Cayton Campground San Juan National Forest, Mesa Verde National Park and Great Sand Dunes National Park

Cayton Campground and Mesa Verde National Park

After four great days at Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, we headed almost due South on US 550 and CO 145 to our one night stay at Cayton Campground near Rico. This was picked only on its' location and that it had electric. WOW! This was a GREAT Campground. Set at 9000' in the Colorado Mountains. Great forests, Jeep trails, the Delores River right next to the 20 camp sites and well maintained. You can reserve this area through Recreation.gov.

Cooper enjoying some outdoor time at Cayton Campground

We set up early and only got a few minutes outside before the severe weather that was predicted became a fact. Thunder, lightning, pea sized hail and heavy rains. We spent the night watching "A River Runs Through It" on DVD. Appropriate, considering the territory we have been in for the last few weeks!

our site #18 at Cayton Campground - absolutely beautiful setting

The next morning was sunny with blue bird skies. Before we departed for our next campground at Mesa Verde National Park, we took advantage of the short Jeep road just up the road from Cayton campground. The trail took us around Trout Lake and was one of the most scenic drives we have taken.  At the far end of the loop is a century old wooden railroad trestle bridge - beautiful! We were sorry we hadn't planned on staying at this beautiful site for several more days. It is on our wish list to visit again! Sites 15, 16 and 17 maybe the best with the Delores River at the back edge of the sites.

century old wooden trestle behind Trout Lake

wooden water tank from the steam locomotive era

behind Trout Lake, Colorado

Then, it was 150 miles down through the valley along the Delores River, into the Four Corners area of Colorado and the town of Cortez. Destination - Mesa Verde National Park and the famous Pueblo Cliff dwellings! We checked in, stopped at the Visitor Center to get our Ranger led tour tickets, drove the four miles up a mesa to the Morefield Campground and site 173 for our 4 night stay. We laid low for the remainder of the day and good thing as a severe thunder storm hammered us for the next 4-5 hours.  It was so bad we experienced a slight leak at our dinette slide out and we pulled it in during the storm, emptied the cabinet and dried it out. Note to self - listen to the manual which states - pull slides in during severe weather!

Cindy at Cliff Palace - the easiest of the cliff dwellings to tour at Mesa Verde NP

The next morning, with tickets in hand, we departed Cooper and CJ for our 5 hour experience at both Cliff Palace and Balcony House. They are just two of the 600 cliff dwellings in MVNP built over 1000 years ago by the ancient Pueblo peoples. You must drive over 20 miles farther into the Park and there meet your Ranger of your appropriate tour. They are fabulous and I must say, a bit demanding physically. You are  7-8000 ft above sea level, July sun and climbing 15ft ladders (plural), steps carved out of rock and in the case of Balcony House, a 32 ft ladder must be climbed to get to the first part of the dwelling. This is out in the canyon and later, to exit Balcony House, you crawl through a 18" square tunnel 12 ft long, then up one 15 ' ladder out on the cliff face, then up 15' of steps carved (not big nor deep) in the cliff face and a second 15' ladder . Best not to look around while doing these - just make sure of your grasp and foothold! But...… well worth it!! Absolutely tremendous.

emerging from 18" sq 12' long tunnel 

look closely for the 32' tall ladder you must climb as part of Balcony House tour

rooms are multi story and about 6 x 8' - original masonry!!

Cliff Palace and Balcony House can only be seen by buying tickets at the Visitor Center, These tours are Ranger led and take about 1 hr each. Balcony House is not for the faint of heart as you climb along the cliff face!!!

Back at our RV, Cooper and CJ greeted us as always and got a nice long walk around the campground before the afternoon storms hit. We were able to get down to the visitor center and snag some post cards and my hiking stick badge. That night, we took advantage of the Laundromat and got all of our clothes and sheets washed. It may be until we get home before we see anther laundry!! Mesa Verde NP is really interesting and worth a two day stay to see the dwellings. There is a lodge in the Park as well as the Morefield Campground where we stayed. Drink plenty of water!

