Colorado - Ouray, Durango, Alamoso Sand Dunes

---

10-5-07
I slept pretty good and got up to use their wifi for awhile before leaving. Mr Coole is a computer science guy, but is working on bikes currently. I think that is cool that he is doing something that he really enjoys. Not many people can say that. Good for him. He was actually leaving as well and I offered to take him to the bus station which he agreed to but then after researching things a little more realized it really was not much advantage to do that so he was just going to lock his bike up and have his wife pick it up. I finally left about 10:00 AM and was off to try and find some horses.

I went to the BLM building and talked to the lady there for awhile. She was very helpful and said I have to go the Glen Canyon area. I was a little tired and was ready to give up on going there since it was a little far out of my way. I wish I would have went there yesterday, but you can not turn the clock back on your life as the reader knows all so well I am sure. She emphasized I may or may not see the horses. I told her the route I planned to take and she said sometimes people see them there sometimes they do not. I realized this was a wild goose chase, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

On my way to see the horses I stopped and had a burger for lunch. The drive to the land with the horses was about 30 minutes. I was a little confused by the directions so I stopped and ask some folks at a fruit stand type area. They were really nice and actually gave me a couple apples that they were sorting. Very nice gesture.

I drove up this huge canyon and after about 15 minutes made it to where I assumed you access the area with the horses. My truck was the only vehicle there and I was a little concerned that I might get it broken into. Well there are certain inherent risk a person takes each day so I thought what are you going to do. I am most concerned about getting my computer stolen as I have so many memories there with the pictures and journaling. They can steal the truck, but please do not take my computer.

I began the hike and this is an amazing huge canyon. There were some thunder heads in the distance and it appeared they were headed in my direction and I was about to head back to the truck but decided to press on deeper into the canyon. I scanned the sides of the Canyon but were not seeing any horses. I walked about 1.5 hours up that Canyon and I kept thinking just around the corner those horses are probably hanging out, but no dice. Finally, I gave up and headed back. I made a good effort but knew going into this there was a good chance I would not find these horses.

Upon getting back I saw a car at the gate that was not there before. I thought this was a good sign with regards to my truck still being there and indeed it was still there. For some reason I worried more about my truck getting broken into here more than in other places. It indeed was fine I jumped in and got back on the road. I stopped at the fruit stand and grabbed a soda. I thought giving them my business was the least I could do as they were so nice to me earlier expecting absolutely nothing. I told them no horses today. They said sometimes people see them sometimes they do not.

I got back on the road and drove about 40 minutes before making it to Glen Canyon or the Colorado National Monument. I saw the Dinosaur museum again that I tried to get into the day before, but couldn’t because it was closed. This is dinosaur country. The dinosaurs use to hang out all over the Colorado Plateau it appears as a large portion of this was under water and then as the waters receded I guess the dinosaurs use to be here looking for lunch. Man I wish I understood what happened to those creatures. That still amazes me that no one really knows what happened to them.

As I drove to the park entrance I still was not impressed with the park. I was wondering why am I taking up this much time to go to this park. I have seen lots of parks already. I drove up the canyon wondering why am I doing this. I listened to a political talk show as that keeps me interested alert if I am a little tired as I was after that long hike an hour earlier. The view became amazing the farther I went up. I was floored by the beauty. I pulled over to take a picture and met a lady from St. Louis. She was traveling with a kayak on the front of the rv and appeared to be traveling by herself. She seemed to want to talk but I was really wanting to keep moving so after a few insignificant comments I wished her the best and jumped in my truck and kept on trucking. This place was really blowing me away and I was pleasantly surprised. I was glad I came. I stopped and got pictures in several locations. Do not think any of these pictures would make the top 100 on this trip but man it is neat to see in person. Huge clouds were present that really enhanced the distant beauty. It took me about an hour to drive through the park and really I think that is probably enough time to see the main things in this Park. I plugged in my destination and Microsoft Mary barked out the directions.

I was wanting to camp somewhere near Ouray which they describe as being Little Switzerland. I stopped and grabbed some supper and gas on the way. I pulled into a gas station that was a club like thing. I ask the lady if anybody can get gas here and she said sure but you pay more if you do not have a card. She ask if I had a card and I told her no and she said I could use hers which I did. Another nice gesture. Americans are nice people. No doubt about it.

