garage and is surrounded by vehicles - most I would think NOT in running condition.  But he is a great guy who agrees to check our engine code and see what he can do. Sounds like he knows what he is talking about (then again, we're easy to convince). 

In 20 minutes or so, we get the not-so-great news - the code indicates a problem with the transmission.  We have our paperwork from a flush about 10,000 miles ago. He has his adult son run up to the NAPA store for some transmission fluid. He says he is off tomorrow, but if we come back Friday he'll check the pan and change the filter to see if that will help.  We'll be back!

The light is off for now, so we find Forest Service Road 600 and head to Big Creek Lakes, to camp and wait for Friday.  It's a long drive on gravel road - open range again.  

After 20 miles or so we come to a sign that says "entering burn area" and the devastation is nearly 100% burned forest.  Sad.

 Mike has told us to go ahead and have fun and volunteers that if we get stuck he'll come get us!  We find no signal out there, but he says to just get someone to send word and he'll find us.  This is somewhat reassuring...and we understand why he says he'll find us, as there isn't much else out there but us!

The Campground is green, as it is clear the firemen worked to save the area.  There are obvious signs that the fire came very close.  The lake is pretty and we find campsite #7 right next to it that is free for one night, then reserved.  So we'll move tomorrow night as there are many sites open as you move away from the lake.  Obviously fishing is the main attraction here - with some big fish, too!

We see a boat or two and some stand-up paddle boarders.  Interesting to see the paddler standing and another person, kids in this instance, sitting on the end of the paddle board with a fishing pole! Two words come to mind - confidence (the paddler) and trust (the passenger).

 Greg builds a nice campfire and cooks some burgers on the grill for dinner.  There are only a few other campers and sites are nicely spaced, so it is peaceful and quiet.