Rockies Caravan - Part 3 - Alamosa, Durango, Mesa Verde - STR-2021…

Sunday, 22 August

The only thing on today's caravan itinerary was repositioning to Alamosa, CO. Not that there is anything to see or do in Alamosa itself - we think it was just a stop to break up our journey further west.

The route did pass near Great Sand Dunes National Park, which we visited at the end of June. Having visited White Sands National Park (NM), Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (MI), and Silver Lake State Park (MI), visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park a second time in about a month was not interesting to Sprinty.

What was interesting was visiting Zapata Falls, located on Colorado Land Trust land just south of Great Sand Dunes National Park. We left Cañon City at 8am, which is almost a late start for us normally, but earlier than the rest of the group. We stopped in Salida for groceries and diesel.

The reviews mentioned the 3-mile gravel road to access, but as is often the case, the trail review description was only partially helpful. We turned off the paved highway onto the gravel road, and the gravel road started up. And kept going up. And up. It climbed over 1,200 feet in elevation in the three miles we drove to the trailhead.

Sprinty was able to drive 12-15 mph in some sections without too much rocking, rolling, and things jumping out of locked cabinets. One section about 1/2 mile long was so rocky and bumpy, Sprinty crawled at 4-5mph. And once we got parked at the trailhead, we had some cleaning up to do. Sprinty was a trooper - handled the gravel road like a champ without even a whimper.

From the trailhead, you could see Great Sand Dunes National Park in the distance.

The trail was a wide gravel path that climbed another 200 feet to the creek about 0.4 miles from the trail head.

When we got to the creek, a sign described the story of Zapata Falls. 

"Beginning about 2 million years ago, alpine glaciers inched down the steep slopes of the Sangre de Christo mountains. The wooded ridge to your right is a moraine – a huge rock pile deposited thousands of years by a glacier.

Water flowing from the glacier and snowfields in the valley above found a weak spot near the end of this moraine. For thousands of years water has carved car its path here, forming Zapata Falls"

Once we got to the creek, we worked our way towards the falls, and had to cross the stream five times. The water was cold cold - likely around 40 degrees.

The falls were tucked in the end of the rock wall canyon - reminding us of Box Canyon falls in Ourey, CO, only smaller. The area to get pictures without wading waist deep in the water was very small, so everyone took turns getting their pictures. With the temperature of the water, no one was swimming in the small pool at the base of the falls.

Here is a photo of the folks walking towards the base of the falls. The falls were quite popular - there was a steady stream of people walking in the creek.

Afterwards, we enjoyed our lunch beside the stream, watching the flowing water and the people.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Driving down was easier than going up - Sprinty made his way slowly down the hill in 1st gear.

Returning to the highway, we made our way to Alamosa. Arriving in the early afternoon, we decided to take a short hike on the Twin Peaks Trail, which ran along the Rio Grande River on one side and the Cattails Golf Course on the other side. We enjoyed a nice 2-mile walk.

Our campground for the night was the Cool Sunshine RV Park in Alamosa, CO. A new campground - the facilities were first-rate. And very near the historic downtown such that people could walk to nearby restaurants.

Monday, 23 August

The only thing on today's caravan itinerary was repositioning to Mancos, CO. So we added a little adventure by stopping in Pagosa Springs, CO to play golf.

On the way to Pagosa Springs, we drove over Wolf Creek Pass/Continental Divide, elevation 10,856 feet.

Going up, east to west, was much tamer than going down with steep grades and hairpin turns.

Golf today was at Pagosa Springs Golf Club. The golf course has 27 holes - three 9-hole courses. Today's normal rotation was Piñon- Ponderosa.

We arrived early, over an hour before our tee time. We got range balls to hit before our tee time, however, when Kris checked in with the starter, he offered for us to go right away on the back-nine, Ponderosa. So off we went without hitting a single ball from the bucket of range balls we had just purchased. We played the nine holes very close. Hole 7 was special - Darrell (H) came over just as we were departing. He wanted to stir up the play today, so he handed over a dollar and said it was for who ever won the 7th hole. We both hit mediocre tee shots and both made bogey to tie that hole. And we made the turn tied up.

We played the first nine at our pace. The starter seemed surprised we were ready to make the turn, and sent us off on the Meadows course. Back nine Darrell showed up today, and Darrell started picking up strokes to take honors on the day. We enjoyed the course, and would definitely play again. And again. The scenery was also beautiful.

After a quick stop at the City Market, the only Starbucks in Pagosa Springs, we continued west to Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde Resort, just west of Mancos, CO, right across the highway from Mesa Verde National Park. Our caravan organizers put on a pizza dinner that was not on the original itinerary.

After dinner, Darrell (H), Brenda, Kris and Darrell (VH) took a stroll through the campground. As the sun was setting, we enjoyed a beautiful view of the butte across the highway at Mesa Verde National Park in the evening light.

Tuesday, 24 August

An early start today to depart the campground at 7am to drive back to Durango for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train trip from Durango to Silverton. We took the Silverton Steam Train, which departs Durango at 9am.

Like a family of ducklings, some 15 vehicles (we rode with Darrell (H) and Brenda in their Toad) caravanned the hour drive to Durango. After some confusion about parking and the tickets, we got boarded on the train and were on our way.

