Boondocking again near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

 I had not planned on0 leaving home till tomorrow morning but Martha pointed out that traffic would be much less on a Sunday since I had to take I-25 most of the way towards the turn to Red Feather Lakes.

About two and a half hours later, I was at the same spot I camped at last time I was here. I took Yagi off the rack and rode about 8 miles to explore other sites to see if they were available. 

All the creekside sites along Deadman Road were occupied darn it, oh well. 

Kind of surprising, as I had seen more RVs, travel trailers, campers and cars with camping gear streaming out and away from the area as the weekenders went home.   I think a lot of them had been in the North Fork Poudre Campground.

I have very slow signal via cellular, but I have Starlink so if I need faster than texting speeds, it's available. 

The above speed test was with the dish inside the bunkhouse of the VRRV where it rides all the time. Not bad! 

Some views of the campsite:

A quick litter pickup had me thinking that the previous camper had done a pretty good job. But then I ran into a full bag of garbage that had been left behind, torn into by animals and the contents spread all over!

Sadly, based on the diapers I found, the idiot who left the full bag has bred, continuing to pollute the gene pool.

On a different note, I experimented not running the propane refrigerator while driving, it's safer apparently in case of an accident. 

I've been driving the VRRV several years now with the propane on with no issues, there's no federal law against it and you're supposed to shut off the propane when at gas stations.

I have been remiss about shutting it at gas stations. 

Anyway 4 hours later after I shut off power to the fridge, the inside had gained 20° F both in the freezer and main compartment.  Not bad but not great.  It was 41° in the freezer and 56° in the main compartment.

This was with the addition of three ice blocks used for the transport of medicines in the main refrigerator compartment.

Tonight's sunset was pretty good, add in some post-processing to bring out the colors more....you get this:

A Little Riding, A Little Climbing....Mostly Relaxing

Tuesday, July 8

A little bit of riding just to see if I had campers nearby, none for a mile or so.

The lighting was pretty good on Pikes Peak before the clouds moved in after 11 a.m.

Spent most of the relaxing at the campsite, reading an ebook and enjoying the quiet solitude.

A total of five cars drove by going somewhere else, that's it.

Mild winds, a little bit of a sprinkle for rain, and that was it for weather today. Very nice conditions for the most part. 

Tuesdays post-sunset was not bad: 

Wednesday, July 9

A bit more riding than yesterday, roughly 12 miles of forest road goodness.

First a stop after 2 miles from camp to check out the view atop the rocks near the site of the annual "Revival" campsite on FR324.

A view of Pikes Peak

I then rode along FR324 to its junction with FR323.  From there, it's less than a mile or so to Scorpio Rock Dome.

Parking Yagi under the shade of a tree, I walked up the path that leads to the exposed rocks of the Scorpio rock dome. 

Got back to camp by Noon with no issues, Yagi performing like a reliable champ.

There's now a small group tent campers in the site next to mine with the nice view of Pikes Peak.  They're doing some target shooting, very sporadic but quite loud.

Although Martha and I have camp there before, it's more of a group site and hard to hold just by oneself.  Glad I picked the one I'm at!

Temperatures were in the mid-eighties but I stayed comfy in the gazebo.  Using camo netting from Amazon for shade that lets air pass through.

It's a better option than the solid tent material panels that can be bought with the gazebo.  Those are better in windy and cool conditions.

Oh, and also using a spray bottle full of water to act as a mister, works pretty good!

The sun though, when not blocked by clouds, radiates heat through the roof panels of the gazebo.

Trying two of the solid panels to act as barriers to the radiates heat.  Seems to help but of course, once I had them in place, it got cloudy.  We'll see.

Weekday Camping Again

Well, survived yet another 4th of July Weekend's fireworks idiocy.

I heard though, some teen lost his arm while engaging in a Roman Candle fight.  Darwin at work, folks.  Another will probably lose an eye due to fireworks.  

In the Stoner State, it's illegal to use fireworks which explode or leave the ground, this includes Roman Candles.  Enforcement thereof is nonexistent as far as I can tell.  

Now camping on Rampart Range Road area, in the Pike National Forest, north of Woodland, CO.  

Weekday Camping is camping during the work week, planning to return home for the weekend.

The weekends, with school out, tend to be full of weekend campers, frantically trying to get their money worth out of their noisy SxS and ATVs.

Berthoud Pass and Back Home

Once the temperature outside reached 50°F, I headed off on Yagi, my TW200 towards Berthoud Pass.

The pass was only 5 miles away but a steep climb at times on US 40 as on heads towards Winter Park.

It's paved highway so no real challenge, mind you.

Here's the view from near the summit sign, looking North.

Heading back down:

I decided to check out the road to Urad Valley on the way back to Jones Pass Road.

The valley is home to the Henderson Mine Complex where Molybdenum was and apparently is mined till this day.

It's also home to the Urad SWA (State Wildlife Area) and Urad Lake.

I rode Yagi to the end, where the trailhead parking into the SWA is located.  

It's a pretty rough 3 miles or so but the lake seemed nice:

The lake appears to be on private property owned by the Henderson Mine company.

I dimly recall a large reclamation effort resulted in the current valley conditions and the creation of the SWA.

I returned to camp and had an early lunch.

The weather clouded over again and I decided might as well head home a day early.  The weather was actually nicer at home you see.

So I broke camp and was home by 4pm or so.  The Jones Pass Road has several small campsite; though accessing them can be tricky.  

Saw a couple of RV sites even further up from where I camped, bet it gets cold at night....

An Attempt to Summit Jones Pass

I rode yagi, my TW200, about 2 mi up Jones Pass Road this morning trying for the summit. 

Alas, it was not to be, the last half mile or so is still blocked with snow, pretty deep snow. 

Views of Uma and the campsite from Jones Pass Road.

Things clouded up pretty good by Noon so I spent the afternoon hanging out in the VRRV.

Maybe I'll ride to Berthoud Pass tomorrow if the weather is warm enough.

Boondocking on Jones Pass Road

Monday, June 23

After 4 days of high heat conditions in the cesspool that is the Metro Denver area, it was time to seek relief.

I drove Uma, the VRRV, fully restocked and topped off with consumables and headed for the mountains!

The drive up had a couple of sections of slow heavy traffic on I-70 due to construction.  I found the previously scouted site and would be almost done setting up by Noon.

The nearest town is Empire, CO. US 40 is the main highway to it and one turns onto Jones Pass Road from it.

After lunch I indulged  in a bit of a police call to pick up litter.  Once I cleared the immediate around my campsite, I decided to clear a nearby trail too.

Not much litter but enough to make me glad I'd brought the litter gear along.

Then, I stumbled onto something unexpected!

Guest Book for recording one's visit

Tibetan Prayer Flags?

I'm guessing it's an ad hoc shelter of sorts for hikers and possibly cross-country skiers in Winter. 

This curiosity is perhaps a 10th of a mile from my campsite, down a narrow path that seems to go up the nearby hill.

It rained briefly around 4:30 pm, clouds moved in around the campsite.  I am after all, located at 10,850 feet.

I'll be riding tomorrow to Jones Pass I think.  The deafening silence and solitude is broken infrequently by passing cars headed to and from the pass.