Trip #36 (4): Estes Park, CO

June 4 - 14, 2011

Colorado: Bent’s Old Fort, Lathrop State Park, San Isabel Lake, Cherry Creek State Park Denver, Estes Park East Portal Campground (Wool Market), Carbondale (V10)

A pull-through at a smoky Lathrop State Park.

4 Saturday - Left a beautiful cool Durango about 10am and after a couple of stops made it to the  Walsenburg area. First two nights at Lathrop State Park (#79, electric with water on site, $20) one mile west of Walsenburg, situated on two lakes. Not the most beautiful park in the world, and the smoke from the Arizona fires really hazed out the distant mountain scenery. Got set up around 4pm the first day so just did a short hike up the hogback for the overlook. Pretty cool but didn't take the camera.

5 Sunday - Warm and windy, summer came fast over here. Heading over to Bent’s Old Fort today, driving east into Colorado's plains and into the vast nothingness. Just needs a buffalo herd and the scene would be complete. About 80 miles later we arrived in old La Junta and found the fort a few miles out of town. It was  reconstructed in the 1970s by the national park system from drawings made by a visitor back in the day. Excellent job. Must have been quite the place on the Santa Fe Trail in the 1840s. Kit Carson was a friend of the Bents and often was a visitor; one of the Bent brothers later became governor of New Mexico, with a bad end. We caught the tail-end of an annual re-enactor's weekend so we saw glimpses of period costumes which helped set the scene for how it might have looked (in a highly sanitized, modern way I'm sure). By the time we left it was 94 hot, dry degrees. Came back and took a three mile walk around one of the lakes.  

The History of Bent’s Old Fort “Castle of the Plains” -- William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original fort on this site in 1833 to  trade with trappers and Native Americans, primarily the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, for buffalo robes. The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent, St.Vrain Company’s expanding trade empire that included Fort St. Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. 

For much of its 16-year history, the adobe fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements around Santa Fe. The fort provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water, camaraderie, rest and protection in the vast “Great American Desert.” The famous Western scout Kit Carson was a hunter for the fort from 1831 to 1842. During the war with Mexico in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny’s “Army of the West.” Disasters and disease caused the fort’s abandonment in 1849. Archaeological excavations and original sketches, paintings and diaries were used in the fort’s reconstruction in 1976.

In the center is a press for compressing buffalo hides and furs for transport.

No doubt discussing who they lost in the last indian attack.

A large painted elk hide called a “Winter Count,” contains a Cheyenne picture history. The painting depicts events such as a meteor shower in 1833 called “the night the stars fell,” the murder of Charles Bent, and outbreaks of
measles and whooping cough which ravaged the Southern Cheyennes.

It might have looked like this... in Hollywood maybe.

6 Monday - Today we’d drive a whole 20 miles north for the next stop, San Isabel recreation area. Supposed to be 96 in Pueblo but since we climbed into the mountains it was in the 70s up here. Nice small lake, we got one of the few spots left, surrounded by aspens, very nice. and very windy. and so quiet. Spot #26, with electric and water across the road, $19 a night. Went for a drive back into the mountains and found Squirrel Creek, which signage made mention of the Ludlow labor strike so need to look into that. We see that Ludlow was south of here, the signage wasn’t very helpful with context. Then we found Bishops Castle, WTF is this, not quite sure, will have to google. But Mr. Bishop was there, still building his castle since 1969; today he explained to Bill he was working on his moat bridge. He allows visitors and hopes for donations. A short conversation quickly went into anti-government, Illuminati, etc. Well ok then. Quite a place; I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Came back and walked around the lake. Half way anyway. Sat outside in the wind for happy hour, ate and watched a movie. No cell service here.

This is the real deal. This really exists in Colorado.

Here is Bill, trying to find words...

Bill with the man himself. Doesn't take long before you hear what he really thinks.

7 Tuesday - Didn’t sleep much on account of Mr. wheezie-allergies made noise all night. Super windy but real sunny. The wind has not blown the smoke over yet. I was too tired so Bill hiked about 4 miles without me; said it was mostly uphill so kinda glad I missed it. Beautiful beautiful clear day though still a bit breezy. Later went to “town” to Rye on the Old San Isabel Road to check e-mail and go to the store. It was a windy dirt country road, but nice scenery, saw a deer. Also saw some fires out on the eastern horizon toward LaJunta. The Arizona fires are still burning at this time, so far they say it’s the state’s third worst in history. And zero contained.

8 Wednesday - Got an early start to head for Denver. Sunny day, but overcast in the Big D after we arrived. Left early enough to stop at the Castle Rock outlet mall but didn’t do a lot of damage. Also missed the worst of the traffic as we arrived to Cherry Creek campground in the SE part of town. Huge park surrounded by the city, even saw three deer in there. We had a nice corner spot in Coyote Loop that must have been the magpie nursery, non-stop squawking. The only thing noisier than a magpie is a baby magpie. The last day I saw the baby. The mother would wait for cars to go by and disturb the bugs then she could catch them; talk about a product of the environment. And speaking of bugs -- huge moths would invade the trailer somehow and come out flying during our evening movie. Like one at a time, five times a night. A real pain, because I was knitting under the light getting bombarded. I should have let in the magpie. Bob and Sue are in the midst of packing and closing on a new house but were able to meet for dinner. Unfortunately they had to put Tiger down today so not the best of times. She was 14. RIP Tiger. 

