Taos to Creede, Colorado

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Taos to Creede, Colorado - August 24 - I have pretty much seen everything else in Taos the last few times I have been through, so after touring Taos Pueblo and making sure my reservoir and radiator were ok, I went back through Taos and out on Hwy 68 (The Low Road) to Espanola.

From the coolness of the mountains I was back in the heat of the desert country again. I headed north on Hwy 84 towards Pagosa Springs Colorado. As I went north the elevation increased again till it was cool again. I enjoyed the scenery, especially while driving through the “Red Rocks” area around the Ghost Ranch and Echo Amphitheater.

I stopped at some turnouts along the way to savor the view and enjoyed the drive till I got to Chama at 7800ft to stop for gas. I only got 7 gallons but I don’t like heading off into the National Forest or desert without a full tank. Last time I went through Chama it was snowing heavily but it was nice now.

After gassing up at Chama I headed back north on Hwy 84 again. In a short while a bit north of Chromo, I was in Colorado and the San Juan National Forest. I got off on Forest Road 663 (Buckles Lake Road) and started looking for Dispersed Camping campsites. In a bit I was passing several and after going further up the mountain looking for one with a better view perhaps, ended up coming back down to one of these as they were good sites but with no view of the surrounding mountains.

I got a nice campsite amongst some ponderosa pines and with an open meadow, all to myself. So I settled in for the evening at my free dispersed camping campsite.

Tomorrow I will head into Pagosa Springs and afterwards to a campsite on Wolf Creek Pass.

August 25 – Monday – After a restful night’s sleep in the San Juan National Forest I headed north on Hwy 84 to Pagosa Springs. After heading through town and out the other end a bit I got to the MacDonald’s. I wanted to get on the internet but once again was not able to connect to the MacDonald’s free internet. Either something is wrong with my computer or they have changed something. I will seek out the library here later and send my email from there.

I went to the library in Pagosa Springs. They have a very nice library with tables that have plugs. So I got caught up on email as well as did a little homework. So the problem is something Macdonalds free internet has changed, not my computer!

After I got through at the library I went to the NAPA parts store and bought a bypass coupling to route water away from the hot water heater so if that is where the water is leaking that will take care of it. That means I have no heater if it gets cold, or window defroster, but ...oh well. I'm just trying to get to Colorado Springs first and then I will deal with it.

I had also noticed that water was running down onto the starter when it leaked. That wasn't good. I sure didn't need water from the leak ruining my starter. I guess I was going to have to deal with that leak soon. I had hoped to make it to Colorado Springs where I know of a good shop that could fix it near a hotel I can stay at. The main problem with repairs on the road is that there is no where anymore that will let you work on your cars anymore. And if something goes wrong while doing the repair , then you are afoot. So I want to make it to a shop that can do the repair.

In any case after I got the parts and some more antifreeze I headed North out of Pagosa Springs on Hwy 160 towards Wolf Creek Pass to check out FR666 and then explore other things along the way towards Creed. FR 666 beat my truck to death and I didn’t find any dispersed camping that appealed to me before I decided it wasn’t worth knocking my front end out for a free campsite. Camping isn’t free if the road is going to it shakes your front end apart. So I turned around and drove back to the Hwy 160 and then a bit further north to get off on FR 667 and went to the East Fork Campground there. Campsites were $18 but with my senior parks pass $9.00.

August 26^th – Tuesday - I'm in Creede, Colorado and it's a cool 61 degrees and clear skies.

The elevation of 8852ft isn't bothering me as much as it did last time. My stamina seems to be returning now that I got that little problem fixed.

I have been walking all over this town.

I have been driving through some incredibly beautiful country.

August 26 – evening – I decided to make an early stop at a campground today. The Ranger at the Ranger Station in Creede clued me in about a good campground right on the banks of the Rio Grande and Free as well. It was on FR 529 off of Hwy 149 and about 9 miles west of Creede. I drove out west towards Lake City and stopped at the Rio Grande Campground. I got a great campsite right on the river….to bad I don’t fish.

I woke up at around 2AM to a pouring down rain and moved up the hill in case there was a flash flood. It wasn’t that difficult as I always put everything back in my truck before I retire for the night. After I figured I was far enough up the hill to be above a flash flood, I went back to sleep.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Taos
I haven't been to Taos in 40 years. I need to go back.

[Sojourner1208]

Taos
I'm sure Taos has changed a great deal from when you went there. There may have been some hippies there 40 years ago but there are sure none now. All very upscale.