Day Twelve

Well I was finally outside of Colorado making my way home, although it sure didn’t feel like it. I had spent the night sleeping at Big Tesuque Campground in the Santa Fe National Forest, sitting at 9,600 feet. Along with the morning sun being blocked by the mountains and the frigid temperatures of the morning I was convinced I was still in Colorado.

With my previous two days of non-stop travel and lack luster sleep I was in no rush to go about starting my day and waited on the sun to crest the top of the trees before starting my day.

With no real agenda for the day I walked around Santa Fe for the afternoon, mainly taking photographs of the unique architecture of the area and checking out the various artist shops that the city offers.

The adventure machine enjoying the pueblo revival architecture.

After words I had planned on meeting up with a friend in Albuquerque later in the evening, so once I had grown tired of walking around Santa Fe I headed out and made the hour drive into Albuquerque. Nothing compared to my 12 hour of driving yesterday. After we grabbed some food and drink we walked around the University of New Mexico, predominantly designed by John Gaw Meem, as it was nearby and I love to shoot architecture as well.

The campus has quite the scenic view as well.

Overall University of New Mexico is a gorgeous campus

By the time sunset hit I headed back to Santa Fe as I had left my camp setup at the campgrounds. The area I was camping in was quite busy, with it being a Sunday after all. I was concerned with leaving my camping equipment left out in the open while exploring a different city an hour away. I took my valuables with me but ended up zip tying the zippers together. While this won’t prevent anyone from cutting the tent open and making off with my sleeping bag, I hoped it would deter any petty theft. The zipper was thankfully undisturbed when I had returned. The plan tomorrow was to head out to Marfa and finally return to Texas.  

Day Nine & Ten

I found myself waking up before my friend did so I took a quick walk around our camp site. The joys of camping in new spots is being able to walk around in the early morning light. The scenery was breathtaking as we were right on the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park after all.

Once we both had eaten breakfast we headed out to Rocky Mountain Park to go for a Hike. Now I’d figure we’d go maybe a mile or two and planned according to that. However Ryan was up to a 5-10 mile hike and I hadn’t realized that as we never discussed just how long of a hike to do. To make matters worse Ryan drove his car and I left my car at the campgrounds along with my more appropriate camelback backpack instead of my shoulder sling camera bag with 1 bottle of water in it. However Ryan did bring a water filter kit, thus I was able to keep my small half liter bottle filled.

Our hike went without any problems, although we did lose the trail at one point. I never realized just how long until the snow melts at the high altitudes. Despite it being early June the Rocky Mountain National Park was still covered in a good amount of snow, and so were the trails. We did have a basic trail guide map, although it was worthless when it came to trying to find just where the path split off. If there was a sign for the trails, it was still snow covered.

I never have seen such clear water in my life, while not obvious in the photographs I could not tell where the water line was when looking down at the rocks. That is how clear the water was! Also it was damn cold too.

In the end we did about 5 miles around trip, tired from hiking through the mountains at the high elevation we headed into town to find some food.

Ended up stopping at The Wapiti Colorado Pub where I was able to try my very first elk burger which was absolutely delicious, and they had a chocolate porter as a beer option on their menu. Colorado sure does have quite the selection when it comes to craft beers.

Mmmm beer.

We called it a day after we were done with our food and we headed back to camp for the night.

Day Ten

This morning I found myself to be the one sleeping in late. Ryan had woken up early to pack as he had to head back home and had a 10 hour drive ahead of him. So after joining me for four days I was back to my solo trip which felt odd as it was nice to have my friend join me on my trip.

I packed up my stuff shortly after Ryan did and headed into town. My car had decided it was time again to break down on me. I noticed my car was a bit louder the day before and after investigating realized that my exhaust was somehow missing a bolt. My car is fairly low so crawling under it wasn’t an option and the area we had camped in provided no options unlike our last option. I figured all it needed was a new bolt and I would be good as new.

Ended up driving into town and finding two local mechanics who were right next to each other in the same area. Both refused service saying it would be a week before they could work on my car. I honestly think the fact I mentioned it was my exhaust scared them off, as being up in a snow country the exhaust systems are likely nightmares to work on when it comes to older cars. Being from Texas rust is not a major issue.