Just outside of Ouray I found a campsite and pulled in there for the night. There was an entrance fee and a camping fee and you had to pay both fees to camp. There are lakes all around this area and that is mainly what the fee is for is to use the lake. It is an incredibly nice campsite with great view of Ouray or Little Italy but it was costing me around $20 a night because of the user fee. I was tempted to try and play stupid and just pay the camping fee but the people made it so clear that that is how it worked that even a dumb guy like me could not even be that dumb so I paid the entire fee. I did get by cheaper by taking a tent sire even though I was not putting a tent up which I think is fine. I essentially paid over $20 for this campsite. It was right at sunset and I took a couple pictures of Little Ouray in the distance and it indeed is quite impressive. It did indeed remind me of the Alps that I saw in Switzerland just to a lesser scale.

They had showers at this park, but you had to pay for them so I decided to not shower. It was pretty cold and the wind was really whipping. The fact that my camping spot was on this high point made the wind conditions even worse. I typed for awhile and then called it a night. Another long day in the bag and I was all tuckered out. A phrase that I feel should be more common in the English language. It just seems wholesome and right although a little Country I must admit, which is not a bad thing is it? Depends on the person I guess. Good night from a location near Ouray, Colorado. Jim was right again. This is a beautiful place. Damn he is good!

10-6-07
I didn’t sleep real good as the wind was howling all night long. At times it felt like the truck was going to move. It had gotten cold as well but it seemed putting that wool blanket on top of the air mattress seems to help in keeping warm. I guess there is a lot of cold coming from that air mattress. I got going after a quick breakfast. The oatmeal seemed a little bland. I pulled my truck to an rv spot to cook the breakfast otherwise I would have had to walk my gear to the tent site. Some park staff came by but didn’t say anything to me as I was cooking my breakfast in another campsite. There were very view people camping here since it is late in the season.

I headed out and drove closer to Ouray or Little Switzerland as they call it. I pulled into a side road that appeared to go up on a mountain that would result in a great view of the mountains around Ouray. There were a view trees that were really bright yellow on the mountain side that I thought would make for a good picture. It appeared to be a grove of trees that I assume were some kind of aspen or birch. I never felt like I ever got a real good photo of that area from where I tried. I got back on the road and stopped at a gas station and talked to the workers there about taking the train from Durango to Silverton. They actually made a few calls for me. It appears this train ride was predominantly geared for folks to take it from Durango to Silverton not the reverse direction as I wanted to. It would do just that then I was on my own to find a ride back to Silverton. I decided I would just drive this area and see if I felt I needed to take the train to get the full effect or if the drive would suffice. I made it to Ouray and it indeed made me feel like I was back in Switzerland. I saw a motel named the Matterhorn which is the famous mountain in the Swiss Alps. I saw the word chalet mentioned in a store name or two. I was impressed with the place. I pulled into a motel parking lot and used there wifi for a little while and then got back on the road.

The road out of Ouray was very winding and it was spitting snow. Man I had not seen snow in a long time. I love snow as for me it is really exhilarating. I felt energized. In one location you could see a chute coming down the mountain side which appeared to be from some old mining operation that had long since been abandoned. I tried a couple pictures in a few locations, but I suspect none turned out that well.

The first town I came upon was Silverton. It was a neat mountain town that appeared maybe had it’s hay day a few decades earlier due to mining operations. I kind of skirted the outside of the town mainly and got some great views of the town as I drove up the mountain side. The snow was coming down a little harder here and I called mom and Katie to let her know that it was snowing where I was at. She was busy working on a wedding cake so I kept the conversation very brief and Katie was busy as well. I saw a sign that said Silverton Gunslingers who sponsored a section of road.

Jim Keeton was right again this was a great time to be in driving in this area as the trees were beautiful. I took a few pictures, one of which I thought would be great. It seems these days the main thing that gives me a sense of accomplishment is getting good pictures.

I continued driving towards Durango and saw several signs that indicated Hot Springs. I stopped at one, but realized I would not be willing to spend the money to go to one so I just drove on. I saw a Hot Spring right by the roadside that was really impressive. I am not sure of the temperature but imagine it to be around 75 deg.

