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This is part three of our trip. Go to The Thursday September 27 posting for the first part of the trip.
Leaving Mount Rushmore we drive to our campsite at the Sylvan Lake campground in Custer State Park. The campground is on the Needles Highway. For those of you unfamiliar with the Needles Highway it is a mostly two lane road winding over, around, and literally through some of the rock formations making up part of Custer State Park.
At times it is a one lane road with visitors taking turns going through tunnels carved through the rock. Last year I carefully measured the width and height of my truck/camper making sure I could get through the tunnels. The smallest one is 8’ 4” wide and around 9’ high. No problem for us; class A and C motorhomes – no way. I am sure I gave the people watching vehicles passing through the tunnel a show being one of the larger vehicles to successfully make the drive.
The ‘needle’ rock formations are something to be seen. The next day we hiked the backside of the same needles on the Little Devil Lookout Tower Trail. The end of the trail is the most exciting part climbing up small crevasses between boulders to make it to the top for the 360° view. Smoke from wildfires keeps getting denser as we continue our hike. It never did clear up for the rest of the day.
After the Needles highway we drive the Iron Road, yet another marvel of engineering. The road has three tunnels and three ‘pigtail’ bridges winding around to change road elevation in a small area. Each of the three tunnels line up with Mount Rushmore so viewing the monument is possible while passing through. Ending the evening we return to Custer State Park driving the Wildlife Road starting around 5 PM hoping to see local wildlife out for their evening meals. Turkeys, and mule deer are the first ones to be seen. Buffalo are what we are hoping for. Several miles go by without seeing anything. Coming around a corner we spot a meadow of huge dark brown boulders moving off in the distance… Buffalo. Off to one side of the buffalo herd are a dozen or so burros, they are neat to see, but the buffalo steal the show. Hundreds are in the first meadow slowly grazing the short grass. A few young ones make a break across the road as we watch. Looking past this meadow we spot a line of cars stopped on another road literally surrounded by buffalo.
Three minutes later we join the line of cars. Buffalo are everywhere; you cannot look around and not see a buffalo. As we sit in line shooting away (our cameras) a large bull stops next to the truck inspecting the front tire on my side of the truck. I think it meets his approval; he nudges the tire, looks around then proceeds to walk around the front of the truck.
20 minutes later we are able to move through the buffalo traffic jam continuing on the Wildlife road back to our campsite. Enroute we see a few more single buffalo but they are not as interesting as being surrounded by a herd of them.
Scale model of the finished sculpture |
Our second destination; Wind Cave NP is just south of Custer State Park. The cave is one of the oldest; the 7th national park overall. Since we are working on our list of national parks we stop to see what it is all about. The cave at this point has over 140 miles of explored passages. All the passages are within a one mile footprint. The cave has several ‘floors’ stacked on top of each other. There are formations here that do not exist anywhere else in the world. One the surface a large tall grass prairie exists. The fall colors of the grasses, trees and late summer wildflowers prompt us to add this NP to our return again list.
Bear Lake RMNP |
The next morning I am Googling ‘propane refilling locations’ finding one about 2 miles away which opens at 800. We are there at 805 getting refilled and back on the road. Before we do, we stop to get Nicida a hot cup of coffee - all is well. Today’s destination is Rock Mountain National Park (RMNP). We are lucky to get in, there was only one site available when I checked the reservation system for the park. Speaking with one of the rangers at the visitor center we find the prime lakes and waterfall to visit within our 4 – 5 mile hiking criteria. Camping at the Moraine campground has the added benefit of being part of the park’s shuttle system. The area gets so filled with people the local parking lots for trail heads are packed by 8 to 9 each morning. The shuttle system takes us to the Bear Lake trail head which is also the trailhead for Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes as well as Alberta Fall. After lunch we look at the mountains seeing the heavy clouds in the area get even heavier. Packing our rain jackets we head out for the shuttle stop. Changing shuttles at the Park and Ride we make it to the Bear Lake Trail head. All the while we ride up to the trail head the cloudy skies start misting then finally raining as we arrive. Each of us make the short walk to Bear Lake but decide it will be better to hike this tomorrow. We see many people returning from their hikes in all stages of wetness. Some were prepared, some we wearing plastic garbage bags, others were soaked; wearing shorts, wet t-shirts and soggy footwear. My concern is what is it doing back at the campsite; we walked about a quarter mile from the campsite to the shuttle stop. My fear is unfounded; the rain diminishes to mist then dry but cloudy conditions as we go down in elevation. A breeze persists all afternoon into the evening so we remain in the camper planning our hikes for the next day deciding to wake at 530 to be at the trailhead in the truck by 7 AM.
Dream Lake RMNP |
Emerald Lake RMNP |
We have the same experience hiking to the Alberta Fall. Many people are on the trail going to see a breathtaking piece of scenery. I brought my tripod so I could shoot a few long exposure images of the falls. This attracts several other people wanting to shoot the same images as I since I was a ‘professional’, I was told. That afternoon we tour through another area of this large park. I know we missed other areas but time and campsite availability limit what we can see. Later we drive to Estes Park for dinner and window shop the quaint shops on main street.
Returning to RMNP we take in a ranger led talk on the elk rut. We learn many details about what is going on during this part of the year. It was fortunate to hear the talk since on the way back to the campground we ran into an elk traffic jam. Scores of empty cars are parked alongside the road and hundreds of people with real cameras, not phones or tablets, are shooting the elk activities.
This is another place where there is lens envy, I am happy with my 400mm zoom until I see people with 800mm lenses mounted on tripods. Rangers have to direct traffic with all the vehicles coming to see what’s going on. Once the sun disappears we decide to return to the campsite for an evening fire and obligatory S’mores.
The next morning we wake to frost on the windshield as we prepare to leave RMNP heading back to NM. We are taking Trail Ridge Road cresting at 12,200’, west out of the park. Every pullout has a spectacular view of the park. Many of the spots are in the tundra, above the tree line, opening up the views in every direction. It also means there is nothing to stop the wind, quite cool when coupled with the low 40 degree temperatures. After crossing the highest pass we descend into the Colorado River valley. There is a noticeable die off of the pine trees due to beetle infestation.
Colorado River valley |
On the way back we stop for lunch in Breckenridge , CO. The area is very green with little pine die back. Much of the town has historical status so the shops all look as they did when first erected. What they sell in not from that time period through; exotic coffees, ATV rentals, brew pubs…
We stop at the O’Haver Lake campground just south of Salida, CO in the Pike and San Isabel National Forest. Almost all the sites are reserved for the weekend. We get the last site as long as we stay for only the one night. The lake is small but that does not stop people and lots of kids from having a fun time fishing and running into the lake after sundown catching crayfish. This is only a stopover for us; the fall colors and the lake are an added bonus. The campground is at 9,200’ so the colors come earlier than at lower elevation. In our minds this is a great stopping point for any trips into CO or beyond.
Our last detour is to go west out of Antonito, CO, following the path of the Cumbres and Toltec train. The mountains glow with yellow and gold leaves. We even catch and photograph one of the steam engines returning to the station in Chama, NM.
The return to Albuquerque reminds us how much we enjoy being away from the big city. Traffic is everywhere; it has not improved since we left. One can always hope.
This was a good trip. Can’t wait for the next one.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
nice pics and writing! Can't wait to see your next trip... :)
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