COLORADO BLUEBIRD SKY
“Woke
up this morning
And the first thing I did see
Was mountains rising to the sky
On every side of me
Waterfalls, canyon walls
Windy down on main street
Everybody that I meet
They all want to show me
Colorado bluebird sky
You can live a mile high
Colorado bluebird sky”
From
“Colorado Bluebird Sky”, by The String Cheese
Incident.
On
Saturday we had to drive all the way back to Denver, since our flight home was
around noon on Sunday. However, I wasn’t
willing to spend the last day of our vacation simply driving. I wanted to make a morning visit to Mesa
Verde National Park. The park preserves
some of the best remaining Anasazi ruins.
Unfortunately, Mesa Verde was a 1-hour drive in the wrong
direction. Since the drive to Denver
would take 7 hours, it just wasn’t feasible.
Instead,
we decided to do a half-day hike Saturday morning. One of J-Bob’s tree-expert friends had
mentioned a hike near Durango that passes through some stellar aspen
groves. I still hadn’t had enough fall
foliage, and J Bob was eager to do it.
Best of all, it was on the way back to Denver.
We
had some difficulty finding the Goulding Creek
Trailhead. The National Forest website
has directions, but the mileage is wrong.
After a bit of driving around, we stopped at a fire department, which
was located where the website indicated that the trailhead was. We chatted with a couple of the firemen, but
they didn’t know where the trail was.
However, they knew a guy that would.
They called one of their buddies, and he gave me directions over the
phone.
It
turns out we were only about a mile from the trailhead. We drove over there and hit the trail under
cloudless skies. Despite the confusion
it was still early, so we had several hours to hike before we needed to hit the
road.
The
Goulding Creek Trail doesn’t spend much time near Goulding Creek.
Instead, it climbs a wooded ridge on endless switchbacks. After about 30 minutes of climbing, Bob J
decided that he’d had enough. I gave him
the keys, and he retreated to the car.
Meanwhile, J Bob had gone ahead.
I chased after him in a futile attempt to catch up.
A
bit later I reached the first of several overlooks that provided views of a
minor peak to the south. 50 weeks out of
the year these views are pretty modest.
But our visit was timed perfectly.
That hillside was golden with all of the aspens.
A
bit farther on was a nice view of the valley (and highway) below. The next range of mountains to the east
separate that valley from the Animas River and the Weminuche
Wilderness, where we’d spent the previous week backpacking.
From
there the trail continued to climb, but more gradually. I passed through grassy meadows and golden
aspen groves. I finally caught up with J
Bob at another meadow. This one has a
cabin in it. Presumably this is an
inholding of private land. It isn’t
posted though, and the trail passes right by the cabin.
That
seemed like a good place to turn back.
We hiked back fast, and found Bob J waiting for us at the car. From there we drove north, bound for
Denver. Along here we were treated to
more spectacular fall foliage.
Surprisingly, it was some of the best color of the whole trip. Later on, at higher elevations, the colors
were past their peak.
We
stopped in Silverton for lunch. We
eventually settled on a restaurant, where we enjoyed $10 cheeseburgers. We also stopped at a jewelry store to pick up
gifts for our wives – since they had been kind enough to let us go off to
Colorado without them.
The
rest of the drive was long but uneventful.
We stopped at a pizza place in Frisco for dinner. We made it to the hotel well before midnight,
and even managed to get packed for our flight before bed. While we were packing, J Bob discovered his
missing rain gear. It had been in a
pocket of his duffel bag the entire time.
The
next morning we slept in a bit before indulging in a big breakfast at the
hotel. Then it was on to the airport for
a smooth, uneventful flight home.
I’ve
enjoyed several hiking trips in Colorado over the years, but this one was the
best. The fall foliage was spectacular,
and the solitude made for a more enjoyable experience. Add in lots of wildlife, stellar scenery, and
enjoyable companionship, and you have the makings of a
memorable trip. I hope to make another
early-fall trip to the Rockies in the future.
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