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 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.