Lazy Days Boondocking by County Road 305

Sunday, July 28

Lazy day, but did do a quick ride to The Castles to get them all in a pic:

closeup of the far castle

No more moose sightings to report.

Monday, July 29

Lazy morning mostly. A short recce walk around the camping area vicinity to see if the moose was still around and confirmed the moose is gone.

I did find a water hole which probably induced the moose to hang about before perhaps.

Then I spotted this:

Pretty sure it's not an old abandoned mine entrance, there's a wheel barrow and a plastic bucket just past the metal plate barrier.  Still, it seems to have been collapsed shut just a couple of feet further on, so not sure what the purpose was for this excavation.

I also had to repair the post that anchors the spring that pulls the kick stand up on the TW200.  The head broke off while I lifted it to oil the chain, which is better than it breaking while riding!

I ended up grinding off the stub, drilling a pilot hole and for now, using a self-tapping screw to hold the spring.  I'll get a harder screw later, or something similar, perhaps a shoulder bolt.

In the afternoon, a ride on Yagi to do a recce of CR376A. It would prove to be not for the VRRV with some technical spots causing me to ride slowly.

99% of the weekend campers were gone! I spotted only two occupied sites, one remaining f on the weekend. I'm thinking they left via CR 315 perhaps, as it's very doable with just 2WD and decent clearance. Though there is a smalls trench of sharp looking rocks just short of US285.

A view of the campsite, with the porch shades in place:

Tuesday, July 30

Nothing but relaxing at the campsite today, listening to audio books and enjoying the temperate weather while Metro Denver bakes under a heat advisory.

Tonight's sunset, for which I was late:

A Small Displacement results in Better Campsite and Moose Sightings!

After Martha left for home this morning, I rode out on Yagi, my TW200 to check out nearby roads for scenery and to map possible future campsites.

I ended up motoring up CR 307 till it met with US Hwy 285, along the way, you pass three rock formations known locally as "The Castles".  Two of them were just shaded outlines due to sun position but the third looked pretty good:

CR 305 led to CR 376 which led to an area replete with dispersed camping sites and a nice view of Mount Princeton.  (I think)

However, there were too many camping rigs in the area above and I returned to map three sites along CR 305 that looked pretty good.  In fact, I returned to the campsite on CR308 where we'd been staying and displaced!

Note: It's best to use the eastern exit for CR307, the western exit can be hazardous due to traffic.

I ended up at the site closest to US Hwy 285, yet far enough away that I couldn't hear any traffic noise, I think it's at least a mile from the highway.

Around 5 PM or so, I'd gone back onto the rocky outcropping overlooking the campsite to get more pics.  As I arrived up there, I spotted a bull moose back at the camp!

Do you see the moose?

He's right in front of Yagi, across the 

road in the shade.

The moose had been drinking from the puddle on the road.  Before I could switch lenses, a car came along and scared it into the bushes!  Dammit.

I walked down towards the bushes but saw nothing, the foliage was too thick.  So I walked up to the rock outcropping again to finish taking pictures of the camp; damn me if I didn't spot the moose again!

After watching him eat for a few minutes, he wandered off out of sight.  I returned to the VRRV and prepped dinner.  Soon it was time to go check out a possible sunset shot location.  As I motored away from the campsite, I looked to my left a few feet from camp and saw the moose again!

He spotted me go by on the motorcycle though, so when I stopped past him and dismounted to walk back with camera he saw me.  He left but not before I got this shot:

Figuring I'd had as much luck as I could, I motored onto the candidate sunset shot location.  The spot, on CR 376, proved not good due to sun positioning being further north than envisioned.

Oh well.  I turned Yagi around and headed back to camp.  As I neared camp, I slowed, intending to stop short of camp where I'd see the moose when leaving.  Instead, I saw him, seemingly waiting for me!

He just stood there as I quickly stopped the engine and grabbed the camera.  He remained there which allowed me to switch to the telephoto lens and take closer pictures:

This shot was scaled up by Lightroom

Finally, he grew tired of me once more and wandered off.  See the video below for footage of him eating and later, leaving.

Exploring Fairplay's Historical Museum and Burro Days

Martha and I drove over to Fairplay to check out its museum with particular emphasis on the Burro Days event happening this weekend.

Most of the events, such as the International Burro Race (who knew there was such a thing?) happen  Saturday/Sunday but we won't be attending those.  

This exploration was something to do under heavily overcast skies and cool conditions.

As usual, the pics I share are things that caught my eye.  The museum is quite large, encompassing over 40 buildings, some original to the town, some moved here from nearby towns.  The buildings reflect the services provided by mining towns of the day.

The fee was $12/person but it was worth it to us, as the offerings were well curated and appropriately marked.

At the bar at Rache's Place

The Burro Room, was dedicated to photos and paraphenalia related to the Burros used to haul cargo around back in the day:

In case you ever wondered how they got the

lumber up the mountains to build the shacks

The Burro in the middle seems unhappy

Here's a link to info on the Burro Races: LINK

The main race is to run up to the top of Mosquito Pass and back.  The Burro with a standard miner equipment load and the human running alongside.

The train station:

We checked out the inside of this caboose:

On a different part of the transportation spectrum, there was the Stage Coach Stop and it's accommodations for travelers:

The one room schoolhouse.  It looked to me the kid below was fleeing from the wrath of the ruler-wielding teacher.

At the Ranger Station, the sole moto content for this post:

The most fully stocked drugstore with offerings from back in the day:

We posed in front of the Soda Fountain, not from the pioneer days of course but latter days:

You can glimpse some of the buildings which are part of the museum behind the gate:

While wandering through the souvenir/art stores lining the tourist trap portion of town, we saw this sign:

A Homage to Prunes

Fairplay's Beach

Nearby the above picture, there was a wooden gazebo with flower displays: Below are variations of the Columbine, Colorado's state flower.

And, in case you ever wondered what WTF means:

Sadly, the Burro Days display advertised to be near the courthouse wasn't even set up yet.  The event is billed for three days but really, it's only Saturday/Sunday.  We saw that all the vendors were still setting up tents and such while we were there.

Back at camp, we just rested in the VRRV: