Impromptu Autumn Camping Trip - Fourmile Travel Management Area

One of the best things about living in the mountains of Colorado is the ability to throw some gear in the back of the car and go camping pretty much whenever you want. So, the other afternoon, in spite of the fact that we both had to work the next day, the other half and I did just that. 

The first stop on our little trip was at the old railroad tunnels just north of Buena Vista.

"Both the Rio Grande and the Midland followed the course of the Arkansas north of town. Since the Rio Grande had arrived first, it's roadbed was situated on the banks of the river, at one point above Buena Vista in a very narrow section of valley. When the Midland arrived, it had no choice but to dig into the hillside through a series of short tunnels until the valley opened up. It's been said that this location was the only spot in the country where one train could be in 4 tunnels at once." -http://www.narrowgauge.org/ncmap/jerry/buena_vista.html

Obligatory Bumblebee picture

The tunnels can be found by heading East on Main St. in Buena Vista, turning left on Colorado Ave. (which will turn into County Road 371), and driving about 4.5 miles.

From there we drove into the Fourmile Travel Management Area to find a camping spot.

"The Fourmile Travel Management Area is located in northern Chaffee County and consists of 100,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands. The area offers an incredible variety of recreational activities from ATV and motorcycle riding to hiking, biking and horseback riding." - http://www.fs.usda.gov

After driving probably about 10(ish) miles through Fourmile, we found a perfect spot to camp, a little meadow in the middle of an aspen grove right next to Fourmile Creek. The perfect place to get an amazing view of the changing leaves and a gorgeous sunset.

Fourmile Creek

Now is probably a good time to mention that as it was a gorgeous day and the next day was supposed to be just as gorgeous, so the other half thought it would be a good night to sleep under the stars and that we didn't need a tent, while I disagreed, off we went with just our air mattress and a bunch of blankets.

After setting up camp we did a little wandering around near the creek.

Cautiously crossing the log 'bridge' over Fourmile Creek

Siggers couldn't quite figure out how to cross the 'bridge'

Even with help from daddy, he couldn't quite get it

After that we spent a quiet evening grilling some hot dogs and having a few drinks around the campfire.

Eventually we headed to our cozy little air mattress bed, which I will admit was a great place to star gaze and even see half a dozen or so shooting stars. Even sans tent it was pretty comfortable with 2 down comforters and a pile of blankets, up until pre-dawn when EVERYTHING got drenched with dew. Waking up soaking and cold is never any fun! After turning on the heat in Bumblebee to warm up and putting on some dry clothes the sun finally decided to come up and warm things up a little bit.

Sunrise (on a side note, that tree totally looked like bigfoot in the dark)

Another bonus to the 'close to home' camping trip is that after packing everything up it was just a short drive home where I could take a HOT shower before heading to work. And the other half has been informed that next camping trip either the tent is coming with us or I'll be sleeping in the back of Bumblebee with the dog (who was smart enough to 'seek shelter' when it got dark and slept in the car). Apart from almost freezing to death it was a great getaway right in our backyard, and made an entertaining story to tell our friends. It's always the worst planned trips that leave you with the most memorable moments.

End of Summer Road Trip 2014 (part 3)

Read End of Summer Road Trip 2014 (part 1) HERE

Read End of Summer Road Trip 2014 (part 2) HERE

When I left you last, my friend "A" and I were leaving San Luis, CO on a mission to get to the next place on my Road Trip Bucket List. (this post may be a bit scarce on pics as my phone was trying to die and my car charger was charging slower that... something really slow)

So, from San Luis, we headed over La Veta Pass, unbeknownst to me, he had a 'short cut' in mind... so we turned off on Old La Veta Pass, a dirt road that was supposed to be faster... note I said 'supposed to be'... It was supposed to be shorter (and still may have been a bit shorter) but as it turned out one of the dirt road short cuts had since been closed, I guess it had been a while since he'd been that way. 

Eventually, after having to backtrack a bit we ended up in Westcliffe, CO. In Westcliffe I finally had enough phone service to access my map app and get a sense of where I was, made my life complete! 

Finally though, we made it to the destination I had been wanting to go to for years!

Bishop Castle, I had wanted to visit here for so long, and then just a few weeks before, my dad and a bunch of his friends had gone on a motorcycle trip here. so obviously when 'A' suggested that we head this way I was definitely gonna say yes (even if it did take me out of my 'I know what I'm doing' comfort zone) and just looking up gave me vertigo.

Honestly, I just wanted to see Bishop Castle, I never cared if I got much closer than this! I am TERRIFIED of heights, I got vertigo just looking at it from here. 'A' was determined to get me to climb it, and despite the sheer terror, I decided to think of maybe getting a little closer.....

I made it up to the first level, YAY ME! And made it to the cathedral area; making it to this level wasn't that bad, the stairs were concrete and as long as I didn't look side to side much it was OK (also I pretty much ran up the stairs and didn't have time to look). From there, 'A' pretty much had to force me to the next level, the stairs were in one of the enclosed turret (even though there were gaps between the steps), but honestly after that I WAS DONE!!! 

