Colorado - 2017 Part 5

Great Sand Dune National Park

Day 14-16 – 10/4/2017 – 10/6/2017

Along NFS Road 667, East of Pagosa Springs, CO

San Juan River, along NFS Road 667.  We were provided information on Quartz Meadow by Durango.  Unfortunately Colorado had had lots of rain turning the NFS road into a muddy mess.  It was washboard with pot holes and several areas appeared to have been repaired by grading and it was nothing but mud and rocks.  We had to use 4 wheel low.  After the turn-off for Quartz Meadow we were stopped at a San Juan River crossing that was 3' - 4' deep and moving at better than 2,400 cubic feet per second.  We were forced to back out and head back the way we came.  We found a dispersed site for the night along the river.  What had been planned as 2 days of fishing ended up being one night and an early morning departure.  More rain was forecast and we need sun for solar.  Next time we will try again.

Falls along the San Juan byway

San Juan River

San Juan River

Sand Dunes & Sangre De Cristo Mountains

Cave to Zapata Falls.  You had to drive approximately 3 miles up to the base of the mountains and then hike a quarter of a mile to the mountain stream.  Once there you had to walk in the cold fast moving water 200 feet upstream and make your way into the cave.  At the back of the cave were the falls.

The trail to the falls

Sunset over the Dunes

Pork Chops for dinner

Harvest Full moon setting over the Dunes

U.S. Highway 50 along the Arkansas River Canyon on our way home

We made it to Dodge City, KS were we stayed at the Gunsmoke RV Campground.  Pretty noisy with the train horns, traffic, barking dogs on the farm, and other farm animals.  From there we drove to Eldon Hazlet State Park in Illinois.  No office open, and the host was closed for the day so we had a free night. We were gone for eighteen (18) days and drove over 4,000 miles during our trip.  We had temperatures in the mid 90's for the first two days and a drop of 50 degrees when we arrive at Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a great trip and we are looking forward to a return to Colorado in the near future.