Feeling disappointed I drove around a bit looking for an area to repair my car at and ended up in an old defunct Sinclair gas station. Just my luck the curbs were low car friendly, and there happened to be a rock retaining wall with loose rocks on the ground. Between the curbs and the rocks I was able to get the car just high enough so I could work on it! After I got access to exhaust I realized I needed a new gasket and bolt. Thankfully there was a Napa auto parts store down the street within walking distance. Well in the worse case I did have a bike with me.

After grabbing a new bolt, gasket, and zip ties, as I was running low on them, I was able to repair my car in about twenty minutes, only took two hours of running around till I was able to get to it...

Good as new!

With my car now back to normal I headed back to Rock Mountain National Park to take the scenic route and as a bonus was quite the fun road to drive as well. Even got to spot a coyote making his way through the park as well.

View fullsize

After the park I initially was going to drop down to highway 50 in order to camp in the forest and I wanted to drive 550 one last time before heading back, however I ended up driving on I-70 and was glad I did. Glenwood canyon is a beautiful drive and the rest stops double as park which were quite pleasant.

I drove until I was tired enough to finally call it quit for the day, pulling into a rest stop area to spend the night. While I would have much rather spent the night camping, I had no luck finding a spot for the night.

Day Six

The morning was cold, damp, and drizzly so I opted to stay in my tent until around 8am, quite a late start from what I’ve been getting use to.

Rain drops against the tent.

Today was the most uneventful day of my trip so far, I talked to Matt and Brandon for awhile this morning while I begin packing up my equipment at a leisurely pace. Although in my sleep stupor I had spilt my coffee with Brandon promptly laughing at me. Between packing up, eating my breakfast, and talking to Brandon and Matt by the time I had finished with everything it was already approaching noon.

Matt and Brandon

For lunch I had yet another can of delicious soup while I joined Matt and Brandon at there site where we talked a bit more. They really did have a sweet setup for long term camping. Whole setup felt like a small home.

It was already well past two by now, and I needed to get on the road. I planned on meeting up with a friend near Pikes Peak, which was on the other side of the state, tomorrow morning. After saying my goodbyes I hit the road. I was still having belt squealing issues, however they weren’t as bad as I had now tightened up the belts. Only lasted for a second or two on startup. Still concerning although I did have rescue tape, a self fusing silicone tape, that could be used in a pinch. It can be real lifesaver when needing to make quick repairs to an item that would otherwise leave you stranded.

Although I was honestly wanting to leave too, there was still a 36 mile stretch of mountain pass that I was itching to drive and I still had a lot of state too see! Highway 550 was total blast to drive along with highway 50, and I’m sure some of the locals were wondering why a Texan was hauling butt through the mountains. I found the majority of Texas drivers I came across on mountain passes drove exceptionally slow.

In other words: 23 miles of fun ahead.

I hardly covered any ground today, just under 190 miles, or about 3.5 hours of driving at this point.

I was having difficulties finding a campsite in the area I was in. I was east of Monarch pass along highway 50 at this point, while I was still in a national forest there were few and far between roads off of the highway. The San Juan range was quite the opposite with plentiful amounts of forest roads. There were few valleys and most of the roads just seemed to go up into the mountains but provided no good areas to camp in. Between nearly getting my car stuck on a path, and having to drive down a slope in reverse, I only found two options. One right near a trail head, uncertain I could even camp there, and the other spot while decent was surrounded by dead trees waiting to topple. I did not care for either.

Highway 50 Colorado. The 'Office' view of my journey.

With the sunlight disappearing over the mountains I gave up on finding a spot in the forest. I had passed a RV campground sign a few miles back and opted to head there as a last resort. While I could press on and sleep in my car, I’d rather not.

The site itself left things to be desired, this was obviously a more RV type place than camping. A river ran right by on the other side of an embankment which separated out some of the camp sites. The ground was quite soft and muddy. I was bit concerned about parking in the grass, as I had summer tires that would be useless in mud and the differential does not lock. Good recipe for getting stuck! Thankfully there were no other cars so I left my car on one lane gravel path

The ground around the sites wasn’t flat either, the ground was covered in mounds from the clumps of grass growing and took me a bit of walking my site to find a suitable area for my tent. Well at least the tent stakes went in without a hitch.

