Montrose, Colorado - Tucson, Arizona - Part II

Part II : Montrose, Colorado - Tucson, Arizona

It’s now June 5th and I’m driving on route 50 east not anticipating any side trips until Creede, Colorado.  However, at the small town of Cimarron, Colorado I stop for a photo of an old cafe sign, when a man yells out; That will be ten dollars”, he then laughs and tells me how this place was built by his grandfather and he plans to reopen it and restore the old sign.  I wished him good luck and then as I go down the road to turn around, I see a sign for a railroad exhibit.  That was the hook, pulled me right in, the side road traveled down into a deep canyon with a raging stream running along the road.  

At the roads end, the river crossed under the road and there is a railroad trestle spanning the river with a steam locomotive, its tender and several cars spanning the trestle.  It was a fantastic sight and after reading the sign and understanding that Denver and Rio Grande Western steam trains once ran through this canyon where the road now exists.  It must have been an amazing train ride.

This was once a great spot to stop

Much time, effort and money was spent on this display

This was a crazy train ride

Promoters called this the "Scenic Line of the World" 

There was a hiking trail from the parking lot to a view point for the Morrow Point Dam and then a bridge spanning the Gunnison River to the Mesa Creek hiking trail on the opposite shore.  The trail climbed up the side of the forested canyon for a while with great views and then returned down to the river level. 

The Morrow Point Dam

Beautiful views

The river was flowing high and fast

After the hike, I drive back out of the canyon to a park building and several old railroad freight cars.  It was part of the railroad exhibit with interpretive signs, but was very neglected.  It appears that it was constructed as a historic park site, but for whatever reason is now closed and deteriorating.  

It struck me how magic this all was, just stopping to look at a roadside sign resulted in me learning about this amazing railroad history, the Morrow Point Dam and a great walk along the Gunnison River.

This was once a rail maintenance yard with a turntable

 I finally get back back on route 50 and come upon the massive Curecanti National Recreation Area. The Blue Mesa Dam forms a huge reservoir on the Gunnison River with a large campground and boat ramp and miles of shoreline recreational access.  I’m cruising past the recreation area which really doesn’t interest me that much, when about 12 miles from my planed exit I see a sign saying that the road ahead is closed ?  I’m not believing this, it must be an old sign, but then I see the barricades ahead.  There is a detour route off to the side, but it is barricaded shut.  The unfortunate highway worker, who has to deal with many upset travelers, tells me that the detour road will not open until 4:30 PM.  I can't understand how or why there were no prior signs on the highway to inform visitors miles in advance about this situation.  Perhaps I missed them, but if so, many others also missed them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curecanti_National_Recreation_Area

The reservoir, seems that the level is low

 It's now around 11AM and I have several hours to kill and there is virtually nothing in this area such as shopping, restaurants, etc.  I first go to the Blue Mesa Dam overlook area which is an amazing sight and then spot a dirt road far below that appears to be a trailhead.  Going back on route 50 a short distance, I find the road which leads to a small parking area and a trailhead.  It turns out to be the Pine Creek trail going down about 220 steps to the Gunnison River and then follows the river on what was originally a narrow gauge rail line for about 1-2 miles.

View from a Dam overlook area

View from the outlet side of the dam side from another viewpoint

Great overlook point view

Pine Creek Trail was great

This trail was once the route of a narrow gauge rail line

After the railroad, it became "The Trout Highway"

I'm now getting that same magical "fortunate me" feeling, if the highway had been open, I would have missed all this great stuff !!!    

At 4:30 PM, I’m siting in a long line of cars, RV’s and trucks of all sizes waiting for the route 50 detour road to open.  As it opens, everyone goes as fast as possible down this rough, dusty county road through rugged ranch country for about 30 miles.  The road ends on route 149 (my desired exit road) so I am able to exit this mess and avoid any further congestion.  Many cars and trucks were lined up at this end of the detour waiting for it to open in the opposite direction, what a mess !     

