Well, we are on the road again. We left early this morning from Creede, CO and went east on CO-160, the Navajo Trail, and it was such a nice drive. Very pretty mountains and valleys - so picturesque - you could just picture the early Indians living in this land. Of course, I was napping but Mom told me later. We went north when we got to I-25 and stopped for the night near Colorado Springs. Mom and Dad had some shopping they wanted to do here before we head up north all the way to Mt. Rushmore. I reminded them to get lots of cat food and treats for us on this trip so we wouldn’t be short!

We enjoyed our time in Creede but they do have unusual weather there. It was pretty cool (in the 40’s) in the mornings but we loved laying on our broad dash and soaking up the sun. The temperature would quickly rise into the 70’s by lunchtime and then it would rain during our afternoon nap. Some evenings the weather would get nice again and other times it would keep raining. Our Dad had to grill in the rain a couple times. We thought this weather must be unusual like much of what we have seen in Colorado but our Mom asked some nice folks she met who come here every year and they said this is all normal. Oh well, as long as we have some sun during the day we can bask in and nice enough weather for the birds to come out, the changes don't matter much to me.

Nicholas Creede discovered silver in 1890 and began the camp that would become the town of Creede. The area is rich in history - Bat Masterson ran a saloon and gambling parlor here in 1893. Robert Ford (who murdered Jesse James) moved here to open a business. He was later shot and killed to avenge Jesse's murder and is buried here as well. There are mining museums and an annual mining skills contest where men and women compete in a display of old fashioned mining techniques.

The Bachelor Historic Loop is a dirt trail starting in Creede that winds its way past numerous old mines up into the Rio Grande National Forest. At over 12,000 feet there is the meadow that used to contain the mining camp of Bachelor where no women where allowed (it was considered back luck). At the peak of the mining boom there were over 10,000 people living in this area, although today the total population of the town and county is just over 800. The town currently survives on tourism since the last active mine closed in 1985, but remains a living tribute to the mining history of the Old West.


Old mines along the Bachelor Loop trail


The meadow that used to hold the camp of Bachelor about 12,500 feet up in the Rockies.


Sign for the Robert Ford grave site. You can't actually get to the site (it's been "closed for repairs", whatever that means, for decades)

Today we left Montrose, CO and became traveling cats again. Cassie and Fred retreated to their preferred spots in the bedroom, as usual, but I sat up front and got to see the Continental Divide. It was quite a climb to the top, but we made it all the way up to more than 11,000 feet.

We continued driving east and south until we got to Creede, CO and the Mountain Views at River’s Edge RV Resort. This is one of the RV resorts where people can purchase a spot and improve it. We have a really nice spot that the owners have made improvements to that we are staying in for the next week. The mountains are all around us and we can see birds and enjoy all of the new smells here at the 8800 foot level.


Monarch Pass on the Continental Divide - the bus is facing east so the western slope is behind us and the eastern slope is ahead. It looks like we left our trailer behind, but it's just hidden behind the bus from this angle.


Parked on our site in Creede, CO.

We got to sleep again while our humans went off to see some more scenery. There sure are a lot of mountains and waterfalls here in Colorado. This time they went to a town called Ouray which bills itself as the "Switzerland of America". They hiked a trail to the top of a waterfall in a box canyon and then had lunch before they came back to wake us up.

On the road from Montrose to Ouray, CO


The top of Box Canyon Falls in Ouray. It's very noisy in here with all the water rushing by.


Cascade Falls in Ouray as seen from the cliffs above Box Canyon Falls across the valley


The main street in Ouray

There’s lots of scenery and parks here on the western slope of the Rockies. We’re in Montrose, CO and our humans went for another drive to see some more of it. Today they went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. They took the 8 mile drive along the rim of a gorge created by the Gunnison River over the past 2 million years. The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile which has created a narrow (9 miles at the widest point) but very deep (over 2000 feet) canyon. By contrast, the Grand Canyon is 21 miles wide and the Colorado River which runs through it drops only about a foot per mile. Mom says it was difficult to get pictures that really portray the beauty of the park, but we got some idea from these.


The Gunnison River at the bottom of the Black Canyon


The "Painted Wall" display the bands formed by the different layers of rock that make up the canyon walls.


Sunset Point near the end of the drive along the rim of the canyon

I am always trying to show Mom and Dad how smart I am. Sometimes when I show them something really great they don’t react the way I’d expect! Like yesterday, for instance. I’ve been watching my Mom for some time open the screen on one of the windows on the bus in the living room and hand Dad out things mainly while he’s cooking dinner on the grill. They do grill out a lot and so I’ve been trying to figure out how to open that screen myself. Well, last night they had some steaks on the grill and I just walked over to the window and opened the screen right up by sticking my claws through the holes in anticipation of my Mom needing to use it. The humans were not amused and I just can’t figure out why not. I certainly was not thinking of jumping out. Heavens no - a cat knows when he has it good!