I kept on trucking and made it into Durango. I checked around for lodging, but they had some kind of rodeo event in town and a lot of the places were booked or too expensive. I was wanting to drive to Mesa Verde, which has Anastazia (sp) Indian ruins, but I had seen some already in Navajo National Monument so decided to just keep on trucking east rather than spend and hour or so driving west to see these ruins. I stopped at a McDonalds to have lunch. As I got back on the road I took a wrong turn and encountered a sign that said welcome to New Mexico. Oops. I had been on the road for about 20 minutes. I was tempted to just keep driving to Albuquerque as they were having hot air balloon races there, but felt like I need to get back to Batchtown as I had lots of planning to do for my next trip. I got back where I needed to be and was headed towards Alamosa sand dunes in south eastern Colorado. Another suggested stop of Jim Keeton’s. There were several trout fishing streams in this area of Colorado. This is truly a beautiful state. I kept my eyes peeled for lodging, but was not finding any.

I made it into Alamosa and checked the motel prices there, but it was high around $80. I drove down the road and found a place around $40 which I could swing but they had no internet access. I decided to just head up to the Alamosa Sand Dunes. I knew it was going to be cold up there though and didn’t feel like struggling through a really cold night. Not sure what I was going to do about that so I continued on. As I approached the sand dunes it was like a Mont St. Michel experience. I was like that is not supposed to be there. It looked like a desert pushed up against the base of a mountain range. I learned later that the sand dunes is 40 miles X 40 miles in area. Very impressive. I pulled in and got my camp site setup. I saw lots of bear warning signs and they had bear boxes. I really didn’t want to have to worry about bears either like in Sequoia but that was the hand I was dealt. The wind was really whipping and I felt like the campsite I had selected was a little exposed but what was I going to do? As much wind as there was around here tonight you were going to be exposed everywhere.

I got some supper going and talked to a guy that was camping near me. He was from Boulder, CO and was very interesting to talk to. He was into Buddhism and him and his girlfriend were expecting a kid. His girlfriend and their dog headed to the sand dunes while we stood there and talked. I told him yes a lot of religions like Buddhism are really misunderstood in the US at least. Buddhism is just about living the Golden Rule. It is about how you live your life more than the afterworld the way I understand it. People think you area worshipping cows are sacrificing cows are doing something crazy. People just do not understand it nor do I fully. Most people think their religion is right and everyone else is wrong although in a few years their religion will change and their beliefs they hold so closely now, will be different. That’s religion. A good thing generally but sometimes people get extreme with it. I current president is a big religion guy and he takes us to war unneccesarily. That's religious extremism. It got him votes though so that is what is important.

After we talked for a few minutes his tent started blowing away so he went down to catch it. I finished the supper I had made and got things cleaned up and all the food stuff shoved back into the bear box. I got things set up for sleeping in the truck and was soon out for the count. I felt warm for now and was glad I was here camping. Good night from Alamosa Sand Dunes. A very interesting and unique place. I was pleasantly surprised. Jim was right on again.

10-7-07
I got up around 7:30 after a good nights sleep. The wind had subsided through the night and everything was quite calm. After a breakfast of oatmeal, of course, I headed to the sand dunes. I was going to hike the dunes this morning then head out. I saw the couple I spoke with the previous night already heading to the dunes with their dog. I thought I was a little behind schedule so I hurried a little. I saw quite a few people out on the dunes already. There was a lady riding on the campground’s paved road on unicycle. I have seen a lot on this trip, but I must say this was a first. The road was not flat and she struggled when going uphill which makes since to me. The balancing would be real tricky going uphill I would think.

I headed out to the dunes and as one might imagine when approaching a large object, it seemed to take a longer time to get there than expected. I was concerned that the sand would be very difficult to walk across but it actually was a little crusty on the surface making for easier hiking. I of course was headed towards the highest dune. There were probably 30 other people walking on the dunes and about the same number at the bottom of the dunes milling around. Some folks had sleds out there and were sliding down the dunes on a sled. That looked like fun. When I needed to go down a dune I often would run. I got the sensation almost of weightlessness when running down the dune. It was very cool. Walking up the dunes however was not so much fun and quite frankly I had to stop often. Portions of this hike though were very steep.

I heard off in the distance the sound of Asians hiking and laughing and shutters snapping of course. Those people are every were. They are plotting to take over the world I think. Actually I hear China has a plan to rule the world. I think they probably will. We could stop them or at least slow them down considerably as we are the ones that are making them powerful, but us Americans are too busy living like fat cats to even think about reducing our standard of living for any reason. Whether that is for environmental reasons, are to help stop worldly injustices. Lets buy more things at the cheapest cost that is what we care about. Really all people live that way if they have the means to. The rest of the world wants us to reduce our standard living now that we have worked so hard to get where we are. I too think we need to change some things but it is not easy and will not happen over night. Look at me jet setting all around the world. What a hypocrit I am!

