Rockies, Lizard Head Pass, Little Molas Lake July 14, 2019

Sunday, July 14

51 degrees and sunny this morning with drifting white clouds.

 We hang out a bit at this beautiful site this morning, as Beth does some writing and Greg explores a bit, coming across this sign!  Maybe we should pan for gold at our site.
  We fix blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and then continue north toward Telluride, crossing Lizard Head pass and Trout Lake.  The Trek is struggling a bit on these steep climbs and we need to stop to let the engine cool down.

Telluride is another ski town and apparently is having some sort of Cycling event now - town is very busy. Lots of shops, galleries and restaurants.  We continue through town to the parking area for Bridal Veil Falls.  We can see it in the distance, as well as some smaller falls,  and a ranger tells us it is only a 1.6 mile hike to the base.  There is a road, but it is definitely not for the Trek, with deep ruts and switchbacks, though these mountain bikers don't seem to have a problem!

We head out and walk about a mile or so, all up hill,  but the altitude gets to Beth.  Hard breathing,  plus an ear issue (fluid behind the ear, which the altitude seems to aggravate). There are still patches of snow in the area.

This is as close as we get.  We are disappointed, but Greg doesn't want to go on alone, so we hike back to the parking area.  These daisies are bursting forth near the parking lot.  I understand the "fresh as a daisy" cliche.

We leave Telluride and continue north to Placerville, then 62 to Ridgeway and south to Ouray.  This whole area was mined for silver and other minerals and some old mining buildings remain.

Beautiful mountain scenery with water falls, lots of evergreens and aspen, and we stop again to allow the engine to cool.

 We decide to head for Little Molas Lake campsite which had been recommended.   Beautiful location by the lake.

It isn't very large - maybe 10 free sites - and we are lucky to grab the last one!  We get the impression most folks are here for multiple days - BLM and Forest Service allow 14 day stays.  It rains for a little while, then clears, leaving a gorgeous sky.

 The moon is 3/4 and bright, but lots of clouds soon hide it as well as most stars.

July 13 Hovenweep UT and into the Rockies

Saturday, July 13

Warmer here than in the mountains, so we left early to explore Hovenweep before the heat of the day. 69 as we headed out at 6:15.  A few sunrise pictures.  The warm light really brings the surroundings to life!

 It is extremely dry here and we are using eye drops consistantly.  Last night I left a few tiny carrots out on the cliff for birds or whatever, and when I looked for them this morning they were still there but totally dehydrated and only recognizable as carrots because I knew where they were!














First stop is Lowry Pueblo, which was discovered in the 1930's and is a part of the Canyons of the Ancients (Hovenweep).  Interesting that all of these pueblos, kivas and towers we are seeing now appear as stone.  When they were built, they were coated with plaster, both inside and out.  And they often had paintings or designs.  ( We found the same thing in ancient Greece!) Here, the plaster inside was almost 5" thick with black and white geometrical designs, but only small pieces of the plaster remain now.  Built around 750AD, parts of this pueblo have been reconstructed so that you can go inside.  It was originally three stories high and had many rooms.  We are the only people here today.

This is inside the main circular kiva area. The bottom 3' are under ground level.

 The pueblo is surrounded by fields of sage and there is a reference to the "Great Sage Plains".  Smells good!

We continue southwest on highway 10, just over the Utah border to Hovenweep (Meaning deserted valley) Visitor's Center.

There was once a stable community built here in Little Ruin Canyon, which is the most accessible of the Hovenweep communities ruins.  Most of the others require 4-wheel drive.  We hike a 2 mile loop which takes us past the remains of many buildings.  The most distinctive ones are towers - some round, some square, which were several stories high and only found in this area.  There is a small stream at the bottom of the canyon which probably attracted settlers.

Twin towers.  Built on huge individual slabs.

This one is called The Castle.

Square tower down in the canyon near the spring.

 
A  part of the loop  trail is quite a clamber over rocks and boulders of varying size.   Then things level out.

After the hike, we sit and watch an interesting film at the nice cool visitor's center.

A long drive back to "civilization" and we find a convenience store to get gas and re-stock our water supply.  Lots of agriculture in this area - with irrigation.  These deer look bigger than white-tails - I'm guessing they are mule deer.

Bright sunflowers add a touch of color to the landscape.















Then we head for the mountains. AAAhhhhhhhhh!

A couple of hours, through the town of Dolores and alongside the Dolores River into the San Juan National Forest.  We stop by a National Forest Info Station where we get some ideas of places to camp tonight, and find a nice site - one of 3 - alongside the Dolores River.

 It rains a little bit, but Greg is able to find wood and coax a nice fire when the rain stops.  Beautiful spot with cool pine-scented air and the music of the rushing rocky river.







Chicken on the grill and baked potatoes taste great as the temperature falls.