2023: The Bittersweet End

The next morning, we scouted along LDH for better camp sites and found one for future use.  We topped off our water at a natural spring, then moseyed to Ouray to be tourists.  We spent too much money, ate fabulous burgers and decided to go back to site we found earlier.  It was warm this day.  The sun was high, and the breeze light.  We tucked into the birches, showered and enjoyed the mountain views all afternoon.  

We knew this was our last night in Colorado and it was bittersweet.  This trip was so incredibly needed and soul cleansing, but life doesn’t wait for you forever.  Bills have to be paid.  Families tended to.  Jobs demanding time.  But one more night in the wilderness of Arizona was on the docket.

The next morning, we packed up camp, intending to camp in the pines of Flagstaff that night.  But mother nature had other plans.  By the time we made it to Cameron, we knew our plans were shattered.  Massive lightning storms were engulfing the entire state.  It would’ve been unwise and downright unsafe to camp in those conditions.  Tails tucked, we came home a day early.  

We’ve been home for a few days and tomorrow we go back to work.  Back to the grind.  Reality sucks.     

2023: Respite in the Woods

After leaving Utah, we motored hard towards Silverton.  Stopping only briefly off 550 at Lime Creek to water the dogs and stretch our legs.  In Downton Silverton, we stopped at our favorite - Golden Block Brewery for pizza and beer.  Afterwards we jetted to our “secret” camping spot along a creek and settled in for the night.  And got rained on.  Hard.  The night was cold and damp.  We spent lots of time in camp that morning, allowing the tent and awning to dry out.

Animas Forks is a Snow Globe

 We lead the way towards Animas Forks, following a set of tracks for a little ways.

We hit a turn and noticed whomever was here before turned around.  We contemplated the journey with our new adventure pals in the Ram, when a local in a Toyota pickup showed up.  They were hellbent on making it to their cabin to fix some plumbing issues and had snow chains.  Throwing caution to the wind, we followed them.

The locals turned up a switch back and we forged through the snow to Animas Forks.  At this point, we could see the shale road peaking through the snow, so we were confident to continue on. And boy were we glad we did.  This will probably be the only time we can say we had Animas Forks to ourselves.

A family in a 4Runner followed us all in and the Ram left with them to continue up to more mining ruins.  We stayed around, let the dogs get some energy out and had a picnic lunch from the Jeep.  It was just so amazing to have unfettered access without the noise of side by sides.  

After a while, we packed up and headed towards Silverton to tourist and get pizza and beer from the Golden Block brewery (best pizza) to take back to the cabin.  The 

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

 Surprisingly the forecast was exactly as expected and it was sunny the following day.  We wanted to head back to Red Mountain to see it dressed in white.

I had to recreate the photo I took Monday - it was just too perfect.

It was purely magical.  Watching the clouds dance around the snow covered mountain tops, hearing the crunch of fresh snow under our tires and knowing we were the first ones out here.

At the point, the snow had drifted heavily in some spots, making continuing on a little dicey.  A Ram followed us up and we all collectively decided it was safest to turn back.  The couple in the Ram really wanted to head to Animas Forks but wanted company for safety purposes.  We figured, why not? It's worth a shot.

It's a Snow Day!

 We anticipated the incoming snow storms, but we've both been desert rats for so long we were pretty conservative during the active snow.  We motored slowly down 550 and it was so moody.

We pulled into Ironton Park to let the dogs out to play.  

This was JB's first time in the snow (he's only 10 months) and HE LOVED IT.  

After both human and canine stretched their legs in the snow, we continued towards Silverton.  The closer we got, the worse the snow fell.  And sure enough, there was a little Corolla who lost the battle with the mountain.  A few Arizonan's and a Kansan pulled out a Texan on a Colorado mountain road.  We got to use our newly purchased MaxTrax and a tow strap and sent the Texan back towards Ouray.  He was clearly not going to make it south during this storm.

We found a wide spot and put our recovery gear away and turned back towards Ouray.  The conditions to Silverton were just not worth the risk.  We stopped for some white tail, then played tourist in Ouray proper before turning in for the night.  Tomorrow would be sunny and full of plenty of snow adventures.