Then it was once again time to pick up stakes and move down the road. This time only about 200 miles along US160 to Great Sand Dunes National Park. This was a planned stop after I had read an article in an RVer's magazine. It sounded like a place to check out if you were in the area. We were going to be driving within 20 miles of Great Sand Dunes, so we made reservation. The campground is very small and our rig just fit in the space! but sitting on the hillside across from the dunes, we had a nice view. The dunes ate 15 miles wide, 5 miles deep and 750' tall!!!  They are the largest/tallest in North America. This park is worth a stop over for a day if you pass through the area. There is a 4 x 4 trail that takes you 2 miles up through the mountains if you are so inclined.

they say figure on 5 hours to walk out to top of dune and back!!!! Look closely and you can see the people out on the dunes. 

Zebulon Pike discovered the dunes on his expedition in 1807

All of the National Parks have something beautiful and interesting to discover. Here at Great Sand Dunes NP you can rent boards to "surf"  the dunes!


We are headed out again and will check in when we can.

until then - take care


Cooper and CJ

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Gunnison rodeo

The drive from Ridgway to our next location, Black Canyon of the Gunnision National Park took about 1.5 hrs in the RV. A short drive up US 550 to Montrose then a right on US 50 East for about 5-6 miles and a left on CO347 and after a steep climb to 8200 ft and we were showing our America the Beautiful lifetime pass at a US National Park entrance. Black Canyon NP was an add -on to our route after we stayed at Cave Creek Regional Park in Arizona. Rich, one of the camp hosts there, said we ought to add this one and one coming up in a few weeks as well. He had steered us to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada as well and once again, he did us good! BCNP is a relative newcomer to the National Parks family, although it was a National Monument since the 1920's. National Monuments can be created by the President, but National Parks take an act of Congress. Both are administered by the US Park Service. BCOTGNP is on former Ute lands.

Painted Wall -Black Canon of the Gunnison NP

East Portal Road - takes you down 2000' to the Gunnison River - very steep

We settled in to our site - B3 and faced our first challenge. With an active Mule Deer population and fawns still with their mothers, you can only walk your dogs in your immediate camp site (not campground!) The doe are very protective and I experienced first hand a wary doe who countered my every move to get back to the RV with Cooper and CJ. A bit unnerving. We then found several trails where the dogs could get the necessary exercise without the threat of the deer.

We made our way to the Visitors Center, checked out the film and took in our first glimpses of the canyon. 2000 feet deep and very narrow. The National Park has about 15 miles of the canyon proper with other agencies also having portions. To get to a point directly across from the Visitor Center requires a 2 hour drive!! No roads or bridges here! Cindy and I took a brief walk along the Canyon and then made out way back to the RV for dinner. Later that night, I walked the short trip to the amphitheater to listen to the first of 3 Ranger led talks about the Park. They were all good and our favorite was the last evening. the topic was about Turkey Vultures "Peace Eagles",  how they function and why they are so special. The Ranger is a former college professor and did an outstanding job of presenting the information. He included the children by using stuffed animals, one a fawn, one a Turkey Vulture and the third a Coyote to act out how the Turkey Vultures take care of carrion. This may sound simplistic, but the Ranger took the topic to many levels. Very interesting birds!

Gunnison River visible at bottom, it is a long way down there!

Our second day there, we opted to take the drive around the National Park, a loop of over 100 miles to see the canyon from both sides. Definitely worth the time and effort. At one point, we were directly across from the Visitor Center. We ate our lunch at the small campground on the North side and continued to loop to various observation points. Amazing what water and gravity can accomplish. Again, so much comes back to the Geology of an area. Our drive took us by necessity to the town of Delta, Colorado and fortunately they have a Tractor Supply store. We have been getting Cooper and CJ's Taste of the Wild dog food at Tractor Supply while on this trip and we were down to only a few days remaining. So, in we went and now we are supplied until we get back to Pennsylvania!. (Cooper and CJ were quite pleased).

our site at BCOTGNP - B3

The next morning, we decided to drive the road to the bottom of the canyon and boy were we glad we did! We have seen quite a few specie of wildlife on this trip and also through the years, but on this day we had quite a thrill.... while driving along the river, we spotted what at first we thought was an Otter swimming across to the North side. Cindy started taking pictures and as it emerged from on the opposite bank... it revealed its form complete with very long tail... a Mountain Lion!!!! Totally Awesome!!!! What a treat. When we got back topside, we drove to the Visitor Station and reported the sighting to a Ranger who had me complete a sighting form! Way, Way Cool!

