June 4, 2014 Travel to Curecanti National Recreation Area

We left Grand Junction early this morning and made our way south and east on US-50. The topography changed from small rolling hills:

to bigger rolling hills:

We went over a few summits that were in the 8300’ range – WOW!.  But the valleys were around 7000’ – still very high.

We passed many farms and ranches and roads that went into the unknown:

And wildflowers everywhere – :

To:

Where we got a spot facing the Blue Mesa Lake:

The campground has three levels and we are on the top level. It is mostly a fishing/boating campground but the view was great and only $6.00/night.  There is water available and a dump station nearby.

After setting up we drove to the Visitor Center at Elk Creek, about 12 miles east of us. Views along the way:

Blue Mesa Reservoir as well as Morrow Point, and Crystal Dam are part of the Wane N. Aspinall Unit dams of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Colorado River Storage Project.  Blue Mesa serves as the main storage reservoir.  Morrow Point Dam generates most of the power and Crystal Dam maintains an even flow through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest body of water in Colorado and has developed into a premier coldwater fishery with kokanee salmon and rainbow trout dominating the catches.

This year due to the large snow pack that is now melting along with the rains, Blue Mesa is filling at the rate of 1-2 FEET A DAY – WOW!  They are also trying to hold back many water releases due to the flooding further on down the Colorado.  And because of the level instability in the Morrow Point Reservoir, those boat tours were cancelled –   (This tour goes thru one of the narrow canyons.)  But they have replaced it with a tour of Blue Mesa Reservoir with a ranger that talks about the history of the area and the dams.  So we signed up and are heading out tomorrow.

On our way back, we stopped at a pullout directly across from the campground that talked about one of the towns that was submerged when the dam was built:

The campground/marina – if you look closely to the right side, you can see our flag:

And always the beautiful mountains:

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon/evening by the campfire looking out over the lake.

Enjoy today.

Miles Traveled:  102 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Colorado:  25 1/2 Road; Independent Avenue; North 4th Street; US-50

May 30, 2014 to June 3, 2014 Grand Junction and the Colorado National Monument

June 2, 2014

We decided we needed a day out and away we went to the Colorado National Monument.

“The area was first explored by John Otto, a free spirit who settled in Grand Junction in the early 20th century. Prior to Otto's arrival, many area residents believed the canyons to be inaccessible to humans. Otto began building trails on the plateau and into the canyons. As word spread about his work, the Chamber of Commerce of Grand Junction sent a delegation to investigate. The delegation returned praising both Otto's work and the scenic beauty of the wilderness area, and the local newspaper began lobbying to make it a National Park (which it never did become).

The area was established as Colorado National Monument on May 24, 1911. Otto was hired as the first park ranger, drawing a salary of $1 per month. For the next 16 years, he continued building and maintaining trails while living in a tent in the park.

The park became more well known in the 1980s partly due to its inclusion as a stage of the major international bicycle race, the Coors Classic. The race through the park became known as "The Tour of the Moon", due to the spectacular landscapes the race passed through on Rim Rock Drive.”

This area was also very important to the Ute people:

More information can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_National_Monument

http://www.nps.gov/colm/naturescience/index.htm

We started on the east end of the Rim Rock Drive – Incredible!

Rim Rock Drive is on the top of those mountains:

And up we go:

One of these days, I am going to see a Bighorn Sheep in the wild – but today was not the day :

We have been amazed at the quality of videos that come from our new smartphones so we have been taking lots of them.  Here is one from going up to the top:  http://youtu.be/7gJaXKdj1sg

Another video: http://youtu.be/Fbe67-d06s4

More pictures of the road – cool:

This is the old road that is now a trail – views were awesome:

 

And one more: http://youtu.be/h4utv5oLntw

Isn’t that incredible!  We stopped at almost every pullout and took most of the short trails to the overlooks.  So much beauty!  We will be back because I want to do some of the trails on the canyon floor.  But right now it is tooooo hot (I am a sissy with the heat) and I am still having a problem with my foot – (Sheesh!)  Oh well.

We have been having flood advisories and warnings on the rising of the Colorado River – due to the quick snow melt and some rain.  Here is one of the pictures as we were going over one of the bridges – Yikees!

So that was our tourist day.

We really needed some down time (a vacation from our vacation – LOL) and that is what we did on the other days. 

We will be back in this area – there is so much to do and so many road trips to take – but that will have to wait for another time.

Tomorrow we are heading toward Gunnison area for a few days, then to Colorado Springs, then to Estes Park, then..it depends on the weather.

So stay tuned and enjoy today.