Cars n Camping

Day Five, Photo edition

Gray skies and snow capped mountains were the norm at close to 10,000 feet above sea level.

This was further down old lime creek road, an etremely rough road that requires high ground clearance, 4wd is good insurance to have on this route. Or a mountain bike if, like me, are driving around in a sports car.

Inline six engine block makes for a nice option for planted pots.

Brown Bear Cafe, where I had ate the previous night. Damn good food.

The least likely set of car I'd expect to see in a small ex mining town. The yellow car in the back ground is a four door Seat hatchback with Mexico plates. And yes Seat is a name of a car manufacture.

Snow capped mountains surrounded this tiny town in every direction you looked.

Hey man, need a lift?

I have feeling that the lift and upgraded tires on this EMS vehicle are a necessity up here in the mountains.

Only a moderate chance of avalanches today.

This B&B looks like it had been closed for quite some time.

All of the streets in town were dirt roads. The only paved road was main street, which ran right down the middle of town.

Main street.

View of Silverton off of 550 heading south of town.

On my way back to my campsite I noticed a turn off for a day use area and went to check it out. I was promptly met by a snow covered road.

Yeah that is a lot of snow. The area closest to me was nearly a foot deep, well there is a road somewhere under all that white stuff. My car, which doesn't have much ground clearance to begin with, was also equipped with summer tires and I can say good bye to any traction when it comes to this weird stuff.

The infamous current coverage page, parked at Lake Molas camp site.

Comfort is always important, waiting for the sun to set. Said picture can be seen at the end of the first Day Five post. Equipment pictured: Nikon D300, First gen Tokina 12-24 f/4, Manfrotto 410 head on Induro AT 8M 214 legs.

Moon rise in the forest.

Day Four

After a blissful sleep I spent the morning packing up the car and rearranging my belongings. I had let everything become quite a mess with various items spread out and not put away, along with the fact that I had quite a bit of stuff shoved into my tent as well. After slowly eating my breakfast I began to reorganize all of my equipment into the 240sx as I was unhappy with how it had been. With everything neatly packed up into the 240sx it became much easier to grab what I needed.

Things were much more travel friendly now.

Packed up and ready to head out.

Before I headed out I talked to the campsite host for a bit. Through our conversation I learned that the forest service road went about 20 miles in, with it being a dead end, this was the only way in and out. She also mentioned there were difficult parts to cross that required a 4x4 vehicle. So being a reasonable person I decided to see just how far my car can make it down the road, besides I did bring my mountain bike with me as well.

I crossed over one water stream and a rock garden that my car was thankfully narrow enough not to get stuck on the various rocks jetting out from the ground. Inevitably I came across terrain that was impassable in my car, but I was able to make it much farther than I had anticipated.  

A shovel always come in handy. Some rock removal was necessary to cross the stream.

This was no problem really and one of the main reasons that I brought my bike. I simply pulled off onto the side and parked under the shade of a tree. I took the parts of my bike out of the car and   began the assembly. Afterwards I was able to continue further on down the forest service road.

From where I parked I went about another five miles down the road, it was a shame the terrain was impassable with my car as after the rough section it was back to smooth roads that posed no problem for a lowered sports car. There are hiking trails that lead off the road and I stumbled across one that climbed up the side of a mountain. I was really wishing I had a better gear set on my bike, as the small 26” wheels and large gear ratios made climbing exhausting. Turns out mechanical advantage wasn’t in my favor, so I just walked my bike up the trail. After hiking up on the trail for about 10-15 minutes I turned around and headed back down. Downhill was far more enjoyable as I could just coast down the entire hill, even with the questionable stopping power that my measly bike brakes had to offer.

After my hike and bike up and down the mountain I was getting hungry and headed back to the car for lunch. Once I had the bike put away I pulled out my food supplies and ate soup along with some snacks along the side of the river. By now I had become sick of soup and had an intense hunger for a real substantial meal.

I left the forest after lunch and headed westwards towards Silverton which is along highway 550. A 45 mile mountain pass that summits three times; Coal Bank Pass(10,640 ft), Molas Pass(10,970 ft), and Red Mountain Pass(11,018 ft). The weather was nice and the drive was amazing with a very dynamic landscape. In bad weather? Well that’s another story.