Route 149 turns is another scenic wonderland of beautiful mountain peaks and rivers its entire length.  It follows Lake Fork River for what seems like 70 miles with lots and lots of hills and curves, it’s a handful and with all the locals wanting to get home, someone is always on your rear bumper and there are few places to pull over.   I had decided that my destination would now be Lake City, Colorado which turns out to be a beautiful, clean, artistic, historic town with a mining heritage.  It’s been discovered, but the town folk seem to be keeping the big developers out.  I walked around the downtown area, lots of restaurants, lodging, shops, art galleries, a library, beautiful old bank, a very nice town park and a couple of museums all surrounded by mountains.  This place is horrible, stay away !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_City,_Colorado

Many nice shops

Beautiful interior of the San Juan Soda Company

Love these rustic old wooden sidewalks

Mountain views are everywhere in downtown

He certainly had all the qualifications for success

This area was home to the Ute Indians in the past

The Packer Saloon and Cannibal grill is very popular, I see why after lunch there !

On line, I locate a couple of dispersed campsites on an unpaved road about 4 miles outside of town.  This is a very scenic old mining road that runs between towering canyon walls and along a fast flowing river.  The two dispersed campsites turn out to be unusable for me, but there is a picnic pull off nearby that does just fine.   

Nice view from the van

In the morning driving back to town, I see several old mines along the road that were once very productive, that’s how the town of Lake City became so prominent.  The views along this canyon are spectacular!  I ended up spending all morning in Lake City and couldn't leave without having lunch in the Packer Saloon before leaving town.  I could have spent much more time in this area, it's now on my list for the future.

That's a WOW view !

The Hard Tack Mine 

The mine that made Lake City

Peeking inside one of the old mine buildings

The Hidden Treasure Dam is unique

What gold will do for you

Unusual rock hoodoos along the road 

Another view along the road

I get back on route 149 heading for Creede, Colorado.  I make a stop at an overlook view point for Lake San Cristobal and it was worth it, doesn't get much better than that !  I then drive over two mountain Passes, Slumgullion Pass and Spring Creek Pass on the way to Creede.  

Lake San Cristobal view is a great one

Creede has a very attractive downtown area with an incredible canyon view on the edge of the downtown area.  It also has a funky kind of vibe that appeals to me.  I walk around the downtown area and then visit the museum in the the old railroad station, but they are lacking railroad historical artifacts.  The docent told me that all they received was the empty building, nothing remained inside.  However, they do have a good collection of stories and very interesting objects saved from old buildings around town such as a classic late 1800’s bar, a painting of an actual shootout that had hung in a bar, an old piano and a photo of the beloved man who played it for many years. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creede,_Colorado

Great name from a brewery 

That's the iconic view

Quite a story !

If only half of this is true, what a character, there should be a movie

Do people still say "Holy Moses"

Lots of bad boys were attracted to Creede

Chester Brubacher was a natural showman, see below

That's the rest of the story

Another great find

This machine caused much trouble

Mural of the shooting of Bob Ford from the Golden Nugget Bar

I then continued driving on route 160 going over Wolf Creek Pass to Pagoda Springs, Co.  I take a quick walk through the downtown area and decide to drive another 40 miles to Chama, New Mexico for the night.  I take route 84 south into New Mexico where I will spend the night in hopes of getting on the Cumbres and Toltec Steam Train excursion ride in the morning.

It’s now June 8th as I call and make a reservation for the 10 AM train ride from Chama, NM to Antonio, Colorado and then a bus ride back to Chama.  It’s a 65 mile train ride one way and the train speed is pretty slow, I wonder if it faster back in the day ?  

The great thing about the Cumbres and Toltec Train Ride is that you can wander from car to car, stand between the cars and in the open top gondola car.  The gondola car enables you to see the scenery on both sides and even overhead.  This is far superior to the Dolores to Silverton train ride where you must stay in an assigned seat the whole trip and miss half the views. The Cumbres and Toltec ride is also the highest  elevation ride with better views.  It also has a mid point stop where you get a great cafeteria style meal with desert and beverage, included in the price. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbres_and_Toltec_Scenic_Railroad 

If you have never been to Silverton, Colorado, the Durango and Silverton ride is pretty cool too, mainly to see the town of Silverton, but you only have about 2 hours to eat or shop in town.  Not enough time to see much unless you stay overnight.   

