MONTROSE

We only had a short drive today from Gunnison to Montrose, Colorado. We drove to the end of the Gunnison Lake and down hill through some really spectacular canyons. We're camped very close to Black Canyon National Park which we will visit tomorrow.

We are at a lower elevation here so it's much warmer and we needed to turn the air conditioning on as soon as we hooked up. The couple in the trailer next to us scared us with dire warnings of little black bugs that were getting into "everything." They warned us not to open the door or we would have thousands of bugs in the coach. We have been here since noon and only seen one bug. Guess they didn't want our big coach parked next to them for three days.

The campground is a little disappointing, kind of dusty and the dog park is really only a weed patch. But the town is larger than any we have stayed in since Flagstaff, so we will take advantage of the many stores and I guess that means haircuts for all the humans and grooming for all us doggies. Ugh!

CRESTED BEAUTY

The sun came out again this morning and everything is dry and beautiful here at the campground. There are lots of doggies and fishermen here, and it looks like most of them are here for the whole season. There are supposed to be huge salmon in Lake Gunnison, but you need a boat to catch them.  The lake is 21 miles long and 334 feet deep in some places. Guess we will have to buy our salmon at the market.

The ski area of Crested Butte is only about 50 miles from Gunnison and this weekend is the wild flower festival. While I stayed home and watched for the rain to start, they all went on another adventure without me.

Crested Butte was really very touristy with the main street filled with shops and restaurants. All of the buildings in town are painted to look like an authentic town of the old west. Here's a picture of Mt. Crested Butte and one of the city hall. Although they went into many stores, I didn't see any purchases except a bicycle horn that looks like a parrot. It squeaks like a dog toy and is driving me nuts!

WET DAY

Not much to report today. Bella, Gianni and I all had to have baths this morning. And now it's raining! Everything and everybody is wet and muddy. Serves them right, we didn't need baths!

Jim and Warren spent the day fishing. They tried several areas and Warren was successful and caught some more trout. Jim just drowned worms, but they had a fun day anyway.

The Kathies went out to lunch together and shopped the whole downtown of Gunnison, getting home just as the monsoon began. Apparently, this is the monsoon season and it's rained a little everyday that we've been here. But today it's pouring and there is a river of mud running down the road in front of us. I just hope that Kathe doesn't think I need another bath. Isn't rain water supposed to be good for your hair?

It's really hard to get any pictures because of the limited internet. Here's one of the Lake which is right across the highway from our campground. 

GUNNISON PIONEER MUSEUM

It's really nice here in Gunnison, except for the internet. Yesterday with my little post and 2 pictures I used up our daily allotment of 300MB bandwidth. Really upsetting to Jim because he couldn't find out what Megan and Harry were doing last night.  Luckily, this morning Kathy and Warren gave us a booster for our own MIFI, so we are back in business. It's great, because we are staying here for four nights and we are all so used to our devices that we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves. No TV, no phone, no internet, we are practically in the wilderness.

Today, after a late breakfast, everyone left us doggies and went into town. Destination: The Pioneer Museum. There have been other Pioneer Museums on our many travels to the West, but this one was really one of the best ever. There were 24 buildings with artifacts and memorabilia dating back to 1880 when the pioneers first settled in Gunnison. Jim and Warren liked the huge narrow gauge train exhibit and the antique cars. The girls liked the antique dolls, the telephone display from 1800's, and the house with the early-day furnishings. They spent several hours there and really could have spent days there were so many interesting exhibits.

TWO PASSES ONE DAY

I better make this quick as they don't have real internet here at the Gunnison Lakes RV Resort. They limit your usage everyday and it's slow and unsecured.  So, here are a couple of pictures taken on the ride today from Central City to Gunnison, Colorado. It was a very long and exciting drive.  Over 200 miles of winding narrow roads. We drove over two passes that were both over 11,000 feet high.

First, was the Freemont Pass at 11,320 feet followed by Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet.  What a ride it was!

We're all happy to be here at the Lakeside Resort, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for a picture of the lake. 

HIGHER THAN PIKES PEAK

No, we're not talking about all those Colorado Dispensaries! Today we took a drive up to the summit of Mount Evans. It's 14,265 tall and it is the highest paved road in North America. The road was 28 miles long and very narrow, but the scenery was like taking a trip from Canada to Alaska.  They say every 1,000 feet gained in altitude was equivalent to traveling 600 feet north in latitude.Originally the Mount Evans road was to go over the west side of the mountain and connect to the  Peak to Peak Highway.  This was to link Pikes Peak to Mount Evans by roadway, but it proved unfeasible.


Climbing this high we were able to travel through continental regions such as the Subalpine zone and the Alpine zone. The views were amazing. We saw tiny wild flowers, bristlecone pines and glaciers as we drove higher and higher up the mountain.

You can see some of the glaciers beyond these
rocky mountain goats in one picture. I especially liked the fat yellow bellied marmots hiding in the rocks. They look like mean, overgrown squirrels!

FISH TALES

Another day, another adventure. Today the crew decided that they wanted to go fishing. Our next door neighbors told us that they caught 8 trout at Golden Gate State Park yesterday so that got Jim and Warren's attention.  When they asked about that Lake when they were purchasing fishing licenses, no one had heard of it. So they went to Urad Lake as recommended, where "everyone" catches fish.

It was up another rocky and bumpy road for miles, then there was a steep hill to climb, but it was worth the effort. As soon as they got settled Jim threw in a line and pulled out the first trout. It went on like that with Kathy, Warren and Jim pulling out fish after fish until they caught the limit. They caught enough rainbows and cutthroat trout for a nice dinner tonight. Kathe took some pictures!

Just now as the fish and potatoes are about to be fried there is a hail storm pounding down on us. Don't worry it's only pea size hail, but it sure made enough noise to scare us all. We have had a rain storm every night at about this time, it just lasts for a few minutes and passes over the mountains. Hopefully

this storm will pass by quickly.