So today my Dad went off to the store and bought these window screen locking things so now I can’t open the screen anymore. Bummer!

We had another quiet day in the bus as our humans took a day trip to Telluride, CO. Our mom used to go downhill skiing at Vail in Colorado and had always wanted to visit Telluride. The town is located in a box canyon which I guess means that there is only one way in and out of the town. The town of Telluride itself is located at 8,750 feet in altitude, but they rode the free gondola up to the top of the ski slopes which are above 10,000 feet.

Later, they had lunch across the street from the original bank in Telluride. Interestingly, this was the first bank robbed by Butch Cassidy sometime in 1889. Although Telluride is now best known as a winter resort popular with celebrities (like Tom Cruise), there weren’t any in town during their visit since the airport is closed this summer for repairs.



Heading from Montrose, CO to Telluride with the mountains that surround Telluride in the distance


The main street in Telluride looking toward the end of the box canyon.


Looking down on Telluride from the base of the gondola at the top of the ski slopes


Bridal Veil Falls at the end of the canyon. The "house" at the top of the falls is actually both a residence and a hydroelectric power plant. It supplies about 25% of the electricity to Telluride and is owned by an individual as their private residence. They must really like the sound of rushing water.


The first bank that Butch Cassidy robbed (now a retail store) next to a very old (and still operating) saloon.

I’m sure glad that I didn’t have to go with Mom & Dad today on their off-road adventure! They drove west of Fruita, CO and then got off the real road to drive the old dirt and rock trail 35 miles up to Baxter Pass. Although the road and pass are still in use (mostly to access remote cattle range and gas wells) they only saw a couple of other vehicles in the 4 hours it took to make the drive.

When they got back late in the afternoon they told us how the pass was originally used by the Ute Indians to travel between western Colorado and eastern Utah. It was later used to truck a gooey form of natural asphalt through the mountains until a pipeline was built to replace the truck transport. Mom told us that most of the trip was very pretty through a valley with desert scenery surrounded by rocky hills. She thought the last few miles were sort of scary since the road rose rapidly with a number of switchbacks and hairpin turns with a cliff face on one side and a sharp drop to the valley (no guardrails!) on the other.

They did see one exciting thing - a brown bear near the top of the pass (above 8400 feet). Mom didn’t get a very good photo since it’s hard to say who was more surprised - her or the bear. The bear scrambled quickly up the slope while she was trying to get a picture. The rocks the bear dislodged came falling down on the road, so they had to wait a couple of minutes for the rock slide to subside before they could continue on down the road. They also saw a big snake sunning itself in the road on the way back down. The snake was pretty easy to photograph, since it was moving pretty slowly.


The view from near the top of Baxter Pass


A brown bear making a hasty retreat after spotting us driving down from the top of Baxter Pass


The road on the way down from the top of Baxter Pass


A snake sunning itself in the middle of the road.

We cats hung out in the sun at the bus today while the humans visited a cool rock formation near our RV park. The Colorado National Monument is a brightly colored mesa featuring several canyons with rugged terrain and terrific views that rises from the valley between Fruita and Grand Junction, CO.

Our humans drove through the entrance to the park and up to the top, some 2,000 feet above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River. After driving the scenic Rim Rock Drive, they hiked several of the park trails and enjoyed the fabulous views. They said that it was rather hot outside (lows 90’s) and I was glad to be in the air conditioning.


Wedding Canyon (Fruita, CO is in the valley in the distance)


A view from the Window Rock Trail

Today was a big scenery day for the humans. I caught a lot of it when I wasn’t napping but my brother and sister missed the whole thing in their usual mode of “sleeping (hiding) while driving”. Today we crossed the Rockies from Denver to Fruita which is just past Grand Junction, CO. I must admit it was a spectacular trip. We traveled up into the mountains on I-70 and even went through a big, long tunnel called the Eisenhower Tunnel which is over 11,000 feet up. (The air was a little thin!) Then we drove past Vail, CO which Mom said is a great ski town. (Nobody was skiing today though.) At that point we went through the Vail Pass (10,600 feet up) and the descent down was pretty steep. What we found interesting was the change in topography from the eastern side of the Pass which was so lush and green to the western side which is much more arid, brown and desert like.

We stopped in Fruita at the Monument RV Resort which is at the base of the Colorado Monument National Park. The view from our front window is great - even Cassie and Fred think so now that they have come out of hiding! Mom and Dad plan some hiking in future days here.


Driving on I-70 through the Rockies


A change in terrain on the other side of the Rockies, approaching Grand Junction, CO