Dry Camping at the Redstone USFS Campground

 Tuesday, September 14

Having retrieved the VRRV yesterday afternoon, all serviced and ready for more traveling, I drove out of the Metro Denver Cesspool soon after 8:30AM.  Traffic was shit but moving at least.  Took the usual hour to get through the cesspool and onto the I-70 super slab heading west.

Tried stopping at the Wolcott BLM campground between Edwards and Gypsum but it looked full as I missed the entrance and passed by.  So I got myself turned around and got back on the slab now headed towards Glenwood Springs.

From there, I headed south on CO82, passing through Carbondale and taking CO133 towards Redstone.  Just about a mile north of this town, is located the Redstone Campground run by the US Forest Service, as part of the White River National Forest.

There were several spots open, to include three pull-through spots!  As I was staying only one night, I chose a cheaper site with no power or water for $17/night with the interagency pass discount.

The campground is right by the Crystal River and one can easily walk down to its bank:

Did some light hiking, rode Yagi, my Yamaha TW200 dualsport over to the Redstone National Historic District.  Not much but picturesque houses bordering the single road crossing through the town.  There's also the Redstone Castle Hotel but I elected not to tour it since they want over $200 to do just that.  Apparently, a couple of presidents have stayed there.

Near the southern end of Redstone, were this row of coke ovens which attract the eye as one drives by on CO133.  These ovens were used to burn out impurities in the locally available coal, more info here: LINK

These are the other end of the above coke ovens:

A crumbling example of the coke ovens, it shows how it was constructed:

Wednesday, September 15

I drove over McClure Pass, still on CO133, and eventually made it to the town of Hotchkiss where I'll be glamping for the next 5 days or so.  There's the Colorado BWM West Rally this weekend and I hope to meet with fellow riders during the event.

I also hope to get some supervisory help in replacing the steering head bearings on my 2014 Patrol sidecar rig: Scarlett.

The Delta County Fairgrounds, where these campsites are located; used to be available for camping anytime.  Now, not so much, you must be attending a scheduled event to use the camping facilities.  They apparently had some ugly trouble with homeless people and so have revoked the general access for camping.  Too bad really.