Cougar exiting river at far bank to left of center above

While down at the East Portal, we also checked out where the water tunnel and machinery house for it are providing irrigation water for Montrose, CO since its' completion in 1909!

3 years in the making, the tunnel at East Portal to Montrose

One of the things we had yet to experience was to go to a Rodeo. Fortunately, the town of Gunnison was holding the 118th occurrence of Cattlemen's Days - a PCRA event complete with Bull Riding, Bare Back  Riding,  Barrel Racing, Team Roping and Bull Dogging! We called and got tickets (not really necessary, but the place did fill up) drove the 60 miles from the park to Gunnison and had a wonderful evening. It was Patriot Night and they did a nice salute to our armed forces. Then the action begins. It is pretty non stop and quite interesting. My favorite was the Barrel Racing.

marketing via Horseback - Cowgirls rode rapidly around the arena between events with these banners flying!!

Bronc riding - short and rugged sport!

Bull Dogging- not as easy as one might think

 Saturday morning I took Cooper and CJ in the Jeep to one of the trails where we could enjoy a hike, dropped them off and then walked the Rim Trail from our campsite to the Visitor Center and Back. Very nice and a great way to wrap up our stay at BCOTGNP! We would advise anyone visiting western Colorado to take a day or two and visit this fabulous National Park. If camping with dogs, try to avoid mid June to mid August and the Mule Deer situation.

until then,


Take Care

Cooper and CJ

Ridgway, Ouray, Telluride and Silverton Colorado

Ridgway State Park - Ridgway, Ouray, Telluride and Silverton Colorado

After spending the entire month of June and the first week of July in Idaho, with side trips into Montana for Glacier National Park and Wyoming for Yellowstone National Park and Cody, we pulled up stakes once again and headed South. This had us crossing through the eastern part of Utah (spending a nice evening at Heber Valley in a RV Resort) hopping on I70 East and crossing by Moab and into western Colorado. Our base for the next few days was Ridgway State Park, on US 550 a few miles West of the town of Ridgway. Movie buffs will recognize Ridgway as the location of the John Wayne classic -True Grit!

downtown Ridgway - scenes from "True Grit" filmed here

this was used as Undertakers shop in "True Grit"

on undertakers shop

We settled into our site at the RSP and the campground was full. The temps were in the  mid 90's and the trees were more ornamental than shade providing. Fortunately, we had electric and could run our rooftop AC units. With very low humidity, it was quite easy to maintain comfort levels inside the RV. Early in the morning and after 7PM, the temps outside provided comfortable outdoors sitting and walks to the  river.

it was quite an engineering feat to get the railroad to Ridgway in the late 1800's

Starting off our first full day at RSP, we drove into the town, stopped at the visitors center to get some direction  and brochures, toured the Railroad Museum there, went over to the town Park and started our walking tour of the town and the sites used in filming True Grit. We enjoyed a muffin and a cup of coffee in the shade of the large trees in the park, then climbed in the Jeep for the drive down to the former mining, now ski town, of Telluride. The Visitor Center in Ridgway had told us to park outside of Telluride at Mountain Village and take the free (yes, free!) gondola into Telluride. We did, accompanied by Cooper and CJ (dogs allowed) and what at ride!! The trip takes about 15 minutes with a change of lines mid way and the view is breathtaking! We walked the town, ate lunch at a nice dog friendly Mexican café answered questions about Cooper (he is a big conversation starter) hopped back on the gondola and back to the Jeep. We concluded the day by driving further South towards Rico, but turned back due to severe weather approaching the mountain passes ( later on we read that the area was indeed hit hard by rain and wind).

