Marabito's heading for Colorado

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Ron from Big D

Ron from Big D

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Jan 30, 2005
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Well!!! after 20 some odd days of 100 plus temperatures, Shirley and I are heading to cooler country and anticipating some great photo ops.  We leave in the morning passing through Amarillo, Santa Fe and on into Great Sand Dunes NP.  From there, we will head north to Buena Vista and visit Jack and Liz and search the surrounds for some good images.  I plan to shoot quite a few high resolution panoramas on this outing.

Shirley was fed up with the intermittent problems we were having with the Montero, so we sold it and modified the Lexus GX-470 for towing.  This should be a new experience and probably a lot more comfortable.

We will finally get over to Ouray, CO for some of the magnificent color in that area before starting back to Texas.  We plan to stop a visit Jayne Murray on the way back to investigate repairs on her Arctic Fox trailer.  I offered to assist in the repairs if she brought it to Texas.

If any of you have some good suggestions for photo locations, drop me an email.

See you on the road.

 
One good trip from buena vista would be to Cripple creek, and victor, and ask about the shelf road to canon city ......from canon city take hi way 50 west to the royal gorge and then through the arkansas river canyon to salida and then back to buena vista............it can be done in a day.........depending on how much you like the slots in cripple creek and how long you visit the royal gorge area.........

you will get some very good photos.........

the shelf road is just that...........narrow and a long way down ;).........the road is a little rough right now but your speed will never be over 15 anyway.........

if you want any more info on that trip let me know.......
 
Take Hwy 62 west out of Ridgway, over Dallas Divide, and you can get some fabulous panos of the San Juans.

Always good pics around Ouray, Telluride, Silverton. The Alpine Loop (4WD) out of Ouray to Lake City and back to Silverton is amazing.

Head from Buena Vista up into the mountains. Lots of great photo ops.

The San Juan Skyway, Durango-Cortez-Ridgway-Silverton, has amazing scenery, especially in the fall when the aspen change color.

Enjoy !
Wendy
 
digiacomo said:
One good trip from buena vista would be to Cripple creek, and victor, and ask about the shelf road to canon city ......from canon city take hi way 50 west to the royal gorge and then through the arkansas river canyon to salida and then back to buena vista............it can be done in a day.........depending on how much you like the slots in cripple creek and how long you visit the royal gorge area.........

you will get some very good photos.........

Thanks for the information.  I'll make it a point to visit.



the shelf road is just that...........narrow and a long way down ;).........the road is a little rough right now but your speed will never be over 15 anyway.........

if you want any more info on that trip let me know.......
Click to expand...
 
Wendy said:
Take Hwy 62 west out of Ridgway, over Dallas Divide, and you can get some fabulous panos of the San Juans.

Always good pics around Ouray, Telluride, Silverton. The Alpine Loop (4WD) out of Ouray to Lake City and back to Silverton is amazing.

Head from Buena Vista up into the mountains. Lots of great photo ops.

I've shot the area before and that's the reason I am returning.  Any specific places to avoid?  Tell me more about the Alpine Loop.  This time I am in the Lexus GX 470 and don't want to push it too hard till I get used to it off-road.



The San Juan Skyway, Durango-Cortez-Ridgway-Silverton, has amazing scenery, especially in the fall when the aspen change color.

Enjoy !
Wendy
Click to expand...
 
When you get to Great Sand Dunes NP say hello to Roxie and Larry from Lorna.  They are rangers there during the summer.  Not sure when they will be leaving.
 
Digiacomo and Wendy:  I attempted to return a message but it just showed the original message.  I have taken your advice and will enjoy the area.

Thanks.

 
Tell me more about the Alpine Loop.  This time I am in the Lexus GX 470 and don't want to push it too hard till I get used to it off-road.
Click to expand...

There's info on the Alpine Loop here. They also sell a nifty little booklet at the local visitor centers that has good mileage , historiy and scenic info. We've always done it in a high-clearance, 4WD vehicle but I don't remember ever using the 4WD. As long as there's no mud or snow, it's not difficult. You can even bag an easy 14er from the road since you cross a 12,000+ foot pass.

