Scenes from Colorado

 

"It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen." 

 

So said a guy with a huge telephoto lens as we stopped at an overlook on a Colorado highway. He was referring to a lake just a little ways down the road.  So I took my little Nikon, hopped back in the car and took his advice. I was glad we did.

Just a few miles down the road was Trout Lake. It was an unscheduled - but beautiful - stop as we traveled between Mesa Verde National Park and Montrose, Colorado. The sun wasn't in an ideal spot for photos. But it was beautiful anyway.

Trout Lake is operated by the Public Service of Colorado as part of the historic Ames Hydroelectric Development. Trout Lake Recreation Area is open to the public for day use from "ice out" to October 31.

That other photographer knew what he was talking about. Another internet site says "Trout Lake is one of the most photogenic spots along Lizard Head Pass, the mountain route connecting Rico and Telluride, Colorado."

Of course, I also finagled some earlier photo stops from my chauffeur. 

One of the stops was Lizard Head Pass. The sign said that elevation was 13,113 feet. No wonder it was so chilly, and there was some ice on water.

 

Along the route, I could glimpse the river from the road and wanted a stop that also showed some fall color. Mission accomplished. 

This was another random stop along a road near Cimarron, Colorado. (At least, that's what my phone says.)

While we were past the peak color for aspens, an early stop in the trip helped satisfy my desire to find a few iconic Colorado aspens still dressed in their fall finery.

These were taken at Conejos Canyon. 

 A stay in Salida offered beautiful fall scenes along the Arkansas River. 

The water in the Arkansas River in Colorado seemed more plentiful than in Kansas. In fact, there have been lawsuits between the two states, with Kansas contending that Colorado took more than its "fair share." 

 All the rain that fell before our arrival in Colorado probably helped the river's flow as well. 

  We were there on the perfect fall afternoon.

Originally founded in the 1800s, Salida was a stagecoach stop and later became a stopover on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Salida's downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.  

 

We enjoyed the art galleries and the unique stores in downtown Salida.

Salida is a premier destination for trout fishing, with sections designated as "Gold Medal" water, meaning they are in the top 10 percent of all Colorado rivers for fish size and quantity. We saw a fisherman trying his luck. 

Randy got to eat his second meal of trout during our Colorado trip and watch the fisherman's progress at the same time. 

 

More from our trip the next time. 

Plans Off a Cliff? Mesa Verde

  

Best laid plans: They don't always come to fruition. 

Three years ago, we visited Mesa Verde during our retirement trip. As I wrote then, Randy has a fascination with Mesa Verde, likely fueled by his second grade teacher, Laurabel Simpson. Even though it's been nearly 60 years, Randy still remembers Mrs. Simpson telling his class about her trip to Mesa Verde. 

When we were there in 2022, he didn't get a chance to get a closer look at the cliff dwellings. So, for this trip, he had booked a guided tour. However, the government shutdown also shut down his chance. 

Nestled in the heart of Southwest Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its ancient cliff dwellings, archaeological treasures and high-desert landscapes. Home to the Ancestral Puebloans for more than 700 years, the park offers a mix of cultural history and scenic beauty.  Established in 1906, Mesa Verde National Park was the first U.S. national park created to preserve cultural heritage. It protects nearly 5,000 archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings built by the Ancestral Puebloan people between 600 and 1300 CE. Unfortunately, those cliff dwellings were off limits during the government shutdown.

 

Randy was disappointed that he wouldn't get the up close and personal look. But we were thankful we were still able to stay at the Far View Lodge located inside Mesa Verde National Park. It's not run by the government; rather, it's operated by an independent company.  

 

Their restaurant was also open, though we were nearing the end of the season for both the lodging and the food service. 

The Far View Lodge offered a sunset and sunrise view of Mesa Verde from our balcony. We got there soon enough to enjoy the view.

Far View Lodge is the only lodging within Mesa Verde National Park and sits on a high shoulder offering panoramic views and wildlife watching, according to their publicity materials. However, we didn't see any wildlife. The lodge has 150 rooms.

 

I read my book and drank coffee on the balcony while we waited for sunset, snuggling up in the blanket during a chilly afternoon. There was no television service at the hotel, but who needs that when you have a view, a book and a balcony?

 

 

 

I probably see more spectacular sunrises and sunsets from my Kansas farm home. But it's not every day that you get to see those two bookends to a day at a National Park. 

 

 

This was taken outside the restaurant while we waited for our table.

 Randy had made reservations in advance at the Metate Room. 

 

We knew it would likely be our most expensive meal on the trip, but it was delicious. 

 

We had the blue corn tortillas and prickly pear margaritas for our appetizer. 

 

I chose the Three Sisters Soup, a harvest soup made with corn, squash, and beans, a Native American staple. I wanted something native to the area. 

My entree was the salmon.

Randy chose the trout, which, I admit, was a more authentic Colorado choice. Both were delicious.

Did we need dessert after that? No, but we ordered churros filled with apple filling and accompanied by ice cream anyway.

 

 

I set the alarm so that we could witness sunrise the next day. 

As we arrived and as we left, we took time to stop at several of the overlooks. 

A traveler in 1892 described a trail on the ridge as the Crinkly Edge Trail. In 1911, the trail became the Knife Edge Road, a new section of the main park road. Two years later, the park built a bypass through Morefield and Prater Canyons. When the first automobile trip was made in 1914, vehicles used the bypass and the Knife Edge Road was soon closed. 

We made the trek on Park Point Trail. The sign said it was a "steep, but short trail." It didn't seem so short. But we made it to Park Point, the highest point in Mesa Verde at 8,572 feet. On a clear day, four states are supposed to be visible from the point - Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. There was also a fire tower there, which is usually staffed during the summer season to watch out for fires. 

The broad Mancos Valley separates Mesa Verde from the mountains to the northeast. These ranges, part of the Rocky Mountains, were uplifted beginning approximately 65 million years ago. Time and water removed rock and sediment between the valley and the nearby mountains. This isolated Mesa Verde and created the steep cliffs and the valley. 

Will Randy ever get his cliff dwellings tour? We'll just have to see. Still, we enjoyed our overnight stay in Mesa Verde.