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Published: June 23rd 2008
Thai Spicy Basil
Not an artsy shot. Lens has sand in it!Bent’s Old Fort, Colorado
The “Wet” Mountains (part of the Sangre de Cristo)
and Great Sand Dunes National Park
June 10 to June 12
We crossed the Colorado border and made our way to Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. This originally-private trading post opened by fur-trading brothers from Louisville was a place that Europeans, Mexicans, Spanish settlers, and Native Americans came to trade, and find respite from the trail. It eventually burned down in somewhat mysterious circumstances, but when it was decided to commemorate it as an historic site, the National Park Service was able to re-build it in the original layout and manner (using adobe bricks) because detailed drawings had been made by an army engineer at the time. He was fascinated by the rounded shapes and the sheer effectiveness of the adobe structure, whose rooms were warmer in winter and cooler in summer than buildings using non-native materials and methods. The introductory film was full of interesting quotations from the letters and diaries of travelers of all stripes who had stopped off there, including some hardy pioneer women, one of whom traveled the entire Santa Fe Trail several times!
The fort was hot and dusty
Shooting Star
Along the Purgatoire River. Max takes great flower photos. - and the temperature became hard to bear as we walked around. As we headed on we drove through a very rural area, but came to the town of Lamar just as we were feeling hungry for lunch. As we drove in I noticed a sign that said “Thai Spicy Basil.” Could this be real? Was it a desert mirage? No, it was a very trendily-decorated Thai restaurant doing a spanking lunchtime business. The food was delicious!
After lunch we strolled across the train tracks to a Colorado Visitor/Information Center, read about the wildlife, picked up some literature and headed on. The plan had been to go toward Walsenburg and onward to Great Sand Dunes NP. It seemed clear that we might not make it all the way before dark. We were filling up with gas and Rollie, having a look at the map, noticed a route more to the south of where we were headed that was marked as a scenic route. “Let’s go that way,” he proposed. I was initially reluctant, but as we studied the map we saw that there were a bunch of National Forest campgrounds marked up in the mountains near a high pass,
and so we decided to aim for one of those.
Following the Purgatoire River, we drove south through hot barren little towns, but eventually began to climb up and up through ranching country. The vegetation changed dramatically to aspen and spruce forest, lush green pastures, lots of small ranches with cattle and some horses. We continued to ascend with the river beside us, and found several private campgrounds, and then the first of the NFS campgrounds marked on the road. Once past the sign the road became washboarded dirt/gravel and we seemed to drive on forever - wondering if the campground truly existed, but eventually, nestled right up next to the bubbling river, there it was, and with a spigot for drinking water and a pit toilet too. We were the only campers. It was dusk, so we hustled to pitch the tent (after the usual turmoil over picking the perfect site - which was originally Rollie’s purview, but more recently at Mesa Verde I took over the reins of being the most picky!) and begin a dinner. It was a bit windy, so we had a lot of discussion of the distance between tent and campfire, but we
had water aplenty, and luckily it all worked out, as the fire in the provided fire ring was very nice to have in the mountainous chill.
The next day after packing up again, we sauntered off on a hike, which I thought was going to be a brief ½ hour foray just to see the lay of the land before we headed out - so only I had water - quickly depleted, and none of us had snacks, although it was close to lunch time. After about an hour it became apparent that Rollie and Max both wanted to get to the end of the trail. The trail was gorgeous - colorful wildflowers everywhere and the gurgling river, lovely birch and aspen forests….just stunning. However, I was tired, thirsty, and Miles was too. Neither of us knew it yet, but we were both being affected by the altitude. Miles hadn’t remembered to take any asthma meds that AM. So we parted ways - Max and Rollie going on and Miles and I turning back. This hike taught us an important lesson - which is to communicate before any hike our expectations of how long we will follow the trail
Top of the Trail
Max and Rollie went to the top and what we might need to bring with us.
Subsequently we have become good at this. I have been slow to acclimate to the heights, (we later picked up a flyer in Red River about altitude sickness and realized both Miles and I had been affected) so I am now a fanatic about water. I bring lots and it is for me, and I will share it only if one of my kids is dying. Carry your own. That’s the mantra. And snacks are a must for even a jaunt we imagine will be brief - because I have discovered Rollie’s “conquer the mountain” or “see everything there is to see” streak. I did not know anyone could be more thorough a sightseer than Max - but in the right mood, Rollie and Max rival one another for wanting to see and do everything completely. So now we set out prepared to part ways if necessary. By way of tips, this can also involve more than 1 set of car keys, and 2 emergency whistles are useful for signalling.
Arriving at Great Sand Dunes National Park, we scoped sites and finally settled on one that seemed big enough
Max conquers a dune
Evening foray on to the dunes, sand blowing viciously! for our large tent, and sheltered enough from the wind that was blowing. It was very windy. As a result, setting up the tent was not at all easy. I just love this tent. It is a Eureka cabin-style tent (the Copper Canyon) with some steel poles to support the high roof. It feels so spacious inside, though only a little bit longer in each dimension from our dome tents, but it IS trickier to raise in a wind than many tents. Again, we have become more expert at doing this as a group. Rollie and Max are tall enough to do the rain fly. Miles has his own style of inserting poles. I like to go in the tent and get all the flaps open (plus weight it down) if the winds are high. Rollie is good at tying it to trees and poles. Max is fantastic at scouting rocks to weight the ground cover and corner stakes if necessary, and very efficient at threading the primary poles. We aren’t exactly a well-oiled machine and sometimes still argue about how to do something, but in the main this goes very quickly, even when we arrive on site in near
darkness.
More on the Dunes next blog, and onward across the border into New Mexico to Red River, Taos and Santa Fe.
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Nice photos
''Thai Spicy Basil " looks like a good place not to miss in Colorado. I'm at Miles and James house using their laptop. Yesterday was Kevin's Birthday party over at his wickiup. Going to sign off and go to tour Miles and James refrigerator for lunch. Colorado photos are very beautiful. Bye