I finally did make it to the dune that I thought was the highest, but after getting there I thought maybe another one might be higher. I didn’t feel too macho so I didn’t need to go to the higher one to prove anything. I was content right where I was at. I was truly amazed at how high these dunes were and how expansive they were for that matter. Truly an impressive place.

I looked for the best route off the dunes, but really did not find any that appeared much better than any other. I proceeded down the dunes and really enjoyed running down the dunes in a couple really steep sections. A few times I had to walk back up dunes and really was struggling up those sections as I was growing a little tired. I think a few people were thinking I was a little weird running on the dunes but I saw a few other people doing the same. I made it back to the bottom of the dunes a lot quicker than the time it took me to get up there. I started feeling rushed again to get home as I had a lot of matters to take care of before I could leave for the round the world portion of this trip. I could do some of this work on the road however if I found a cheap motel that had wifi. After getting to the truck I headed out and decided I needed to stop at the visitor center before exiting the park. I wanted to know for sure what caused these dunes. I discovered the reason was due to the erosion of sand particles out of the mountains then the prevailing winds piled them up on the foothills of the mountain range where the dunes lie. This is the same effect that causes the White Sand Dunes in New Mexico. The guy from Boulder gave me a different reason which seemed a little far-fetched to me and it turns out it was wrong. He talked a lot and I think is the type of person that is really good at talking but maybe a little too lazy to spend the time to really research something. It is just easier to come up with a hypothesis than spend the time researching the real reasons. I do this a little too though. Actually everyone does this to a certain extent. Someone that really knows the details of how these dunes are formed probably would say I really do not know how they are formed either. They guy had mentioned winds were a component which is true but he did not say the sand particles come from the mountains. They came from south of here and were carried long distances by the wind. The only thing he had right was the wind factor. We all have hypocratic tendencies.

I was now ready to make a b-line for B-town also known as Batchtown, USA. There was nothing more I cared to see. Isn’t it funny once a person reaches eastern Colorado the show is over. I drove for about 5 hours and found a reasonable rate on a motel and decided to pitch my tent there for the night. I sent out some emails and did more research for the round the world trip. I spent most of the time on the state department’s website researching the shot and visa requirements. I hit the hay around 11:00. Another good day in the bag. Good night from somewhere in southwestern Kansas. Man it is flat out here. Anywhere a cow pees here the saying peeing on a flat rock comes to mind. I am not a fan of Kansas. It is just in my way to get to the good stuff which begins in Colorado. I am sure there is something good about Kansas. Maybe it is the barbeque in Kansas City? Oh wait that is in Missouri. Maybe it is the amber waves of grain? That is the best I can come up with. It is their wheat.

10-8-07
I was tossing and turning as I slept so around 5:00 AM I decided to just jump in my truck and split this banana a little early. I was not sure if I had a couchsurfing place in Topeka so I considered just driving all the way to St. Louis today.

There is something cool about starting on a trip really early in the morning. It just feels good to me. It actually worked out very well as right when the sun came up on the horizon I turned to the north and had the sun out of my eyes. After an hour or so I was back driving east and now the sun was high enough in the horizon not to effect me. I would liked to think I planned that but I didn’t. I called Mark after a few hours of driving and he had left Btown a little later than expected as he was driving to Denver today. We were going to have lunch or just stop somewhere on the way. It seemed funny to me that we just happened to be on 70 the same day just heading in opposite directions. We agreed we would touch base again in a few hours to check each other’s progress. One time I met a cop and looked down and it appeared I was about 20 mph over the posted speed limit. Damn and he turned his lights on. I did not even have the correct registration sticker on the vehicle. I just knew my stay in Kansas was going to be extended now. I watched the lights in my rearview mirror like a hawk. He sure was not getting into a hurry to catch me. For some reason he never did get very close to me. I am not sure where he was going with his lights on but apparently he was not after me. I went through the standard thought process. Thanks you God I will never betray the posted speed limit again. After saying this over and over for about 60 seconds I was back up to 5 mph over and then 10 mph over. I figured God would understand that speeding through Kansas is ok as driving through this state is Hell. God does not want me in Hell. He wants people to be in Heaven. God wants me to be in Batchtown tonight.

Mark and I called each other periodically during the trip. He seemed to be farther behind than what I expected. We finally appeared to be about 90 minutes separated and I did the math based on the mile marker he gave me to estimate the time we would meet. I was a little confused however at the number he gave me but he insisted that is what the mile marker says. I said ok. After more thought I called him back and said there is something wrong with one of our numbers then finalized we realized Mark was not on I-70 numbering he was on another highway to loop around Kansas City.