The Chama Depot

The train is ready

Going over a trestle

The train at the halfway watering stop for a lunch break

The Water Tower

There were two trains, one going back to Chama and one to Antonio

Beautiful Aspen view

Rounding a curve

Signs of volcanic activity all over this area

Train went back and forth between Colorado and New Mexico several times

Video at a mountain pass with a very steep drop-off and then entering a tunnel 

Arriving back in Chama, I was looking forward to a cold beer at Fosters Hotel and Saloon, the oldest historic structure in Chama, but when I saw the front porch full of bikers and hunters, I decided it’s not my kind of place.  Chama is a rough looking, distressed town with several campgrounds, a couple of interesting shops and restaurants, set in a beautiful area with little entertainment except for outdoors sports or the train ride.  I spend the night at a highway pull off with another RV with a wide open country view, nice and quiet. 

Fosters Restaurant and Saloon

Saturday morning, I get on the road about 8 AM heading on scenic route 84 south.  I come upon an amazing view from the road, it is Forest Service area called the Echo Amphitheater but it is presently closed for maintenance.  Luckily, I was able to pull in and get a couple of decent photos from the road.   A few miles further, I come to another area with fantastic views along the highway and there is a nearby rest area.  I park and walk along the highway to take some photos, but the views keep getting better and better and I go further and further. It’s actually frustrating when this happens and you never feel that you reached the best view.

The Echo Amphitheater rock formation is pretty great !

Another nearby view

A series of photos of beautiful red rock landscapes

Beautiful, dramatic banded erosion

This is working ranch country

A remarkable rock formation 

A few miles further brings me to forest road 151with lots of dispersed camping areas and great scenery with a sign for the Monastery of Christ, that sounds interesting.  This road eventually leads to the Rio Chama River and a large campground.  There are great mountain views everywhere, geologically speaking this place is remarkable !  I definitely need to come back to this area.

The road to Big Eddy and the Monastery

  

Now I’m feeling happy to have taken the longer route, like Robert Frost says:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - 

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

After all this exploration, I am now behind schedule, so I rev it up and stay straight on route 84 to route 66 and onto I-25 south bypassing both Santa Fe and and  Albuquerque and going all the way to Socorro, NM where I stop for the night.  It was painful to do but necessary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socorro,_New_Mexico

Beautiful plaza historical signs

Another great story that did become a movie

An interesting monument

Very colorful mural

Spanish influence is historic here

Very traditional Spanish architecture

San Miguel Mission has a long history

I never tire of looking at it, but have never been inside

They believe in UFO's here

I imagine you can buy one for your yard

I visit a new bar around the corner from the nostalgic Capital Bar which has food and live music from 6 - 8 PM, but it was a small crowd and the food options were poor.  I thought the guitar player to be sort of weird, especially when asked politely to play one more song at the end and he gave a slightly rude "NO” reply.  Regardless, I hope this establishment is successful, more live music is needed everywhere.  I then go around the corner to the very attractive Capital Bar which has had live music on a past visit here, but there is nothing on this Saturday night.  

It’s now Sunday, my final day driving on route 25 with a stop in Hatch, NM.  The first time I traveled though Hatch a decade or so ago, we went to Sparky's Burgers, BBQ and Shakes which was sort of the main town attraction due to the goofy cartoon characters out front and possibly the renowned Chili cheeseburgers.  As I remember it, the rest of the town was pretty distressed looking, but in the past decade, due to the meteoric rise and demand for Hatch Chile, the downtown has gone from bust to boom.

World famous Sparky's BBQ

Chile is everywhere here

I then take a rural route 26 passing several Chilli farms and a massive solar and wind array to I-10 in Deming, NM where I stop for fuel.  

It was then I-10 non-stop all the way back to Tucson.  This is the area where I wish I had cruise control, it's wide open highway that gets a bit monotonous.  I'll mention a few points of interest along the way. 

There is a section with ominous warning signs about what to do during dust storm conditions.  It's windy today, but no dust issues. 

Wilcox, Arizona which has become a center for wine growing / tasting these days, seems very out of place to me, but the town itself is attractive with a great western movie museum, the Rex Allen Museum.

A long hill climb to the a summit where you encounter "Texas Canyon" a remarkable geologic area riddled with an immense boulder field and a highway rest area.

Then steeply downhill for several miles to an exit for Benson which is a town I have barely seen, need to do something about that ?

I-10 eventually levels out into a desert landscape until you approach Tucson where the desert landscape is suddenly transforming into Phoenix style development.

It's been another good tour, 1,594 miles over 10 days, no mechanical problems, no accidents or injuries and I learned some things and saw some new sights, that's why I keep doing this thing. 

Happy Trails until the next time.