After spending the night in Colorado Springs with Caroline and Justin, I started towards my next campground at Steamboat Lake State Park. As I was leaving Colorado Springs, I saw the sign for the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Part of this journey was visiting places I'd never been before and creating new memories, so I pulled in.
The Manitou Cliff Dwellings are right off Highway 24, northwest of Colorado Springs. The Anasazi were in this area from 1100 A.D to 1300 A.D. The cliff dwellings are easily accessible. There is a Pueblo-style building next to the dwellings that houses the Anasazi Museum and a gift shop. I had been to the Gila Cliff Dwellings in southwest New Mexico so I was familiar with cliff dwellings. I was surprised at how small of an area these dwellings occupied. But regardless, they are worth the visit.
As I travel, I carry a DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer for the state in which I am traveling. As I go, I highlight the roads I take. If possible, I always try to travel on a road I've never been on. Sometimes I look on the atlas and think I will have an easy drive to my destination. Other times I'm glad I drive a 4-Runner because I have found myself on some pretty rough roads out in the middle of nowhere. That's what happened on this leg of the trip.
After Manitou Cliff Dwellings, I was back on the road headed toward Steamboat Lake State Park. I stopped in Woodland Park to get something to drink at Sonic. It was eleven degrees cooler than it had been in Manitou Springs at the Cliff Dwellings. I had followed Highway 24 to Woodland Park. There I turned north onto Highway 67 and made my way towards Deckers, CO. When I arrived in Deckers, there was a little convenience store and a fork in the road. Not knowing which way to go, I stopped to look at my atlas. I was still confused so I asked a woman in the parking lot how to get to Conifer and she told me to go to my right. So I did and hoped she knew what the hell she was talking about.
As I drove, I began to doubt her directions more and more. That's one thing about driving in the mountains. Sometimes you're not exactly sure where the hell you are. But I was going in a northerly direction so that was good. I kept referring to my atlas but it wasn't helping me much. I did see some pretty scenery along the way.
I finally came out onto the highway northeast of Conifer which was not what I had expected. Since I was in town, I had cell service so I pulled up my Google maps to navigate me back to where I needed to be. Google maps was navigating but I couldn't hear it for some reason. That was a hindrance while trying to drive while it tells you where to go. Finally, I realized that my headphone jack was plugged into my phone because I had been listening to Pandora earlier. It runs through a tape player in my vehicle. Once I unplugged the headphone jack, I could hear my directions. Sometimes I worry about myself.
I continued north on Highway 74 headed for Interstate 70. From there I took I-70 west towards Silverthorne, CO. Turning north on Highway 9 out of Silverthorne, it was lush and green and quite beautiful. The highway followed the Blue River until it met up with Green Mountain Reservoir.
North of Silverthorne, CO
North of Silverthorne, CO
North of Silverthorne, CO
I continued on Highway 9 towards Kremmling, Colorado. The changing landscape with each passing mile never ceased to amaze me. From there I took Highway 40 towards Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
As I got closer to Steamboat Springs, I began to see snow on the ground. I literally got giddy at the sight of snow! We've had mild winters in my part of the country for the last two years. I've missed the snow.
My Bushnell 6-Man Dome Tent. I loved this tent because it was 11' x 9' and I could stand up in it.
I'm 5'8" and had plenty of room in the tent. There was good airflow through it
but the rain fly kept out the cold winds and occasional rain.
Below is a map of the drive I took from Manitou Cliff Dwellings to Steamboat Lake State Park. At least, I'm pretty sure this is the route I took. Once I was able to get online and look at Google Maps, I tried to figure out which road I had actually taken. The road I was on twisted and turned and even though I tried to find road names and such, I'm still not sure where I was.
Day One: http://agnestakesaroadtrip.blogspot.com/2017/07/epic-road-trip-day-1-eleven-mile-state.html
Day Two: http://agnestakesaroadtrip.blogspot.com/2017/07/epic-road-trip-day-2-eleven-mile-state.html
Day Three: http://agnestakesaroadtrip.blogspot.com/2017/07/epic-road-trip-day-3-hornbek-homestead.html
Day Four: http://agnestakesaroadtrip.blogspot.com/2017/07/epic-road-trip-day-4-eleven-mile-canyon.html
No comments:
Post a Comment