While driving through Pagosa Springs I stopped at an antiques museum. When I had passed by the previous day it didn’t look like it was anything special. Not wanting to judge this place on my first glance, like my mother always told me not to, I decided to stop in and check it out. I am glad that I did too as the museum held a wealth of history primarily focusing on the town of Pagosa Springs.  I found out that Wolf Creek Pass was initially a 2 day trip, not a 2 hour trip like today. The pass was also only one lane, and physical fights would often solve confrontational negotiations should you encounter a car attempting to drive the opposite way.

This 19th century camera was quite a surprise to see. The museum was packed with tons of artifacts, and is free to visit as well!

The town is known for its hot springs, however it was quite commercialized and being late in the day I decided to pass on the hot springs. However I was going on day four without a shower and I could use a bath by this point...

Thankfully I have a gym membership to a national chain and there was one that just happened to be on the eastern outskirts of Durango where I was able to unwind and enjoy a nice hot shower.

Well after that nice break I hopped back into the car and continued on my way. There was festival going on that day too but I still had quite some ground to cover and it was already in the late afternoon by this point.

It wasn’t before long I came across a sign I didn’t know I was looking for: Warning mountain pass. Oh yes that is the kind of sign that gets me excited about driving! Now the fun started on the mountain pass of highway 550. Steep grades that go down as quickly as they go up and no guard rails to protect from the multi hundred foot drops of the cliff face.

The campground I had found via my phone app was still closed due to snow. My Texan brain cannot comprehend the mass amount of white stuff closing everything. I had passed by an over look, that was at the summit of Molas Pass and offered a spectacular view. I asked around to see if anyone knew of near by areas to camp. I got some advice and headed back south in hopes of finding a forest service road marker. Worst case scenario there was another manicured camping area on Lake Molas as a backup option but I was looking for something off of the beaten path. Not before long I found the sign I was looking for a small brown sign reading “Old Lime Creek Road” and turned off. Unlike the East and West fork roads this road was far from maintained, thankfully there was a path near the entrance that I was able to drive across, although it almost was too rough for my car and there was a good chance of getting stuck. The plus side was I was right off of highway 550 and could flag someone down if such a thing happened. I lucked out and only had one neighbor, who was about 100 yards away and my site was surrounded by trees and had a firepit built by previous people camping in this spot. You couldn’t even tell that highway 550 was so nearby. Secluded enough you feel like you're in the woods by yourself, close enough to the highway emergency help wouldn’t be hard to get. I lucked out on this spot as this was my first time doing dispersed camping, and alone too boot, perfect.

After setting up my camp I headed into Silverton for dinner. I was really afraid that everything would be closed by then as it was approaching 8pm. Thankfully Silverton is a tourist town and accommodates as such. I found a restaurant called Brown Bear Cafe that was open until 9pm on a sunday night. Score!

I ordered a grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables along with chicken dumpling soup, which I didn't realize came with the meal. When I had order the soup I was instantly thinking that I should have gotten the vegetable soup instead. I’m used to really mediocre chicken dumpling soup. However I was quite surprised and had one of the most authentic version of chicken dumpling soup that I have ever had, it was hearty yet light. Quite the surprise and I gladly slurped it all down.

The main course was on par with the soup, the vegetables were fresh and firm the chicken was moist and tender and the mash potatoes had been made only minutes before. I ate everything and was far too full. The appetizer was bread that had been pulled right out of an over. The cafe was slow that night, myself being one of no more than four customers. The food was fresh and didn’t taste like it was left over from a dinner rush. It hit the spot in all the right ways and I left with a larger stomach.

With my craving for “more than soup” satisfied I headed out from the cafe. I drove back to Old Lime Creek Road, going through Molas Pass to get to my campsite. I noted that Molas lake had a beautiful view and made a mental note to stop back for sunset photos before I left for my next camping spot.

Once back at camp I made a campfire to finish off my long day. My campfire skills already improving I was able to start this one in under five minutes.