Wendy
 
Ron, when will you be back in TX.  We will be coming through that area about the last week in Sept.
 
[quote author=Ron from Big D]I attempted to return a message but it just showed the original message.[/quote]

Ron, you clicked the Quote button instead of the Reply button, and didn't edit the quote.
 
I didn't receive any type of message or notification......{just for the forum builder's info]...... ;)

have a good trip.......

and i might add....... the shelf is traveled every day........some people even drive cars over it.........the narrow road and steep drop off is what turn people around quite often....
 
Wendy:  Thanks for the link on the Alpine Loop.  Lorna:  We will be getting home the first week of October.  Sorry about missing you.    Tom:  I understand now.  Digiacomo:  Sorry you didn't get a message.

 
Well!!!  You know these RV's are always going to surprise you.  When we left home, the air pressure was coming up pretty slow.  We stopped in Amarillo for fuel and stay the night.  Cold front came in during the night and we got rain.  Had a hard time getting the air up but decided to start down the road.  Not good.  About 40 miles in heavy rain going west, we were losing air pretty bad.  I nursed it back to Amarillo and Rogers Truck Center where they found (2) Pressure Protection Valves leaking pretty bad.  They also found a compression fitting on the auxiliary compressor leaking and almost apart.  This took one day and a couple hours the next.  Most of the time waiting on parts.

We are currently in Great Sand Dunes NP and collecting some awesome images.  We took the Medano Primitive Road up towards the pass yesterday, but we only went 7 miles as the scenery was kind of bleak from a forest fire. The lower end of this road is soft sand and we had to drop our tire pressure to insure getting through.  The previous day, we also visited Zapata Falls.  Shirley was tired and suffering from the altitude, so I hiked the half mile up to the falls myself.  The falls are hidden back in a canyon and you have to go about 150 across rocks and water to get to them.  Needless to say, you got your feet wet.

We will leave on Monday for Buena Vista and a visit with Jack & Liz Pearce.  Probably spend a week in that area exploring and spending time with photography.

I'll post some images under PHOTOGRAPHY in the forum this morning.

 
After spending a week with Jack & Liz Pearce, we moved from Buena Vista, CO over to Moab, Utah.  We have spent a wonderful week here.  Temperatures at night are around 60 degrees and daytime up to 92 degrees.  Other than a severe thunderstorm on the way here, we have had no rain.  I have posted images from the trip.  While here in Moab, we have played golf, gone over the La Sal Mountains, been out to Arches a couple of times, been on the Schaefer Trail and been down to the Needles area.

Tomorrow, we move on to Ouray, CO and we hope to get some good images of the Aspens changing.  When we leave there, we plan to stop and see Zuni Jayne and look at her trailer to see if we can repair it and get her back on the road.  From there, we will head back to Texas  I have a committment to do a presentation for the Heard Nature Photographers in Dallas on the 9th of October.  If you are in the area, come see us in Ouray.

 
Ron,

Keep up the good work! We hope to head towards Moab after we leave Yellowstone. Still not sure of our itinerary. Hoping for a chance at The Wave and at least one of the slot canyons. Keep the great images coming!!! :)
 
Glad you got the air leak fixed Ron. As always, we look forward to seeing your photos.
 
Jim & Tom:  Glad someone cares what we are doing and glad, as always, that you like the images.  I just posted a few more over in the Photography Section.  Have a great day.

 
Welcome to Colorado ! Where are you staying in Ouray? We might need to take a run up into the mountains even though it doesn't look like the aspens are doing much yet.

Wendy
 
Ron,

Drive south of Ouray on 550 about 5 to 8 miles (I wasn't watching the mileage) to see the Aspen in color in a valley south and above Ouray (you will climb).

We are in Pagosa Springs today. We drove a road north and above the town to see colors. There was very little as of now. I did see a few trees with a "clump" of yellow. see attached.

ken
 

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