Walking About Independence Pass with Martha

Nice and sunny morning today, the afternoon not so much.

After breakfast, we drove the Honda CRV along CO Hwy 82 up towards Independence Pass.  The drive was without issues except for a couple of ass wipes who seemed in a hurry; even though I myself was driving a few miles above the speed limit.  Oh well, they passed us and f*cked off soon enough.

Nice weather at the pass summit, just slightly chilly and windy.

I personally have never strayed far from the pass sign on previous trips.  Martha got me to walk along with her on several paths around the summit area.

No real display of Fall Colors so only one stop while driving back down the road.

We stopped at a trail head down in the valley you can see in the above pic.  Martha was hoping for Moose sign.

No moose, alas, but here's a view of the valley:

On the way back to camp and before the small village of Twin Lakes, we stopped at the USFS campground: Twin Peaks.

We drove/walked about seeking Fall Color.  

As you can see, we're still in the early stages.  I think about another week or so before peak levels.

We got back to camp with no issues and the beginnings of threatening rain clouds.

Uma as seen from trailhead 

As rain clouds approached, I started buttoning things up.  I had almost secured the awning fully when I heard the onboard generator quit.

Leaving the awning not fully rolled up, I hurried to the generator as Martha was needing it to cook lunch.

The storm of course hit soon after and the awning had about 2 ft worth slapping about.  After we got wet just holding down the support bars to prevent damage, Martha got me some rope and I secured the awning supports temporarily.  Close call but no damage except for wet clothes.

The rain / hail storm did not last very long though the winds did rock the RV for a bit. After we finished eating lunch, the weather cleared up and the afternoon was a combination of hazy / cloudy/sunny weather what temperatures in the high 50s. 

I believe we are both leaving this area tomorrow, Martha to go home and me to go further south into warmer and lower altitude camping down in the Poncha Springs area.