We did finally meet and decided not to have lunch, but to stage a photo mainly for the blog. We both put our respective vehicles hoods up as if we both had engine problems at the same time. The blog caption will say something to the effect, what is the likelihood that two people will have engine problems at the same place along I 70 and to find out that they are brothers. We waved goodbye never crossing the highway even. The only verbal communication was a couple sentence yelled across the busy highway. We both had Kansas fever I think. We both wanted to get the hell out of Kansas. You have heard the saying get the hell out of Dodge. Kansas could be substituted in that sentence without any loss of meaning. Man am I ripping on Kansas today.

I was unable to touch base with my potential couchsurfing host so I decided to just keep on keeping on. My right hip was feeling good, which surprised me as usually that thing gives me troubles on long drives and long hikes for that matter. As long as I positioned my leg and hip a little unsquare it seemed to be fine. One of these days I am going to have to get that thing back in alignment. It definitely was not going to be today though. My knee felt fine too, which I thought might give me some problems.

I called and left Travis about staying at Motel T-Bone but after waiting a few hours with no response I decided I better make other arrangements with Katie just in case he had no vacancy. I was going to look into travel vaccinations in St. Louis and learn more about the destinations I was considering. I still had not finalized all my destinations.

I made it into St. Louis around 6:00. I had done great traveling today. The early bird gets the worm. I finally hooked up with Travis and stayed at his place. Katie and I hung out for awhile. It felt comforting to be back in St. Louis although I knew the next couple of weeks were going to fly bye and I would be back on the road soon. Good night from St. Louis, Missouri. Man I have not slept this close to home in a long time.

---

Photos

Abominable Snow Monster
When I was heading home from my Western Adventures my brother was heading to Denver where he leaves. We stopped on Interstate 70 for this picture. He is wearing a hat he bought in Peru over the summer.

Alamosa Sand Dunes
As your driving to these things your asking yourself what are these things doing here? They look really out of place.

Ferne Cliff has Wild horses.
This is a map showing the park with the wild horses.

Hiking Pose
This is me out looking for the wild horses with perfect hiking form!

Canyon Country
The wild horses have to be here somewhere? This place is huge and I walked for 3 hours and never did see any! The park rangers said sometimes you see them sometimes you do not. This place is huge I probably only covered about 1/10th of the area.

Colorado National Monument
I was tempted to skip this park. Man I am glad I didn't as it is really good!

Grand Junction, Colordao
This is one of the few places that I had traveled to where I think I would enjoy living. Not sure if they have a sailing lake though!

On My Way to Ouray, Colorado
They call this place little Switzerland. I can see why!

View from My Campsite
I camped just outside Ouray one night and this is the view I had. Hey here is my sailing lake for Grand Junction which is just down the road!

More Ouray Pictures
Beautiful Place!

Silverton, Colorado
Joe Dirt loved this place. I think it is beautiful as well. Old mining town.

Silverton Gunslingers Association
I laughed when I saw this. Lots of foreign travelers will see something like this and this will be what they will talk about. They will say in America they have these shooting clubs that sponsor stretcches of highway. Theres much more than this in America folks. People really generalize. Some folks are afraid to come to America because of our violence they see on the news. We are the most violent nation I have traveled to.

Hot Springs Near Durango
Lots of hot springs in this area. This one is right by the road.

Oops!
I quickely realized I had take a wrong turn when I saw this sign. I had no plans to go to New Mexico on this leg of the trip.

Alamosa Sand Dunes
From a distance they do not look that big. Isn't it neat how those clouds hug the mountains. The clouds stayed around the mountain tops.

Alamosa Sand Dunes
Those things seem out of place.

Where the Deer and Anterlope Play!
Actually there are lots of bear here as well.

These are Amazing Dunes
The dunes are 30 miles by 30 miles and I estimate to be about 100 yds 0r 100 meters high at the highest point. Very cool.

What is the Chance?
That my brother and I would meet on the highway and break down at the exact same place. No this picture was not staged!

Home Sweet Home
Man I have not seen a sign with this information for a long, long time. It made me feel almost like I was home.

Nightmare
I saw these signs along the interstate near Columbia, Missouri near Mizzou University. I thought I was having a night mare and was happy to get them in my rearview mirror. Spooky!