This is a recap of the trip Mike, Eric, and I took to the Granite, Colorado area in 1999 after Eric graduated from high school.
Sunday - August 1, 1999
We left Prairie Grove by 7:30 am after leaving Cates Garage (we had to get the car serviced before leaving). After stopping at Wal-Mart in Siloam Springs we were on our way to Colorado. Mike, Eric, and I took this trip, Scott was unable to come. We had an uneventful trip most of the way. We took Hwy. 412 to Tulsa, I35 through Wichita, KS and I 70W to Colorado. We stopped just south of Wichita, KS to get gas and let Eric start driving. We had already eaten lunch in Blackwell, OK. Eric decided that driving in Kansas was boring. Mike and I agree. I started driving at Russell, KS and it started raining in Hayes 10 miles later. Sometimes it rained so hard that I could barely see. There was a lot of road construction and water collected in spots on the road which made it worse. Everyone had to drive through some road construction areas, but no one else drove in the rain. We got to Burlingtron, Colorado about 6:15 pm mountain time and checked into the Comfort Inn. I was glad to get off the road.
Monday - August 2, 1999
We left Burlington around 8:00 am heading to Granite, CO. Just a few miles west of Burlington we saw two buck deer at the edge of a field of corn. They both looked like they were going to have really nice racks. There were a lot of large fields of sunflowers in this part of Colorado. It was cloudy, foggy, and misty this morning, but never rained hard. West of Ramah we saw about 4 or 5 wild turkeys next to the Big Sandy Creek. Hwy. 24 followed this creek until we got west of Calhan. It started clearing off as we got on the west side of Colorado Spings and we were able to get a good look at Pike's Peak. We stopped at McDonalds in Woodland and had lunch. I drove from there until we got to our cabin. Mike had never just ridden as we traveled over this area, he had always been driving. Since it had cleared off the scenery was really pretty. Just east of Hartsell we saw a herd of 24 pronghorn close to the highway. There was a place to pull over so we stopped and looked at them through the binoculars and videotaped them. We saw several more before we got to the Hwy. 24 - 285 junction. We stopped in Buena Vista to get tourist information, buy fishing gear and licenses, and get groceries before heading north to Win Mar cabins. We were in cabin #9, but thought we might like #8 better if we ever stayed here again. This cabin is one room for the kitchen, bedroom, sitting area and has 1 bathroom. It had a king and a double bed. Win Mar cabins were just north of Granite and east of Twin Lakes.
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| Cabin #9 at Win Mar Cabins |
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| View of Mt. Elbert from our cabin |
After unpacking and resting we went to Twin Lakes so Mike and Eric could fish. It kept threatening rain and it rained all around us, but not where we were. The guys didn't have any luck at the lake so we drove west to the creek at the upper end. Mike caught a small brook trout, and Eric had strikes but didn't catch any.
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| Eric fishing at Twin Lakes |
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| Eric by the creek area |
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| Mike getting ready to fish |
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| A view of Twin Lakes with Mt. Elbert in the background |
About 7:00 we headed back to the cabin and it started raining on us on the way back. Mike cooked hamburgers for dinner. It stopped raining and there was a really pretty sunset behind Mt. Elbert. After relaxing in the cabin, we went to bed fairly early. This had been a good start to our vacation.
Tuesday - August 3, 1999
I got up early this morning and taped a really pretty sunrise (about 6:00 am). Mike and I cooked sausage and pancakes for breakfast before we packed up to spend the day in the mountains. The first road we took was Lost Canyon Road (CR 398) behind the town of Granite. This road was pretty good and goes close to the top of Quail Mountain. There were some very pretty views from this road. The wildflowers were really pretty, I saw the first columbine ever. Eric fished in a small stream and a small beaver pond but had no luck. We drove to within a mile of a gold mine before the road go too rough for our car. On the way down we stopped at an overlook and were able to see Win Mar Cabins in the valley.
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| Columbine |
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| Eric fishing in a beaver pond |
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| View of valley from Quail Mountain |
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| Small stream the Eric fished in |
We next drove down CR390 by Clear Creek reservoir until we came to a place on Clear Creek where Eric could fish. We ate lunch while we were here. Eric had no luck fishing here, but a couple that was camping pointed out elk that were at the top of Mt. Oxford and Mt. Belford. There were at least 30 elk that could be seen with binoculars. Belford Falls was visible from this point also and was pretty. Next we stopped at Clear Creek at the upper end of the reservoir. Mike and Eric fished for about 30 minute, but had no luck. We thought that the heavy rains may have affected the fishing.
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| Clear Creek |
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| Belford Falls |
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| Clear Creek Reservoir |
We drove on past Buena Vista to the Mt. Princeton area on up to St. Elmo. It was a nice drive past the Chalk Cliffs, but St. Elmo had become too busy. I thought Eric might want to fish Chalk Creek, but he was discouraged and didn't even want to try.