The 45-mile trip takes 3 hours and 15 minutes including stops for water, passengers and the hitching/unhitching of the second engine needed for the steep grades. The train uses 10,000 gallons of water for the round trip. The trip climbs about 3,000 feet in elevation to Silverton.

The trip provides stunning scenery on both sides of the train. We enjoyed mountains, the Animas River Gorge, the iconic Horseshoe Curve, 

Horseshoe Curve

High Bridge

Animas River

The rail "station" in Silverton doubles as a road when the train is not in.

Bob, a motorcycle friend of Darrell and Brenda's, drove down from Montrose, CO, to join us for lunch. The original plan was to eat at the Handlebars Food and Saloon. However they were closed on Tuesdays - a sign on the door suggested that the schedule was due to staffing issues - a situation we are seeing more and more frequently.

We chose a different restaurant and enjoyed getting to know Bob - he is a train fan, and is a most interesting person to meet. After lunch, he gave us a driving tour of the town of Silverton. He pointed out Otto Mears house, a famous Colorado railroad builder and entrepreneur who played a major role in the early development of southwestern Colorado. Mears was known as the "Pathfinder of the San Juans" because of his road and railroad building projects through Colorado's San Juan Mountains in the late 19th century. He built hundreds of miles of toll roads in the rough terrain of the young state of Colorado, notably the Million Dollar Highway over Red Mountain Pass, connecting Silverton to Ouray.

We stopped at the Visitor Center and enjoyed a number of the exhibits about the town of Silverton.

For the trip back, the train actually turns around, so by sitting on the same side of the train, you get a different view of the scenery from the morning trip.

In the magazine "All Aboard", the official magazine of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, there was a page devoted to frequently asked questions. One of the more interesting questions and answers was, why is narrow gauge used?

"Actually, General Palmer implemented narrow gauge and narrow passenger cars because he wanted to prevent men and women from being able to sleep in the same bed on the train (the narrow passenger cars only have room for single sleeper bunks on each side). These cars are also less expensive and easier to bring through the rough mountain terrain, so they became popular. The rails were also less expensive to install (it's easier to blast out a narrower track on the side of a mountain) and can make steeper curves around mountains."

Another interesting question was, how fast does the train go?

"18 mph is top speed, certainly not average speed as the high line is done at five mph."

The train arrived back in Durango about 6:15pm. We elected to have dinner in town at a Mexican restaurant. It was 9pm by the time we got back to the campground.

Wednesday, 25 August

The caravan itinerary was a free day to explore. We checked for Ranger-assisted tours at Mesa Verde National Park a few days ago, and purchased 11am tickets for the Long House tour via Recreation.gov. Based on the suggested times to drive to the Wetherill Mesa parking area and hike to the tour start point, we departed the campground at 8:30. We soon realized the Park recommended times were conservative, so we enjoyed some stops enroute.

Park Point Overlook

Mesa Verde National park was established in 1906 to preserve and interpret the archaeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from 600 to 1300 CE. Today, the park protects nearly 5,000 known archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.

Located on Wetherill Mesa, Long House tours offer visitors an opportunity to enjoy the quieter side of Mesa Verde.

Long House is the second-largest cliff dwelling in the park, with about 150 rooms and 21 kivas. The dwelling includes a large dance plaza resembling ceremonial plazas used in modern Pueblo villages today. About 100 to 150 people may have lived in Long House during the mid 1200's.

The 60-minute, ranger-assisted tour involved hiking 2.25 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of about 130 feet and climbing two 15-foot ladders within the site.

Before we set off down the trail to Long House, Ranger David provided some instructions. He is half Lakota, and has been working at Mesa Verde for 25 years.

The first ranger on site, Ranger Luann, provided some more info on Long House and reminded everyone to not touch or bump against any of the rock to prevent damage from skin oils, sunscreen, etc. She also reminded us there was no eating or drinking (except water) permitted in the ruins.

We climbed up the ladder to reach the main level.

Two other rangers provided further insights to the cliff dwelling and the people who built it. Long House is one of the 600 cliff dwellings in the park - only a handful are visible, and Long House is the only cliff dwelling you can walk behind. The back of the cliff dwelling was a water source as water seeped through the sandstone, encountered the shale layer, and seeped out onto the cliff that formed the base of the cliff dwellings. So the cliff dwelling in Long House was not built to the back wall as in other cliff dwellings, as that would have blocked access to the water.

After completing our Long House tour, we continued to Spruce Tree Terrace, enjoying our lunch at the picnic area.

We had hoped to take the trail to Spruce Tree House, a self-guided tour. Unfortunately, the trail was closed due to a rock slide, so we had to see Spruce Tree House from the overlook.

Spruce Tree House

At another Ranger's suggestion, we went to see the Square Tower House, located on Mesa Top Loop.

Square Tower House

We also stopped at a couple of the pit houses along Mesa Tower House.

The Cliff Palace Loop was also closed for road work, so we could not get close to Balcony House or Cliff Palace.

All in all, a full, fun day exploring Mesa Verde National Park. Both of us agreed, we saw more than we did in March 2017 when we visited for the day. A good example of "the more you know, the more you see." It also helped to do the Ranger-led tour. In early March 2017, the Ranger-led tours had not yet started for the season.