Ride~About: Valley of Fire State Park–Truly Amazing!

Hello! It has been quite a while my friend. Hope your holidays were wonderful, full of fun and blessings. All is well here in Colorado Springs except for the recent polar vortex. Our temperatures the last few days were below zero, getting to -11 last night. Not a usual event on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Happily today it is a “warm” 28 degrees. I’m still staying inside!

Last week I left the cold and journeyed to southern Nevada’s first State Park, Valley of Fire. What a treasure and geology wonder! You are going to love this.

Come on along!

Ride~About: Badwater Basin–Oh, So Low!

Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, is a 45-minute drive from our lodging in Death Valley. The scenery along the way can take your breath away. It is very overcast with the possibility of rain but that won’t slow us down. Two miles from our lodging at Stovepipe Wells Village, with the sun peaking through between the mountain tops and the clouds, we see the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. This is only the beginning, so come on along!

Let’s Go!

Ride~About: 20 Mule Team Canyon in Death Valley

Uh-oh. Driving down CA-127 to Death Valley’s southern entrance, we may run into some weather! Well, onward to 20 Mule Team Canyon, a 2.8 mile one-way dirt road along CA-190 into Death Valley. We can’t let a little rain stop the adventures. Well, we do have to be careful of flash flooding. Let’s go and hope for good weather
Here we go . . .

Ride~About: Silver Thread Scenic Byway (CO-149)

Part 3: Last Leg of the Byway

When we drove into Lake City yesterday, we crossed a bridge over Henson Creek. A short distance from the bridge, the creek feeds into the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. The Lake Fork begins high in the mountains southwest of Lake San Cristobal, flows through the lake, and ends its 64.7 mile-long journey north to its confluence with the Gunninson River in Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Yes, this river runs south to north. Am I the only one who thought all rivers run north to south–south is downhill after all, right? Actually it is all about gravity. A river will always take the path of least resistance and flow downhill as quickly as possible. That downhill path can be in any direction including north, south, east, west, and every direction in between. The most famous and longest river in the world runs north through 11 countries–The Nile.

This last section of CO-149 is about rock formations, ranches, and Lake Fork’s canyons. Over the road’s remaining 45 miles we will travel down about 1,140 feet. Let’s go!

MORE BEAUTY AHEAD . . .