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| Chalk Cliffs by Mt. Princeton |
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| View from road by Mt. Princeton |
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| Another view on the road |
We got to the cabin around 5:30 and Mike and I fixed steaks, potatoes, and fried squash for dinner. Mike and Eric went to the Twin Lakes area to fish around 7:00. They got back about an hour later, cold and tired and still had not caught any fish. We went to bed around 9:30 so we'd be ready for rafting the next day.
Wednesday - August 4, 1999
We got up at 6:00 am so we would be in Buena Vista by 8:15 for rafting. It was a cold and cloudy day so we all rented wet suits to wear. We did an all day raft trip that started on the Arkansas River in Buena Vista and ended at Hecla Landing south of Buena Vista. On this trip every one paddled and our river guide (Andy Farmer) steered. We shared a raft with a family from Texas (Bob, Melanie, and Erin Brooks). The morning part of rafting had only one large set of rapids. The woman from Texas was tossed from the raft and while Mike was helping pull her in, her husband got thrown. The woman got thrown from the raft one other time and her daughter almost went over. We didn't think they were trying very hard to keep in the raft because none of us had trouble staying in the raft. Early in the trip we spotted mule deer bucks laying beside the river. There were a lot of really pretty flowers, one purple one in particular called a monk's hood. For lunch we stopped and ate steaks, corn, salad, and vegetables that the river guides cooked for us. It was tasty.
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| Spot where we stopped for lunch |
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| View of river from lunch spot |
After lunch we went through 8 different rapids: pinball, big squeeze, big rock, zoom flume, widow maker and some others. This part of the trip went very quickly and was a lot of fun. This was the same section of river that we rafted 10 years earlier, but we all just rode then. We enjoyed getting to paddle, even though it made us a little sore the next day.
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| Paddling through the rapids |
When we got back to the cabin around 4:00 we ate Hobo dinner that I had put in the crock pot before leaving for rafting. The sun came out after we were finished with supper, but just for a little while. Mike and Eric thought about going fishing, but decided it was too cold and that they were too tired. We were all in bed by 9:00. This was a fun day.
Thursday - August 5, 1999
We didn't get an early start this morning. Mike and I did some things around the cabin while Eric slept. By 9:00 we were ready to leave. We drove up CR 35 until we got to the trailhead for the hike up the Colorado Trail to Harvard Lakes. The road was rough at the beginning due to wash out because of the heavy rains, but after that the road was okay. The hike from the trailhead to the lakes was 3 miles. The first mile was very steep switchbacks and the rest was ascending slowly. The lakes are above 10,000 feet in elevation. The clouds were still low, but the sun broke through eventually. We started the hike at 10:00 am and reached the lakes at 12:00 noon. There were some spectacular views to the west and then of the valley to east. It was sunny in the valley and really pretty. When we got to the lakes Mike and Eric decided to fish immediately. Eric caught 3 cutthroats, one of which was about 14 inches long. Mike caught 4 also. It rained on and off the entire 4 hours we were up at the lakes. I hiked all around the larger lake and came to a point where I could see the Buffalo Peaks to the east.
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| Lower Harvard Lake |
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| Eric caught a nice cutthroat |
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| Mike and Eric fishing |
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| Eric |
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| Another view of the lower lake - Mike and Eric are on the far shore |
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| Another view of the lake |
We started hiking back about 4:00 and made it back to the car by 5:05. We really had to walk fast (maybe too fast for Mike and I). We saw several people at the lakes this time. There was even a group of 15 - 20 girls that set up camp on the south side of the lake. We didn't see anyone up there the last time we were in Colorado.
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| Eric on the way back down the trail |
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| Another view of Eric heading down the trail |
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| View of valley southeast of the Colorado Trail on Mt. Columbia |
We had thought about driving to Aspen for supper, but decided to wait until Sunday when we wouldn't be so tired. I cooked hamburgers and potatoes for supper and we just lay around the cabin until bedtime.