Day Three

I have spent most of my life in Texas, in Texas we have an abundance of heat.  I was expecting cold weather on this trip, but I was not expecting mid 20 degree temperatures at 5am, I am used to low 70s in the morning, not the mid 20s.  It is amazing how much of a difference 9000 feet of elevation can make.  Thankfully I thought ahead and brought some extra blankets that I lovingly shoved into my sleeping bag for some added warmth.  After warming up from my brisk more for about an hour I finally crawled out of my tent and proceeded to make my self breakfast.

With no real agenda for the day and having spent my previous two days driving 8-11 hours each day I decided that an R&R day was in order. So whats the first thing I went and did? Driving the mountain pass and exploring of course.

The RV camp I had spotted and passed up on the previous day turned out to be right off a forest service road that eventually led into the West Fork campground area, which is about 10 minutes away from the East Fork campground area. Both sites were absolutely beautiful and felt quite remote. Oh and the West Fork campground had a powered well instead of the old hand pumps that were in East Fork, fancy.

Takes a good dozen pumps before you get water out of too. East Fork Campground, Colorado.

One of many various ranches along highway 160.

The road heading into the West Fork Campground

After spending some time exploring the West Fork area I headed back to highway 160 wanting to drive to the top of Wolf Creek pass and back for a fun drive. Texas doesn’t exactly have any mountain passes after all and driving while, it can be a hassle when it is necessary, it can also be a real joy when done for pleasure.

Heading out to Wolf Creek Pass.

On my way up the mountain I found a small hike known as Treasure Falls.  the falls faced west and I decided that the lighting would be better in the evening so I just read the trail head sign and snapped a photo before returning to my mountain drive.

Snow!

10,857 feet above sea level.

After hitting the summit I turned around and headed back down towards Pagosa Springs for supplies.

Raised trucks with larger off road tires were quite the common site up here, but who needs a 4x4 truck when you have a hatchback that doubles as one.

After getting my supplies I headed back into camp and ate lunch. At this point it hit me just how tired I had become due to lack of sleep and the quick addition of an extra 9,000 in altitude. I laid down for a nap and woke up almost two hours later. When I awoke I found that the temperature had dropped and the sky had become overcast.  Eventually the skies started a slow lazy drizzle on and off for the next few hours.

However the overcast conditions didn’t last for long and the blue sky broke through around 6pm. With the sunlight now getting lower in the sky I jumped back in my car to go hike up to Treasure Falls.

It’s a short walk, only about a  ¼ of a mile long, however there are multiple overlook spots and the waterfall and surrounding areas are gorgeous.

Misty Deck Overlook, misty was an understatement.

After spending about an hour I headed back to camp for the night.

A nice warm campfire is the perfect way to end the day.

Day Two

Driving, and driving, and driving, and more driving.

My day started at 6:30am after a horrible night of waking up to various weather alerts and high winds. Car seats don’t make the most ideal bed either. Stopped by a local park in Amarillo for breakfast, a delicious peanut butter jelly sandwich with an apple, and promptly hit the road towards Colorado after scarfing my food down.

The open road.

This is what the 99.99% of Texas looked like, flat open roads that go on for miles.

After about 2 hours of driving I finally hit the New Mexico border. Finally out of Texas! My damn state goes on forever, however I still have a lot of drive time ahead.

Yay snakes… Kind of surprised I never saw a snake warning sign in Texas.

Well after another two hours of driving I finally encountered mountains! Here I was starting to think the earth was flat after the past day and a half of driving!

The horizon finally taking shape 

Finally made it into Colorado and stopped in Trinidad for gas and lunch, almost a full day later from leaving my house. However as I’m leaving the gas station a small dark cloud lingering above lets loose a hail storm that last all of few minutes before stopping again. Sunshine and hail, and here I was thinking Texas had weird weather. The nice thing about an old car that has sat outside all of it’s life is it has seen a few hail storms before. A few more hail dents doesn’t bother me. After pulling up my maps app I find a camp site just east of Pagosa Spring and plug it into the GPS. Headed north up on I-25 before cutting over to highway 160.

Well it didn’t take long for the first issue to pop up. Thankfully it was a minor issue of my throttle cable coming a bit loose which I noticed while checking fluid levels at a gas station. I grabbed the wrench out of my tool bag, snugged up the fittings and I’m off again.