dogs can ride for free as well into Telluride

descending into Telluride in gondola -Cooper and CJ along as well!

downtown Telluride just after exiting gondola

The next morning our plan was to drive down US550 past Ridgway, though Ouray and on to Silverton. US550 is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the country. as it is carved out of the cliff face of the canyon and in many places has minimal shoulder and no guardrails! However, as we left the South end of Ouray, we were informed by a large flashing electric road sign the 550 was closed due to a rock slide!! bummer!!. We decided we would check out Ouray instead that day and save Silverton for the next day.  However, as we were turning around, we noticed a sign to the Box Canyon and we decided - why not??? the quarter mile drive to the parking lot was a nice little Jeep trail as well. (BTW - Ouray is the Jeep Mecca of America, there are so many Jeeps, I gave up doing the "Jeep Wave") The Box Canyon is run by the town of Ouray and is worth the time to see it if you are in the area. There are two trails, one takes you inside and the other above. I did both.

downtown Ouray, lots of nice shoppes and Jeeps!

inside Box Canyon at Ouray, Colorado

Victorian House with rooftop walk -Ouray, Colorado

We spent an enjoyable day in Ouray, sitting on benches in the shade, eating lunch at Maggie's and watching lots of Jeeps drive by. We then headed back to camp and settled in for the evening. More dog walks, reading and mapping out more details for the remained of our adventure.

We have been asked numerous times how we planned for the trip. As mentioned months back, it has been hundreds of hours, making plans and reservations, reviewing and adjusting the plans and modifying routes due to weather, circumstances and suggestions from fellow travelers.

Our second attempt to travel to Silverton was successful the following day and the drive down US550 is not for the weak of heart (nor for those in a large rig!). The views are breathtaking and the curves and drop-offs many. Along the way you will see Red Mountain and its' famous switchback, mining sites and the town of Silverton nestled in at 9300' above sea level.. We arrived shortly before noon, checked out Bring Fido and selected the Bent Elbow (a former Brothel) as our noon day dining destination. The food was great and they even had apple pie for desert and a piano player!. We then walked the town, checked out the shoppes and took in the feel. Our waitress told us this past winter they only received 50" of snow as opposed to the usual 300"! Things are dry here and with the wildfires burning to the South at Durango, the famous train was not making it's daily excursion between the two towns. That is bad news for store owners depending on those riding those rails for their livelihood.

lots of ATV riding opportunities in Silverton area

downtown Silverton - Wyatt Earp came here after Tombstone!

mining structure north of Silverton on US550

ore cars now planters

US550 at Red Mountain

stagecoach in Silverton

US550 - pay attention at all times

US550 - not a lot of wiggle room

We had a great time and would definitely visit this area again if we could. 3-4 full days will due you well. Add one more day if you plan on riding the train to Silverton.

We are off again and will be posting more soon.

until then - Take Care

Cooper and CJ

Arco, Idaho and Craters of the Moon

Arco, Idaho and Craters of the Moon National Monument


We packed up and headed out from Flatrock Campground in the Targhee NF on Monday morning by 9 AM. We had 150 miles to travel southwest to Arco, Idaho -first Atomic Powered City and Craters of the Moon Arco KOA. The drive took us down Idaho 20 and then onto Idaho 33 right into Arco. Along the way we transitioned to high desert, with little but sage and flat terrain for the majority of the trip,

Arco is out in the Snake River Plain - only flat area in the region!

a tradition since 1920 - High School Grads paint their year on mountainside at Arco

our site at Arco KOA - nice shade trees, good location

Our first night in town we drove around a bit, ate at a local restaurant - Pickle's, We saved room of for desert. The KOA has an Ice Cream Social at 6:30 -what's not to like about free ice cream? Then we settled in with dog walks, starting this BLOG on the complimentary Wifi and reading.