Friday - August 6, 1999
We got up fairly early so we could pick up the jeep we had rented by 8:00 only to find out when we got to the rental place it wouldn't be ready until 9:00. The girl that made the reservation misinformed me. She also failed to tell me that there would be some restrictions about where we could go. UGH! While we were waiting for the jeep we went into Buena Vista and bought supplies for the day. We finally got the jeep and headed out from Crazy Horse campground at 9:30. The Jeep was a Wrangler hardtop and we had use of it until 7:30 pm. The first place we went was up past the old town of Hancock to Hancock Lakes. On our way south on Cr 321 we saw a herd of about 20 pronghorn waiting to cross the road. We found out later that a herd of pronghorn stays in that sagebrush flats area year round. We headed up CR 163 until we came to the turn off for Hancock on CR 295. This road was only moderately rough until we got past the old town of Hancock and then it got very rough and Mike had to use 4-wheel drive. Mike spotted some mule deer that we could see through the binoculars on the trip up to the lakes. These lakes were at an elevation of about 11,000 feet and were above the treeline. There was a trail that we could have hiked up to a ridge on the top edge of Monumental Peak, but we ran out time. When we first got to the lakes it was cloudy and extremely cold and windy. We ate lunch sitting in the jeep then hiked the few hundred yards to the first lake. By this time the wind had died down so it was not so cold. Mike and Eric fished while I walked around to the upper end of the lake. They had no luck catching fish. It was really pretty and peaceful here. We could have easily spent the entire day here if we hadn't planned to go to some other places.
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| At Hancock Lakes |
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| Hancock Lake |
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| Hancock Lake again |
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| A final view of the lake with wildflowers in the foreground |
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| One of the prettiest places I have ever seen |
As we were driving from Hancock to St. Elmo we saw 2 mule deer right beside the road. We drove through St Elmo and turned on CR 267 to go over Tincup Pass. As we were headed up the road to the pass we stopped at a pulloff. We were able to see 30 elk up the mountains with our binoculars. The road up to the pass was extremely rough and narrow in places. The wildflowers were extremely abundant and attractive this year due to the unusual rainfall. We saw many Indian paintbursh (yellow, orange, red, and hot pink), Monk's hood, blue bells, and asters (lavendar and yellow).
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| Old Mining Building on the road down from Hancock |
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| View of the road up to Tin Cup Pass |
When we got to Tin Cup Pass we stopped for about 30 minutes. I hiked half-way up a peak on the southeast of the road and Eric hiked two-thirds of the way up a peak on the northwest side of the road. This pass is at an elevation of 12,126 feet so we got winded pretty easily. The views from these trails were spectacular. We could see Mirror Lake to the west and many, many mountain peaks to the east. Eric spotted a large herd of elk to the east while he was up on the trail, then Mike and I saw them after Eric pointed them out. Eric walked too fast coming down the trail which made him a little nauseated. The bumpy ride in the jeep going down west of the pass didn't help matters any.
Saturday - August 7, 1999
Our next to last day in Colorado. Mike got up early and went fishing at Twin Lakes while Eric and I slept in. It was a much prettier day. It was partly cloudy and the temperature was perfect. Around 9:00 am we headed up to Forebay Lake which was at the base of Mt. Elbert just north of Twin Lakes. While the guys fished I sat on the rip rap on the east side of the lake looking at Mt. Elbert, Twin Peaks, and Quail Mountain. In total Eric and Mike caught about 8 trout at this lake.
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| Mike fishing at Forebay and enjoying the views |
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| Quail Mtn, Twin Peaks, and Mt. Elbert |
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| More shots of fishing Forebay |
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| Twin Peaks |
Around noon we went back to the cabin, at lunch, and rested a little while. After that we drove past Cottonwood Lake so Mike and Eric could fish in the creek. Eric fished more than Mike and he caught around 10 fish - brook and cutthroat trout. One brook trout in particular was fairly large.
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| Creek above Cottonwood Lake |
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| Eric fishing in the creek |
Around 4:00 we left the Cottonwood Lake area and drove back to Buena Vista where we bought food and fishing supplies before heading back to the cabin for dinner. It rained some this day, but was primarily sunny and windy. Around 7:00 pm Mike and Eric went across Hwy. 24 to the Arkansas River to fish. The both caught a couple of brook trout and saw a may fly hatch with lots of trout feeding. Mike got surprised when a beaver (that he thought was a log) slapped its tail very loudly about 10 feet in front of him. While the guys were fishing I watched the sunset behind Mt. Elbert. It started with a bright gold color on the bottom of the clouds, then went to orange, then lavender, and finally a very bright hot pink. The clouds in all directions were colorful at some time.
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| Sunset behind Mt. Elbert |
This was a very pleasant and fun day.
We planned to get up early the next morning so we could leave by 5:00 am. We planned to drive all the way to Prairie Grove in one day.
Monday - August 9, 1999
We left WinMar at 4:50 am and drove Hwy. 24 to Leadville then took 91 to I70 which runs through Denver. The mountains on this route were pretty, but overall the scenery isn't a good as going through Colorado Springs. We ate breakfast at a McDonalds in Limon, Colorado. It was completely clear in this part of Colorado. We stayed on I70 through most of Kansas. We ate lunch in Hayes, Kansas. We all agree that this part of Kansas is very boring to drive through. We got to our house at 10:30 pm, extremely tired and glad to be home. This was a very relaxing, extremely fun trip. We were already planning what we wanted to do the next time we go to the Buena Vista area.
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