This won't be the last time I poke my head into my engine bay.

Finally cooler weather and mountains in every direction! I personally enjoy stopping about every two hours or so just to unwind for five minutes or so before getting back on the road. Once you pass through Del Norte on Highway 160 and start heading towards Wolf Creek Pass it becomes an absolutely breath taking drive.

The last pit stop of the day, a scenic overlook on the western side of Wolf Creek Pass.

Eventually the road flattens out into a gradual downhill, so I began to search for a camp site. From the scenic overlook I thought the small RV camp in view was what my app was referencing and went in search of a better site. I wanted to camp out in the forest, not a flat manicured recreational area. There are plenty of those in Texas. Jumped back into the car and continued down highway 160 in hope of finding something.

Driving along I see a sign posted East Fork Service Road. I pull off onto the dirt road and drive about half a mile in and come across the East Fork campground. Pine trees, mountains and plenty of space between camping spots. Just what I was looking for!

The road leading into the camp site.

Bike, Tent, and car, doesn’t get much better than this!

With Some light still left in the day I hoped on my bike and explored further down from my campsite.

A nice roaring campfire to keep you warm from those fast dropping temperatures. With Some light

Day one

My name is Emerson and I own a 1992 Nissan 240sx and took my car on a 4,000 mile road trip. A car that has always been in some state of despair and needing who knows what replaced. With questionable reliability I decided to head up to Colorado on a two week long camping trip. Now the only question remains, just how many times will this damn thing break down.

First things first is prepping the car, primarily checking all the fluid, air up the tires (including the spare), and insure you have your emergency jack with you. I also had a full set of tools packed as well, it’s an old car.

Putting in fresh fluid for those downhill mountain passes.

Full fluid check: oil, coolant, power steering, and brakes.

Despite the 240sx effectively being a 2 seater, there is plenty of cargo room with a hatchback including space for a mountain bike. Which can serve double duty if my car breaks down on some hidden forest road.

My first day of driving out of Austin, Texas was rather boring even though my plans were changing by the hour. I had business to take care and a few thing to square away before I left and my plan to leave a few hours after breakfast turned into leaving after lunch. With 14 hours of drive time to the nearest Colorado city I left, and here we go!

After a few hours of driving I would take breaks to help with the fatigue of long drives. My first stop was just south of Goldthwaite at a rest stop that overlooked San Saba Peak.

Well here is where my plans first changed, while the GPS part of your phone will always work, your data connection won’t, even with a big name retailer. I found out that there is a section of 183 near Early, Texas almost two hours long, where I have no service. Largest coverage in the nation my ass.

So I ended up missing a turn and found myself about 50 miles east of where I wanted to be. Lovely. Well now that I had a internet connection again I tried searching for a campsite near by with no luck. It’s not even 5pm yet so I set Amarillo, Texas as my next goal to reach.

By this point it was just after 7pm so I stopped for dinner at the next rest stop know as 6666 Ranch.

6666 Ranch rest stop

My portable kitchen, small and convenient

The last Texas sunset I'd see for the next two weeks.

Night eventually fell after nothing but fast 2-lane roads and a day of semi-trucks passing me at 80 MPH. By now I have decided that I’m just driving until I feel the need to sleep. Well as my ‘ever changing by the hour plans’ would have it I ended up hitting some severe thunderstorms just outside of Hedley, Texas and well my plans changed. Storms out in the Texas plains can get fierce and this was no exception. With winds that would shove my car around and water standing in the road from the immense downpour I found that not even 30 MPH was safe; despite the 70mph posted speed limit. After 20 minutes I made it through the storm and was able to resume normal highway speeds.

Eventually I found a rest stop; tired and stressed from driving through the storm I called it a night and decided that I would just sleep in the car. Well right as I’m closing my eyes my phone starts to screech with a weather alert: “Tornado Watch in effect for the next three hours.” Ugh, I pull up  the weather radar for the area and realize the storm I had just drove through was making it’s way to where I had intended to sleep. Not wanting to risk sleeping in my car with a hellacious storm overhead, I hit the road again towards Amarillo. Only about an hour away and as it wasn’t in the effected watch area. Finally after midnight I fell asleep. At least the first day of my journey wasn’t ended by a tornado.