Thursday – March 24
NOTE: In an effort to get my memories recorded I have decided to postpone pictures until I return.
Colorado Springs to Grand Junction
As I was considering how to travel west from Bent’s Fort I
decided to see how closely I could follow the Old Spanish National Historical
trail route – about which I knew next to nothing. I had seen the trail drawn on
the maps I was using to plan the Santa Fe Trail
trip, but had not paid too much attention.
But I looked at the map and realized that by following the Spanish Trail
I could end up crossing into California at the
southern end of the state rather than Donner Pass. So my basic route was to get to US 50 from Colorado Springs, then head
west on US 50, southwest on IS 70, the
south on IS 15 and back to the Bay Area on IS 5.
I was going to start the trip on Wednesday, but when I
looked out the window when I wok up I was shocked to see the whole area, and my
poor car, covered with snow. After a little discussion with some of the people
at the motel, and studying the road condition web site for Colorado, I decide I was not up to
challenging the storm. At one point, the
weather cleared, so I changed my mind. I hastily packed my bags and then walked
out the door of the motel to find it was snowing like crazy. I changed my mind
and managed to get my room back even though by then stranded travelers were being
turned away. So I spent the day in my room, eating frozen microwave meals that
are stocked by the motel, and doing a little more research about the Spanish
Trail.
With a little internet searching I realized that the Spanish
Trail research was a work in progress, but there was a web site with a map and
some information. One of the branches of
the Spanish trail more or less follows US 50 and at one point along the route
the Trail and US 50 cross. So I vowed to
watch for that point. So I packed up again and went to the car. I, with some
help from one of the motel employee, and freed my car from the snow the day
before, so I left with little difficulty which involved scraping the ice off
the windshield and refueling. When I got
on IS 70 to head back to the road to US 50 my windshield kept icing up on the
freeway from all of the mud thrown up by passing trucks – the temperature was
about 24 degF. I could barely read the
road signs, nor could barely see the off ramps. I finally got to a gas station
and discovered that the windshield washer fluid had frozen so it was no wonder
when I used the wipers they just spread the muddy snow in a thin layer on the
windshield which then quickly froze and made visibility impossible.
While I was driving around blindly looking for a gas station
all of sudden the passenger side window just went down. I would not go back up.
So I just drove on for a while and finally located a gas station with a store
that sold washer fluid. I pour what I could into the washer fluid reservoir n
the car, washed the window with the station washer fluid, and started out. Everything looked good, and ultimately the washer
fluid thawed out so I could use it when necessary the rest of the day. So far
this trip has taught, or re indeed me that (1)I cannot tell a carrot field from
an orange grove, (2)I cannot speak the language of the 50% of the people in
California who know the difference and actually arrange for me to eat those
things, and (3)I don’t know the first thing about driving in cold, snowy
weather. But, I started out on the next leg with a clear windshield and my eyes
peeled for any evidence of the Old Spanish Historical National Trail.
The first adventure after getting to US 50 was Monarch Pass –
an 11 foot pass through the mountains where there was blowing snow and many “Ice
may be present – use caution” signs. Since I really have no idea what that sign
means the only caution I could think of was the bourbon packed away in the knap
sack in the back of my car. I didn’t think that was what they meant so I just
pressed on and got over the pass without any difficulty.
The AAA map of Colorado and
Wyoming shows
a small town called Parlin near the Intersection of US 50 and Colorado State
114 where the trail crosses the road (how they know that, I am not sure). The town is essentially a Post Office
building and maybe one or two others. I drove through the town and back again
but saw no evidence of either people of the Spanish Trail.
I continued west on US 50 which follows the Gunnison River
through a broad valley which looked to be a frozen field but actually is a reservoir
with a small dam at the western edge. AS
the river flows into the reservoir there are large chunks of the snow which have
broken off and make the scene look like something out of the arctic. The entire
surface of the water was frozen, although it was thawing around the edge and
the ice looked pretty thin in many places.
As I drove on I saw many interesting sights: An invitation
to visit a “Historical
Museum” and the
associated attraction - “The exotic
World of tropical Insects.” There was a sign inviting the traveler to join the
Gold Belt Tour – which turns out to be a driving tour of the Colorado Gold Rush
era. [http://www.goldbeltbyway.com/ accessed 3/25/16]. In the town of Poncha Springs there was
a business that advertised “Real Taxidermy – Making your Memories Real for a
Lifetime.” I was reminded of the buffalo, mountain lion, antelope, and deer
heads in the St. James
Hotel in Cimarron.
In another little town as I entered I saw a quite elaborate
electric sign with flashing lights and moving messages that read “Bonnie’s Car
Crusher” and below that Happy Easter.”
On the other end of town was another business “total Auto Repair” which perhaps
was misnomer based on the vehicles in the lot apparently awaiting Bonnie’s
tender touch.
After another hour or so I was in Grand Junction Colorado.
Here is the junction of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers.
The Colorado
was formerly called the “Grand” river, hence the name of the town. It is a pretty big town on the western slope
of the Rockies and on the way there I saw may
tourist attractions: rock climbing, zip lining, bike riding, fishing, ATV
touring, river rafting, and wine tasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment