2016 Travels, Vedauwoo Campground in Wyoming and Bicycling the Rio Grande Trail in Colorado.

It's September 24 and we're in Wyoming heading into the Rockies. We camp for a night at Vedauwoo Campground in the Medicine Bow National Forest between Cheyenne and Laramie along I-80. Vedauwoo is just the perfect campground for our Sprinter. The sites are no-hookup with vault toilets and water available at taps. The cost is $10 a night, $5 with the Senior Pass. The campground has several paved loops of sites set in between ridges of beautiful fractured boulders. There is even a loop for tents only. This gorgeous campground offers rock climbing, miles of hiking trail explorations and solitude. If you're traveling through southern Wyoming this is the place to stay.

Our campsite at Vedauwoo.

One trail is paved for handicapped accessibility. We rounded a bend and came upon a moose and her calf. They were quite the surprise. We had no idea there were moose in Wyoming. We watched them for a while than went back the way we came not wanting to disturb them and their peaceful munching on aspen leaves. Besides, they were right at the edge of the trail and you don't want to upset mother moose.

A paved handicapped accessible trail.

Mother moose and calf munching aspens along the trail.

We spent the afternoon following other trails that wend through these scenic boulder canyons and enjoying the fall colors. These trails would be beautiful in all seasons.

Fall color at Vedauwoo.

Weather is starting to move in and our hike is brisk and solitary. Great boulder walls rise up around us and the air is filled with the sweet scent of fall.

Distant vistas along the trail.

The bones of the earth poking into the sky and painted with lichen.

The hiking trail into the boulders.

A mushroom rock.

A trail leads into a chasm between boulder ridges.

While we're having dinner we watch a group of climbers ascend the rocks in the face of winds and fast moving clouds.

We watch rock climbers from our campsite.

The weather changed over night and we woke to snow in the morning. It's time to head south. We're going to take scenic, very winding backroads along the west flank of the Rockies to Glenwood Springs. From Laramie we go south on Highway 230 which becomes Highway 127 at the Colorado state line. At Three Way, CO we take 125 south to Walden and than continue southwest on Highway 14. When 14 junctions with US 40 we turn southeast onto 40 and go to Wolford Mountain Reservoir. From the reservoir we turn west onto Highway 134 and take a very scenic drive over Gore Pass. When 134 junctions with Highway 131 we turn southeast and end up at Wolcott on I-70. Got all that? In western Colorado there are no direct routes but they are always gorgeous drives. 

The height of fall color in Colorado.

We're in time for the height of the fall color. Here are some photos from our drive along the Rockies.

Photos from the window.

Aspens come in all colors from reds to yellows.

The storm that recently moved through added more snow to the Rockies.

First snows on the Rockies.

Aspens at Gore Pass.

We follow Highway 134, climbing through a corridor of golden aspens, to Gore Pass at 9572 ft.

Aspens at Gore Pass, 9572 feet.

We follow Highway 131 south to Wolcott, a little blip along I-70, than take I-70 west to Glenwood Springs and the end of the road for our long day of scenic driving. We came here to ride our bikes on the Rio Grande Trail, a paved Rails to Trails that runs from Glenwood Springs to Aspen. We couldn't find any camping in Glenwood Springs so we went up Highway 82 to Carbondale and decided to start our ride from there.

The Rio Grande Trail.

The Rio Grand Trail isn't named for the river but for the railroad. It climbs at a steady railroad grade from Glenwood Springs to Aspen, a total of about 44 miles one way. From the Carbondale trailhead where we start our ride, it's 29 miles, a round trip to Aspen of 58 miles.

A perfectly sunny day for biking on the Rio Grande Trail.

The early fall weather is perfectly wonderful and all we need are long sleeved jerseys.

Goats at work.

Along the way we encounter goats at work. Mesh construction fences and "Goats at Work" signs are put up along the road and trail shoulders and the goats are turned loose to devour the summer weeds. Better than mowing and everyone does their part. Aren't they adorable. Occasionally there's a little hanky panky.

Munching the weeds.

Fall color and mountain scenery along the Rio Grande Trail.

A few of the old Rio Grande Railroad cars are placed along the trail.

The mountains are snowcapped near Aspen.

In Aspen we get lunch a at pizza and sandwich pub and people watch from the deck. You can imagine all the fancy cars going by. It's not what we see in our little town.

A buffalo sculpture made with car bumpers along the river in Aspen.

The sandwiches we had for lunch were big and wonderful and delicious and it's a good thing it's down hill all the way back to our Sprinter.

The trail follows the Roaring Fork River from Aspen to Glenwood Springs.

We race back downhill along the Roaring Fork River.

Signs point the way when the trail does some zigs and zags.

A group of young gals take and afternoon ride.

Jim on the bridge across the Roaring Fork River.

Looking down into the Roaring Fork River from the bridge.

Shadows start to creep across the trail and river before we get back to the trailhead.

We highly recommend the Rio Grande Trail. The tail surface is excellent, the grade is steady and the scenery is wonderful. Maybe next time we'll ride the trail up from Glenwood Springs.

The Carbondale-Crystal River KOA.

We also recommend staying at the Carbondale-Crystal River KOA. It's along the Crystal River, very peaceful and not too far out of the way. Sites are shady and they have great shower facilities. We took a no-hookup site for $21 a night. They have full-hookups, dump station and water.