Navajo inspired sculpture at the Denver Botanic Garden

9 Thursday - An overcast and cooler day, and we got a slower start today beginning with lunch at Applebees (not bad actually) and a little shopping at our favorite place: The Container Store, then on to the Denver Botanic Gardens. Fabulous gardens and really enjoyed seeing all the native plants, just wished they had out more identifying signage. Hoping Bill’s inspiration lasts until we get home. After that, stopped for cookies to take on our visit to Bill's uncle, 94-year-old Frank, who continues to amaze us, still pretty darn sharp. Ended up at Bob and Sue's for pizza and helped with some packing. The china and crystal cabinet -- agh, the scary stuff!! Finished at midnight, good and tired.  

Bill and Frank, June 2011

10 Friday - Finally we head to Estes for the Wool Market tomorrow! Weather a little better, low 60s and sunnier. What a difference from last year upon arrival in Estes (rain for four days). Our campground was literally just outside the park at the east portal. Small site with a streaming puddle, but water nonetheless. Hummers buzzing around until they finally found my little travel feeder. Arrived early enough to get in a 5.5 mile hike right here by the camp, another vertical hike, not my fave, but pretty in the trees and perfect weather. Saw a deer, not elk, which is unusual. Stuck around here for dinner and had an early night.

Found my campground.

Finally a squirrel that looks like the Florida kind.

11 Saturday - Wool market! Beautiful weather, no rain, no mud and pavement! And brighter inside the fairgrounds building, and crowded at 9:30 am. Stumbled around for 2.5 hours filling my new bag (from the container store) and Bill came and got me and we went for a mexican lunch. That was good, I was hungry, worked up an appetite opening my wallet so many times. The town was packed so we didn’t stick around -- went back to camp for a hike, same start, different path; this time to Sprague Lake. Weather now clouding up but kept dry and we made it the 4.2 miles UP and back to the lake. That was a tough climb. Two groups of horseback riders passed us and the horses looked to be stuggling down the hill so that made me feel better as it was a bee-otch to climb. Again stayed in for dinner and watched a movie with the moths. They are huge but I get them. Tomorrow we head for Glenwood Springs to prepare for the V10 car deal.

Sprague Lake. All that snow still in July.

Saw lots of lady elks and their bambinos too.

12 Sunday - Up early and out of Estes on a very beautiful day. It’s biking season around here, sheesh, every town was having a bike race. Lyons, Golden, Boulder. We headed south to hit I-70 where they were biking on the interstate’s shoulders... whaa?? sounds quite dangerous to me but they were all over the place. I looked for big horn sheep, as I always do, around Idaho Springs, but didn't see any. As we went along (and I was knitting) suddenly Bill says, “There’s some sheep!” And there they were, RIGHT ON THE HIGHWAY munching grass along the shoulder. I couldn’t believe it as we zoomed past at 55. They were big and as I recall, bright white. It happened so fast I didn't have time to get a shot, dang it. The poor VW worked hard up those big mountains. We made our way to Glenwood Springs, and with no decent campgrounds ANYWHERE we went south to Carbondale to a great expensive $35 spot but at least on a roaring river. I guess the snow melt is high just now so flood warnings are out, and of course, here we are along the, what looks to be, permanent sandbags.

Bikers on the interstate. hmm. They wouldn't last 2 minutes in Fla, that's for sure. This was near Vail.

Nice spot outside Carbondale.

Anyone looking for a fixer-upper? There was a field of five toasters in Carbondale, not sure why but someone is collecting.

13 Monday - Early to Glenwood Springs, but the gal selling wasn’t ready until about 11am, as she was having a new windshield installed. But after many stops and starts (she lost her cell phone too), we finally finished the deal by 2pm with the wire transfer. So since we had time to kill in the morning, we took a mile walk up to the Doc Holliday memorial. They say he’s buried somewhere in this cemetery so he has a nice marker now, and lots of visitors, such as ourselves. Later we went back to the trailer; nice day but we just took a 2-mile walk down the road so Billy can ponder what he just did...

What you do when you're in a cemetery without a pen.

A very happy camper. That's the new one on the left. The old one's in the middle HAHAHAHAAA

14 Tuesday - Left Carbondale early, thinking we’d go as far as Ridgway, but were there by 1 pm so kept going all the way home. Beautiful day for a drive in a 2007 v10 following a big honkin’ Airstream. I had to pass him at least once. OK, maybe twice.

Almost to Ridgway, and then kept going "wee wee" (literally) all the way home.