Saturday, November 16, 2019

Boondocking in the Queens State Wildlife Area, near Wiley, CO

Friday, Nov 15:

Drove Uma, the URRV, towing Fiona south of the cesspool that is the Metro Denver area shortly after 9 AM and by 1230 PM had arrived at the John Martin Reservoir located east of Las Animas, CO.

I found the campsite listed by allstays.com but it was quite unsatisfactory in terms of location and scenery; so I kept moving on.

I decided to check out the next site to the NE, located in the Queens State Wildlife Area north of Wiley, CO.  Checked out a couple of sites and finally settled on a nice flat area that used to serve as a staging area for nearby boat ramps.

The water level of the reservoir has receded well away from said ramps, so it was safe to ignore the "No Parking" signs posted at this obviously decommissioned boat ramp site.

Sunset was not bad:



Saturday, Nov 16:

Woke to the alarm I set to catch the sunrise, which proved to be pretty good:




Though still a bit more cloudy than I would have liked, the day did warm up quite nicely though it did start cooling off early, around 3PM when the winds picked up slightly.

 The Campsite, that's Neegronda Reservoir in the background


Fiona and I motored about the few trails that existed along the periphery of the reservoir, really not much in the way of scenery really.


We then motored east on County Rd C, across US Highway 287 and about three miles to Neeskah Reservoir.  I went past the concrete boat ramp to the sandy spit of land next to the water:


We then explored another county road that bordered the reservoir and came upon the ruins of what must have been perhaps floodgates?  Not sure.


Crossing back across US 287, headed back west towards the camp, I posed Fiona to capture the scenery using the "mid line" method of photography.


There remained one unexplored trail which ended abruptly at the border of a farmer's field:


Returning back to camp, it was time for a late lunch and some afternoon relaxation in the warm sunlight (whenever the clouds didn't block it too much anyways).

Sunset came along and it was pretty good:




4 comments:

CCjon said...

Getting some beautiful shots there, retirement suits you well.

redlegsrides said...

Thanks CCjon, not having to have fast access to Internet had broadened my choices for glamping...

Bluekat said...

As usual the sunsets/rises are stunning. Also like the 8th pic down. Almost looks like it’s from another era. So many cool places you find out there.

redlegsrides said...

Thanks Bluekat, I like places that provide solitude and the feeling of open space