Yep, that is officially as far as I could get, no matter how many times 'A' tried to encourage me, I was almost petrified at this point. And then I looked up... that bridge moves when people walk on it! Nope. DOWN! 'A' tried to assure me that it was safe, he tried to assure me that I was only afraid of falling, and that I wouldn't; not helpful. Which led to my famous quote... "No, I'm not afraid of falling, I AM afraid of landing." to which a big, bad-ass biker guy told me 'fuck yeah!'

 

Despite 'A's' offer to go to the top and take pictures for me, so I could say I went that far. I am 100% OK admitting that I wussed out, but I did the best I could! No matter how scared I was (and I will honestly admit that that is probably the most scared I have ever been!!!), that is me being honest and me being me!

Jim Bishop has been known for his legal battles with the government about illegal signs he had, which have since been resolved... 

However his anti-government signs can still be found throughout the location.

End of Summer Road Trip 2014 (part 2)

Read 'End of Summer Road Trip (part 1)' here

After the night of camping at the UFO Watchtower and saying goodbye to my little blue alien friend, it was time to work on checking another location off of my road trip bucket list (much like the rest of this trip, an impromptu decision), and make a few other detours along the way.

View of the Sand Dunes

The first stop of the day was in Blanca, CO which not-so-surprisingly is located at the base of Mount Blanca (the 4th highest mountain in Colorado). Blanca has about a 2 block 'downtown' area with a few shops and a park. After stopping for an energy drink fix at the little convenience store my friend through a zigzag of dirt roads that I couldn't navigate again if my life depended on it, the 'scenic' route to San Luis. He used to live there and wanted to show me where he had lived.

Mount Blanca

After the adventure of zigzagging through the middle of nowhere, we eventually ended up in San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado. San Luis is slightly larger than Blanca, but is still less than 1,000 people. 

Sangre De Cristo Catholic Church

San Luis, CO

I'll be honest, at this point I wasn't feeling much like exploring, I just wanted to get back on the road, the control freak part of me was also having a bit of a panic moment having to depend on someone else (who since he had lived in the area was very familiar with where we were going) and having no personal sense of reference to where I was. *note to self: get a real map, like the kind on paper, because google maps apps won't work when you have no cell phone service* So after stretching and letting the dogs out to stretch, we hopped back in the car to finish the trip to my next bucket list location.

To be continued...

End of Summer Road Trip 2014 (part 1)

As summer is winding down quickly here in Colorado, it was about time for me to cross a couple of items off of my road trip bucket list. So, after a night of drunken planning (or a lack thereof) one of my friends and I packed some camping gear and the dogs in the back of my little yellow Subaru AKA Bumblebee and headed off towards the San Luis Valley.

I know it sounds odd, but I have wanted to camp at the UFO Watchtower for a really, really, really long time. For anyone not familiar with the UFO Watchtower:

"Have you ever wondered what a real UFO looks like? Have you ever wondered if there is life on other planets? Judy Messoline of Hooper, Colorado, has wondered the same thing.
Judy's favorite TV shows were "Sightings" & "X~Files". After watching show after show, she realized she was hearing things like "GREAT SAND DUNES" & "SAN LUIS VALLEY" on many episodes of these programs. With this in mind, Judy had an idea! She has created the first (that I am aware of) UFO WatchTower®" - http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ 

 San Luis Valley

Entrance to the UFO Watchtower

After arriving at the UFO Watchtower we spent a little time wandering around the, for the lack of a better word, alien garden and the gift shop; and even bought myself and the other half T-shirts as he was stuck working and couldn't get away.

As you can tell, the store hours are a little hit or miss 

They use the word 'tower' pretty loosely! 

360 View of the UFO Watchtower and "Alien Garden"

I have always just though of the UFO Watchtower as one of those 'too weird to pass up' places and was determined to camp there at some point in life. Of course I didn't go there expecting much of anything besides a desolate campground in the middle of nowhere with amazing views (and a touristy gimmick) and the ability to tell people that I had camped at the UFO Watchtower, and it was everything that I had hoped for.

After unloading Bumblebee, setting up camp and finding out that the batteries to the air pump for the mattress were dead we set off the the one gas station in about a 30 mile radius in the actual town of Hooper. Since the town of Hooper basically consists of this gas station, they have no problem charging you $15 for 4 C batteries! After that adventure enjoying some beer and an amazing sunset was definitely in order. And, if you're more the weed type (since it's legal here in Colorado) about 10-15 miles north of the Watchtower there is a random dispensary sitting in the middle of nowhere, welcome to Colorado!

UFO Watchtower at Sunset (John Denver - Country Roads 

is just what happened to be playing in the background 

when I took the video)

The pictures don't even come close to doing that sunset justice! Of course after the sun goes down, it starts to get cold fast and no camping trip is complete without a campfire.

I will mention that even after spending a good part of the evening sitting on the 'observation deck' of the 'tower', there was absolutely no sign of a single UFO (not that I thought that there would be); however if you take video in the dark of the cars on the highway in the distance it does kind of look like UFOs. 

So, if you're ever looking for something odd and random to do in Colorado, it's well worth the $10 to camp there just for the reactions you will get when you tell people that you spent a night there.

To be continued...