The next morning we were up and out the door shortly after 8 AM to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument. Created in 1924, it is a 750,000 acre moonscape of lava flows, volcanic cones and basalt. We hiked to the top of Inferno Cone with an Interpretive Ranger, went inside a small crater in two Spatter Cones and walked a half mile over lava flows to hike through a Lava Tube - Indian Tunnel.

asphalt path takes you out to Indian Tunnel - Lava tube

Of course the Visitors Center was checked out and viewed the various videos. This is a very different and "weird" place. Not on the way to anywhere, but if you can, check it out. You need about 3 hours to do what we did.

Cindy inside the cone of a "Spatter Cone" - Craters of the Moon NM

view from lava field towards Inferno Cone - we climbed the 600' to the top -WOW!

view from inside a lava tube - Indian Tunnel - CMNM

Returning to  the KOA, we spent the remainder of the day reading, blogging, exercising CJ at the dog park ( right across from our campsite!) and grocery shopping. I picked up a few items not normally on our diet for celebrating the 4th of July. Hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, Huckleberry Twisted Tea etc. On the morning of the 4th, we arose to a much calmer day ( the winds had been blowing at a constant 20-25 mph force since we arrived. The temps were in the lower 70's and sunny and I took advantage to get in a Jeep oil and filter change at a lot outside the KOA grounds ( I spread out a tarp under the  vehicle to avoid spillage). Cindy took advantage of the laundry facilities at KOA at the same time and by 10 AM we were both done with our chores and ready to attend to Arco 4th of July Parade at 11 AM. We had a half mile drive to the start of the parade at the town park and we arrived in time  to get a shady spot. This was nicely done and attended for a town of a population of less than 1000 people.

old vehicles are always a favorite

this is ranching country

on the whimsical side

Happy Birthday America!!

CJ had a rough time the night before with some firecrackers. They really disturb him. So, we took some preemptive measures to be ready for the big fireworks event put on at the numbers mountain on the 4th. First and foremost, I took a nap. Seriously, the fireworks start at 10:30 PM and we knew CJ was not going to be resting quietly til after they concluded. May as well be rested to stay up later than normal. Secondly, we gave him lots of time chasing ball in the dog park, right up until 9:30 PM to tire him out. We also threw in a couple extra walks around the campground. 

Late afternoon, we decided to go try to find one of the remaining sections of the Oregon Trail that ran through the Arco area. It sook some doing, but we did manage to find a section and you can see the wheel ruts from the 1850s as they pass by the edge of the Craters of the Moon lava flow about 5.7 miles SW of the visitor's center. cool stuff.

love the history you find throughout the country!

Oregon Trail Goodale's Cutoff goes right through here, look just above and to right of center to see the tracks!

After supper, we settled in and waited for the fireworks.  Around 9:30. we went into the RV, and I popped in "The Patriot" Suitable July 4th viewing. This provided entertainment and some white noise foe CJ. Some, but not enough. He we still not able to relax until after things quieted down sometime after 11 PM. The fire works were visible from our campsite which was a treat and for the  size of the community, they put on a respectable show! Thanks Arco!!

Our last day in Arco found us rising a bit later (remember we stayed up way past our normal bedtime to watch fireworks, etc) and we drove South on US 20 to EBR--1, the nations fire nuclear reactor. It was here that atomic power was first used to generate electricity back in the early 1950"s. A guided tour is available, however I opted for the  self guided tour which met my needs. Neat stuff.

First Nuclear Reactor - 20 miles South of Arco Idaho!

turbine and generator at EBR-1 powered 4 lights!

Returning to Arco, we stopped at the Post Office to mail some post cards, dropped off the drain oil from the Jeep and took Cooper and CJ to the KOA Dog Wash!! Very nice room, special equipment which greatly  helped in washing the dogs and for a minimal price! Both dogs then spent the next few hours drying off by lying outside in the shade by the RV.

very nicely equipped dog wash - Arco KOA

Cooper drying off after his bath!

This area is probably usually only seen by those passing through on their way elsewhere. however, if you can, plan on a full day to check out the few things we mentioned here. 

We are heading out of Idaho shortly and have really enjoyed our stay here the past weeks.

more to come

until then

take care


Cooper and CJ