Looking up at the mountains from our site at the Carbondale-Crystal River KOA.

The Carbondale-Crystal River KOA

Nice big trees at the Carbondale-Crystal River KOA.

The Crystal River flows by the KOA so you can fish if you wish.

In our next post we'll be heading west to Grand Junction. We'll camp on top of the Colorado National Monument and ride the River Front Trail between Fruita and Palisades, CO.

Join us and learn about another great trail and outstanding place to camp in Grand Junction.

Till next time.
Jackie

2016 travles, Going from Minnesota to Colorado. Carhenge in Nebraska.

Our summer travels continue with a travels on I-90 across the rolling plains of South Dakota. Not much to see out here. The grass lands are all but gone, replaced by industry and interstate. What SD lacks in topography it makes up for in grand statues and roadside attractions.

A new statue of Sacagawea was recently installed at the Chamberlain Visitor Center.

We stop at the Visitor Center at Chamberlain which houses a Lewis and Clark boat and supply exhibit. This is another milestone along the Lewis and Clark Trail. We're welcomed by a newly installed monumental statue celebrating Sacagawea. The lady looks every part a princess of the plains. The blue glass in her blanket is illuminated at night and you can see her for miles.

There was a lack of overnight campgrounds so we ended up staying with truckers in a gas station parking lot. Not the best camping but it worked in a pinch.

Skeleton T-Rex chases skeleton man across the plains along I-80.

There's no telling what you'll see as you buzz along I-90. Keep your eye out for a skeleton dinosaur chasing a skeleton man across the plain.

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Folks in South Dakota have creativity and know how to use old stuff. This 15+ foot whitetail deer is made from old car parts.

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We stopped to visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site along I-90 on our way to Badlands National Park. The museum details the history and timeline of the arms race in the 1900's. There are also exhibits of how daily life was affected. I remember the "duck and cover" drills when I was in grade school in the 1950's. They play the film that we saw in grade school. I didn't really understand the magnitude of the threat but I knew what we were doing wouldn't do any good. You can't fool a little kid. The site is well worth a visit. They give tours of the missile silo but they were booked the day we were there.

The scenic drive through the Badlands.

Our next stop was Badlands National Park where we planned on spending several days in our continued mission of riding our bikes in every National Park and Monument we visit. Rain and very windy weather moved in and we were unable to ride.

Banded Badlands.

The Badlands are always beautiful even vailed in the muted colors of a rainy day.

The scenic drive through the Badlands looks like good bicycling.

The roads on the scenic drive through the park look great for bicycling and has us hoping for better weather. But it is not to be.

A little hike into the Badlands from the Cedar Pass Campground.

We camped for one night at Cedar Pass Campground near the Visitor Center. It's a nice campground with electric sites for $37 per night, $10 discount with the Senior Pass. No-hookup sites are $24, and $12 with the Senior Pass. There's a dump station with potable water. There are restrooms and coin-op showers. The best part are the dramatic views of the Badlands. On this day the razor-edged ridges are softened mists and we take advantage of a break in the rain and put on rain gear and hike from the campground into the Badlands. There are no trails so we cross country.

There are no trails so we hike cross country from the campground.

The Visitors Center is a quarter mile and an easy walk from the campground. It has wonderful displays about the unique geology and a fossil room were we watched expert staff carefully removing fossils from the stone in which  they're incased. It was really interesting and I wish I'd have taken the camera. Be sure to visit the fossil room if you get to the Badlands.

There are no trails so we hike cross country from the campground.

Mists soften the severity of the landscape.

Junipers on a shelf above the basin. There are very few places where trees grown in the Badlands.

The ragged edges of erosion.

The next morning it was still raining and conditions were expected to continue. We decide to travel south into Nebraska were the weather was better. In a half day drive the weather cleared.

Carhenge, the mid-western answer to the original.

We visit another roadside attraction. Many of the places we've gone to on this trip were recommendations from friends as was this place just north of Alliance, Nebraska on highway 87. Carhenge is just what you think it is, the mid-west answer to the original.

I somewhat wish they would have left the cars the original rusty colors like in photo in this plaque.

Jim walks through Carhenge.

Carhenge will test your knowledge about late model cars.

What car is that?

Jackie standing in the center of Carhenge.

Follow the path through Carhenge and you'll discover more sculptures like this hybrid wagon.

A hybrid wagon. 

Giant Sand Carp.

Our travel day ends at Scotts Bluff National Monument, a destination and landmark for the Pony Express and wagon trains traveling the California and Oregon Trails. This prominent butte stood out against the plains skyline and signaled the end of the passage across the Great Plains. The Visitor Center features a visual history of the trail and outside along the highway model covered wagons follow the trail into the west.

Scotts Bluff.

Model covered wagons follow the trail past Scotts Bluff and into the west.

Scotts Butte Monument has no campground and we had to retreat to The town of Scotts Bluff and stay at Riverside Campground, their city campground. It was nice. The showers were old but large and warm. Full-hookups were $25, water and electric were $20 and tent sites were $10.

In our next post we'll be back in Colorado just in time for the fall color. Join us again for a post on a drive through the colorful Rockies to Glenwood Springs and a bike ride on the Rio Grand Trail from Carbondale to Aspen.

'Till then,
Jackie